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Author: McBee, Matthew T.
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. McBee, Matthew T.
Brand, Rebecca J.
Dixon, Wallace E., Jr.
Challenging the Link Between Early Childhood Television Exposure and Later Attention Problems: A Multiverse Approach
Psychological Science published online (25 March 2021): DOI: 10.1177/0956797620971650.
Also: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797620971650
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Sage Publications
Keyword(s): Attention/Attention Deficit; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Depression (see also CESD); Mothers, Health; Self-Esteem; Television Viewing; Temperament

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In 2004, Christakis and colleagues published an article in which they claimed that early childhood television exposure causes later attention problems, a claim that continues to be frequently promoted by the popular media. Using the same National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 data set (N = 2,108), we conducted two multiverse analyses to examine whether the finding reported by Christakis and colleagues was robust to different analytic choices. We evaluated 848 models, including logistic regression models, linear regression models, and two forms of propensity-score analysis. If the claim were true, we would expect most of the justifiable analyses to produce significant results in the predicted direction. However, only 166 models (19.6%) yielded a statistically significant relationship, and most of these employed questionable analytic choices. We concluded that these data do not provide compelling evidence of a harmful effect of TV exposure on attention.
Bibliography Citation
McBee, Matthew T., Rebecca J. Brand and Wallace E. Dixon. "Challenging the Link Between Early Childhood Television Exposure and Later Attention Problems: A Multiverse Approach." Psychological Science published online (25 March 2021): DOI: 10.1177/0956797620971650.