Teen TV Buffs Prone to Learning Problems

The time could be better spent reading and doing homework, study suggests.

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
Monday, May 7, 2007; 12:00 AM

Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

MONDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who are glued to the TV for three or more hours a day are at higher risk for developing attention and learning problems, a new study suggests.

The research, led by Jeffrey G. Johnson of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, also found that it was TV watching that contributed to learning problems -- not the other way around.

"Our findings suggest that teenagers who spent a lot of time watching TV tend to be more likely to have attention and learning problems that persist and interfere with their long-term educational achievement," said Johnson.

"Whether teens had existing attention or learning problems or whether they didn't have them, they were at greater risk for later attention and learning problems," Johnson said.

Johnson advises parents to limit the amount of time they let their children watch TV. "About one to two hours a day," he said. "And they should be watching quality programming," he added.

Video games can have the same effect as TV, Johnson said. "The problem with video games is that most of them have very little educational value. And some games may promote the development of attention problems," he said.

Johnson recommends limiting access to TV, for example not allowing a TV in the child's room. If the child has unrestricted access to TV, in the long-term they may have more difficulties reaching their potential as adults."

"Finding that increased television viewing in adolescence is associated with negative academic outcomes is not surprising," said Tara Stevens, assistant professor of educational psychology and leadership at Texas Tech University. "The interesting contribution of the study is that this relationship was still present when socio-economic status as well as prior attention and learning problems were statistically controlled," she added.

For some time, researchers have theorized that watching excessive amounts of entertainment TV might contribute to learning problems, because it takes time that might otherwise be spent reading and doing homework. TV watching also requires little intellectual effort.