Search > Search Result > Full abstract   Author: Smith, Stacy L.; Wilson, Barbara J. » View CMCH Abstract CMCH Synopsis: 125 elementary school children were interviewed regarding their television news viewing habits, degree of comprehension of TV news, consequential fear, and perceptions of incidence of real world murders and kidnappings. Older boys were significantly more likely to watch TV news than older and younger girls and younger boys. Older children were more likely to: 1) comprehend the purpose of news (77%) than younger children (28%), 2) (24%) spontaneously report TV news as more frightening than young children (8), 3) describe a scary news story (64%) then younger children (37%), and 4)younger children (60%) cited disaster and accident stories significantly more often than older children (31%). Higher proportion of older children (69%) recalled stories about crime/violence than younger children (45%). Exposure to TV news was a significant positive predictor of children's estimations of murders in Los Angeles. © Center on Media and Child Health ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Year: 2002 Article Title: Children's comprehension of and fear reactions to television news Journal: Media Psychology Volume: 4 Issue: 4 Pages: 1-26 ISSN: 1521-3269 Source of Funding: Study Design: Publication Type: Journal Article URL: Age Group: Childhood (birth-12 yrs), School Age (6-12 yrs) Keywords: Age Differences Child Attitudes Child Development Children Cognitive Development Communications Comprehension Crime (Media Content) Emotional Response Fantasy Reality Distinction Fear Gender Differences Homicide (Media Content) Mean World Syndrome Media Diet Mental Recall News Media Perception Psychology Television Violence (Media Content)

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