Increased television watching is associated with bullying among elementary school children

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the impact of television screen time on bullying behavior; previous studies provide ambiguous answers. The purpose of this study was to assess self-reported data on screen time and bullying using the Oregon Elementary Schools Health Behavior Survey (ESHBS).

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of school year 2004-05 data from the ESHBS survey (containing information on demographic, dieting patterns, nutrition, time spent on TV/computer/video game, physical activity, safety, and health behaviors). The five schools were part of a program funded by the Oregon Departments of Education and Human Services. Total sample size was 554 (51.3 % female, 48.7% male). Not all schools had all 3 grades; the final sample included 287 4th graders (51.8% of the final sample), 158 5th graders (28.5%), and 109 6th graders (19.7%). Data analysis was done using logistic regression with SPSS.

RESULTS: Overall, a total of 199 (36.2%) out of 554 reported having watched 2 or more hours of television the day before the survey. 65 (11.8%) of children reported having hit or pushed other children at school “when not playing around” in the previous month. Compared to children who had watched less than 2 hours of television, children who had watched 2 or more hours of television were more likely to have bullied other children (ORa 3.21, 95% CI 1.82, 5.66).

CONCLUSIONS: This work is limited by lack of information about video game playing. There are several possible reasons why high television watchers would be bullies. (1) Children learn from what they see and exposure to violence on television may increase aggression. (2) Children who are bullies become isolated; they watch television more than play with other children. (3) Factors in the home can lead to both increased television-watching and increased violent behavior outside the home. Unfortunately, this cross-sectional analysis cannot help us understand causal interactions among these factors. Additional research is needed to explain the association between screen time and violence.