Emerging Adults Reactions to the American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for Adolescent Media Use
Mentor 1
W. Hobart Davies
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
27-4-2018 1:00 PM
Description
Increased media consumption among children and adolescents has been associated with decreased physical activity, obesity, and poorer quality of sleep, and problematic Internet use. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released guidelines for young children, adolescents, and families regarding media consumption as an effort to promote healthier usage of media. As part of a larger study, 392 emerging adults, age 18- to 25-years-old (M=22.10, SD=1.92; 55% female; 78% White), provided basic demographic information, and rated each of the AAP’s 11 adolescent media guidelines on a 5-point Likert scale from "ridiculous" (1) to "reasonable" (5). Overall, emerging adults thought the proposed guidelines were "reasonable". The guidelines regarding 1 hour of physical activity daily, 8 hours of sleep nightly, media-free family time, and sharing the guidelines with caregivers were rated most "reasonable" (all ≥70% rated as 4 or 5). Guidelines restricting screen access in bedrooms were viewed less positively (all ≥26% rates as 1 or 2). For the guidelines, no devices in the bedroom during sleep hours 48% of the respondents rated this a 4 or 5 with an average of M=3.53. No screens 1 hour before bed was rated as a 4 or 5 by only 42% of the respondents with an average of M=3.31. Emerging adults were generally supportive of the AAP guidelines, seeing them as reasonable and recognizing the need for structure in this area. The least support was seen for guidelines related to screens in the bedroom ad screen time shortly before bed. These guidelines are research-based and shown to be effective in prompting more and better sleep; but arguably create the more inconvenience for youth and limit their privacy during screen use. Future work should investigate the effects of educating youth and parents about the rationale for these specific guidelines.
Emerging Adults Reactions to the American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for Adolescent Media Use
Union Wisconsin Room
Increased media consumption among children and adolescents has been associated with decreased physical activity, obesity, and poorer quality of sleep, and problematic Internet use. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released guidelines for young children, adolescents, and families regarding media consumption as an effort to promote healthier usage of media. As part of a larger study, 392 emerging adults, age 18- to 25-years-old (M=22.10, SD=1.92; 55% female; 78% White), provided basic demographic information, and rated each of the AAP’s 11 adolescent media guidelines on a 5-point Likert scale from "ridiculous" (1) to "reasonable" (5). Overall, emerging adults thought the proposed guidelines were "reasonable". The guidelines regarding 1 hour of physical activity daily, 8 hours of sleep nightly, media-free family time, and sharing the guidelines with caregivers were rated most "reasonable" (all ≥70% rated as 4 or 5). Guidelines restricting screen access in bedrooms were viewed less positively (all ≥26% rates as 1 or 2). For the guidelines, no devices in the bedroom during sleep hours 48% of the respondents rated this a 4 or 5 with an average of M=3.53. No screens 1 hour before bed was rated as a 4 or 5 by only 42% of the respondents with an average of M=3.31. Emerging adults were generally supportive of the AAP guidelines, seeing them as reasonable and recognizing the need for structure in this area. The least support was seen for guidelines related to screens in the bedroom ad screen time shortly before bed. These guidelines are research-based and shown to be effective in prompting more and better sleep; but arguably create the more inconvenience for youth and limit their privacy during screen use. Future work should investigate the effects of educating youth and parents about the rationale for these specific guidelines.
