Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Early Intervention
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Stevens, T.
Right arrow Articles by Yen To
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Television Viewing and Symptoms of Inattention and Hyperactivity Across Time

The Importance of Research Questions

Tara Stevens

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, tara.stevens{at}ttu.edu

Lucy Barnard-Brak

Baylor University, Waco, Texas

Yen To

Texas Tech University, Lubbock

The importance of well-specified research questions in the evaluation of early predictors of later inattention and hyperactivity is examined. In an analysis of a nationally representative sample of 2,717 children aged 4 to 10, latent growth trajectories for television viewing and inattention and hyperactivity are determined and the relationship of the two constructs examined. Analyses reveal a logistic latent growth model as the best description of the trajectory of television viewing across time, whereas a quadratic trend represents the best portrayal of the trajectory for symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity. Results do not support the presence of a meaningful relationship between television viewing and inattention and hyperactivity, which is inconsistent with previous findings from the same data set. The importance of the nature of well-specified research questions and the need to use contemporary longitudinal evaluation techniques to avoid misleading conclusions based on limited analyses and results are discussed.

Key Words: television • early childhood • longitudinal studies • attention and behavior problems

Journal of Early Intervention, Vol. 31, No. 3, 215-226 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1053815109338562
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?