PEDIATRICS Vol. 71 No. 4 April 1983, pp. 620-625
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Daytime Television Viewing by Hospitalized Children: The Effect of Alternative Programming

Deborah N. Waldner Guttentag PhD1, William L. Albritton MD, PhD1, and Ruth B. Kettner 1

1 From the Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg; Department of Pediatrics, University of Manitoba; and The Children's Hospital of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba

In response to an earlier survey indicating that hospitalized children were indiscriminately watching excessive amounts of commercial television, a closedcircuit television station was instituted at the Children's Hospital of Winnipeg. The station offered patients commercial-free children's programming between 9 AM and 5 PM, including a daily one-hour live broadcast. In order to evaluate the effect of this station on children's television-viewing patterns, a second survey of the quantity and quality of daytime television viewing was carried out. This evaluative survey demonstrated an overall increase in television viewing, but a decrease in exposure to the potentially harmful effects of commercial television inasmuch as an average of nearly half of the children's viewing time was devoted to the hospital station. A dramatic increase in the viewing of children's programs (mean 43 v 147 minutes daily for the first and second surveys, respectively) along with additional viewing pattern data suggest that the closed-circuit station successfully filled a void for the patients. Overall the data indicated that alternative programming for pediatric patients has an enormous potential for alleviating the boredom and anxiety of hospitalized children.

Key Words: television viewing • hospitalization

Submitted on May 28, 1982
Accepted on August 10, 1982