Relationship Between Using Television and Behavioral Problems of Pre-School Children

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between the use of television and behavioral problems in children.  Methods: This is a descriptive and correlational research. The statistical population of the study included 4- to 6-year-old pre-school children in Tehran who were selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. A sample of 150 children was selected. The subjects responded to two questionnaires of Rutter’s behavioral problems and a researcher-made questionnaire on the extent of using electronic devices. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22 software in two sections: descriptive (tables and diagrams) and inferential statistics (univariate and multivariate analysis of variance and one-way and two-way Chi-square tests). Results: The findings showed that there was a relationship between the use of television with isolation and anxiety in 4- to 6-year-old children. There was no significant relationship between having a personal computer and the time spent in watching television, but overall, the percentages of the total results indicated that children who did not have computers spent more hours watching television. Further, there was no significant relationship between the number of hours spent for playing with children and the time spent for watching television, but the results represented that children who played more than 2 hours spent less time watching television. However, there was a significant difference in aggressive behavior, neglect and childish behavior, but no significant difference in isolation and anxiety between children watching foreign movies and cartoons and those who watched Iranian movies and cartoons. Discussion: It seems that decreasing children’s television watching can prevent behavioral problems.