4 research outputs found
Feasibility trial evaluation of a physical activity and screen-viewing course for parents of 6 to 8 year-old children : Teamplay
Background:
Many children spend too much time screen-viewing (watching TV, surfing the internet and playing video games) and do not meet physical activity (PA) guidelines. Parents are important influences on children’s PA and screen-viewing (SV). There is a shortage of parent-focused interventions to change children’s PA and SV.
Methods:
Teamplay was a two arm individualized randomized controlled feasibility trial. Participants were parents of 6–8 year old children. Intervention participants were invited to attend an eight week parenting program with each session lasting 2 hours. Children and parents wore an accelerometer for seven days and minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) were derived. Parents were also asked to report the average number of hours per day that both they and the target child spent watching TV. Measures were assessed at baseline (time 0) at the end of the intervention (week 8) and 2 months after the intervention had ended (week 16).
Results:
There were 75 participants who provided consent and were randomized but 27 participants withdrew post-randomization. Children in the intervention group engaged in 2.6 fewer minutes of weekday MVPA at Time 1 but engaged in 11 more minutes of weekend MVPA. At Time 1 the intervention parents engaged in 9 more minutes of weekday MVPA and 13 more minutes of weekend MVPA. The proportion of children in the intervention group watching ≥ 2 hours per day of TV on weekend days decreased after the intervention (time 0 = 76%, time 1 = 39%, time 2 = 50%), while the control group proportion increased slightly (79%, 86% and 87%). Parental weekday TV watching decreased in both groups. In post-study interviews many mothers reported problems associated with wearing the accelerometers. In terms of a future full-scale trial, a sample of between 80 and 340 families would be needed to detect a mean difference of 10-minutes of weekend MVPA.
Conclusions:
Teamplay is a promising parenting program in an under-researched area. The intervention was acceptable to parents, and all elements of the study protocol were successfully completed. Simple changes to the trial protocol could result in more complete data collection and study engagement
Parental modelling, media equipment and screen-viewing among young children : cross-sectional study
Objective: To examine whether parental screenviewing,
parental attitudes or access to media
equipment were associated with the screen-viewing of
6-year-old to 8-year-old children.
Design: Cross-sectional survey.
Setting: Online survey.
Main outcome: Parental report of the number of
hours per weekday that they and, separately, their 6-
year-old to 8-year-old child spent watching TV, using a
games console, a smart-phone and multiscreen
viewing. Parental screen-viewing, parental attitudes and
pieces of media equipment were exposures.
Results: Over 75% of the parents and 62% of the
children spent more than 2 h/weekday watching TV.
Over two-thirds of the parents and almost 40% of the
children spent more than an hour per day multiscreen
viewing. The mean number of pieces of media
equipment in the home was 5.9 items, with 1.3 items
in the child’s bedroom. Children who had parents who
spent more than 2 h/day watching TV were over 7.8
times more likely to exceed the 2 h threshold. Girls and
boys who had a parent who spent an hour or more
multiscreen viewing were 34 times more likely to also
spend more than an hour per day multiscreen viewing.
Media equipment in the child’s bedroom was
associated with higher TV viewing, computer time and
multiscreen viewing. Each increment in the parental
agreement that watching TV was relaxing for their child
was associated with a 49% increase in the likelihood
that the child spent more than 2 h/day watching TV.
Conclusions: Children who have parents who engage
in high levels of screen-viewing are more likely to
engage in high levels of screen-viewing. Access to
media equipment, particularly in the child’s bedroom,
was associated with higher levels of screen-viewing.
Family-based strategies to reduce screen-viewing and
limit media equipment access may be important ways
to reduce child screen-viewing
Process evaluation of the Teamplay parenting intervention pilot : implications for recruitment, retention and course refinement
Background
Parenting programs could provide effective routes to increasing children’s physical activity and reducing screen-viewing. Many studies have reported difficulties in recruiting and retaining families in group parenting interventions. This paper uses qualitative data from the Teamplay feasibility trial to examine parents’ views on recruitment, attendance and course refinement.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 intervention and 10 control group parents of 6–8 year old children. Topics discussed with the intervention group included parents’ views on the recruitment, structure, content and delivery of the course. Topics discussed with the control group included recruitment and randomization. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed and thematically analyzed.
