WASHINGTON, Feb 19- Children and adolescents who watch a lot of television are more likely to manifest antisocial and criminal behaviour when they become adults, a study has found.
Researchers from University of Otago in New Zealand found the risk of having a criminal conviction by early adulthood increased by 30 percent with every hour children spent watching TV on an average weeknight, Xinhua news agency reported.
They also found that watching more television in childhood was associated in adulthood with aggressive personality traits, an increased tendency to experience negative emotions, and an increased risk of antisocial personality disorder. The relationship between TV viewing and antisocial behaviour was not explained by socio-economic status, aggressive or antisocial behaviour in early childhood, or parenting factors.
The researchers said it is not that children who were already antisocial that watched more television.
“Rather, children who watched a lot of television were likely to go on to manifest antisocial behaviour and personality traits,” they said. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children should watch no more than one to two hours of quality television programming each day.
The researchers say their findings support the idea that parents limit their children’s television use.
BERNAMA