Results
Many parents in both the intervention and control group reported that they joined the study because they had been thinking about ways to improve their parenting skills, getting ideas on how to change behavior, or had been actively looking for a parenting course but with little success in enrolling on one. Both intervention and control group parents reported that the initial promotional materials and indicative course topics resonated with their experiences and represented a possible solution to parenting challenges. Participants reported that the course leaders played an important role in helping them to feel comfortable during the first session, engaging anxious parents and putting parents at ease. The most commonly reported reason for parents returning to the course after an absence was because they wanted to learn new information. The majority of parents reported that they formed good relationships with the other parents in the group. An empathetic interaction style in which leaders accommodated parent’s busy lives appeared to impact positively on course attendance.
Conclusions
The data presented indicate that a face-to-face recruitment campaign which built trust and emphasized how the program was relevant to families positively affected recruitment in Teamplay. Parents found the parenting component of the intervention attractive and, once recruited, attendance was facilitated by enjoyable sessions, empathetic leaders and support from fellow participants. Overall, data suggest that the Teamplay recruitment and retention approaches were successful and with small refinements could be effectively used in a larger trial
UNESCO’s Media and Information Literacy curriculum for teachers from the perspective of Structural Considerations of Information
La disciplina Estructura de la Información estudia los intereses que subyacen a la dinámica comunicacional y a las
estrategias de informaciĂłn, y su correlaciĂłn con los mensajes. Considerando clave este conocimiento para la EducaciĂłn en
Comunicación, y una vez confirmada su estrecha relación con las dimensiones de la competencia mediática, se analiza su
presencia en el currĂculo de AlfabetizaciĂłn Mediática e Informacional (AMI) del profesorado, cuya formaciĂłn es crucial
para el éxito del proceso, elaborado por la UNESCO, órgano de referencia mundial en el área. El análisis de contenido
semántico desvela, desde un punto de vista cuantitativo, la fuerte presencia de las áreas temáticas de la Estructura de la
InformaciĂłn en las competencias y contenidos del currĂculo. No obstante, aplicado cualitativamente, se detectan debilidades
de fondo en la relaciĂłn con el enfoque estructural de la informaciĂłn. Ocurre cuando decae el declarado espĂritu crĂtico del
texto, empezando por definir a los medios como fuentes de informaciĂłn fiable. La ubicuidad de la desinformaciĂłn y el papel
crucial del conocimiento de los agentes envueltos en la misma y del desarrollo del pensamiento crĂtico para afrontarla, obliga
a la actualizaciĂłn de este currĂculo –a cuyo desarrollo se contribuye con esta revisiĂłn–, haciendo, además, más necesario
que nunca el afrontarla desde un enfoque estructural que favorezca una ciudadanĂa crĂtica y el proceso democráticoThe discipline Structural Considerations of Information explores the interests underlying communicational dynamics and
information strategies, as well as the ways in which they correlate with messages. Considering this knowledge to be key
in Communication Education, and having confirmed its close relationship with the dimensions of media competence, its
presence is analyzed in the Media and Information Literacy (MIL) curriculum for teachers, whose training is crucial for the
success of the process, developed by UNESCO, an organization that is a global referent in the field. A semantic content
analysis reveals, from a quantitative perspective, a strong presence of thematic areas covered by the Structural Considerations
of Information subject within the competencies and contents of the curriculum. However, at a qualitative level, there are
fundamental weaknesses in its relationship with the structural approach to information. This occurs when the critical spirit
of the text declines, starting with a definition of the media as sources of reliable information. The ubiquity of disinformation,
and the key role played by stakeholders’ knowledge, as well as the development of critical thinking to address it requires an
update of this curriculum–the present review contributes to this development– highlighting the current necessity to address it
from a structural vantage that fosters critical citizenship and a democratic proces