Childhood and Adolescent Television Viewing and Antisocial Behavior in Early Adulthood

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FIGURE 1
Proportion of male and female Study members with a criminal conviction by age 26, by mean weekday television viewing between ages 5 and 15 years.
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FIGURE 2
Proportion of male Study members diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder by age 26, by mean weekday television viewing between ages 5 and 15 years.
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FIGURE 3
Early adulthood Aggression Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire SD scores, by level of television viewing between ages 5 and 15 years.

TABLE 1

Television Viewing, Antisocial Behavior, and Aggressive Personality Scores Among Dunedin Study Members

Variable	Total Sample		Male		Female
	N	Mean (SD)	N	Mean (SD)	N	Mean (SD)	p
Television viewing 5–15 y, weekday hours	1018	2.33 (0.88)	523	2.42 (0.86)	495	2.24 (0.88)	.002^a
Aggression, MPQ score at 18 and 26 y	992	28.72 (19.38)	509	37.42 (19.90)	483	19.55 (13.82)	<.001^a
Negative Emotionality, MPQ score at 18 and 26 y	992	89.36 (46.17)	509	98.39 (49.21)	483	83.01 (41.85)	<.001^a
Positive Emotionality, MPQ score at 18 and 26 y	992	377.08 (74.60)	509	382.10 (78.57)	483	371.79 (69.86)	.029^a
	n	%	n	%	n	%	p
Any criminal conviction by 26 y (n = 504 men n = 481 women)	169	17.16	133	26.39	36	7.48	<.001^b
Violent conviction by 26 y, (n = 498 men n = 479 women)	116	11.87	97	19.48	19	3.97	<.001^b
Antisocial personality disorder at 21 or 26 y (n = 505 men n = 481 women)	60	6.09	56	11.09	4	0.83	<.001^b

TABLE 2

Logistic Regression Predicting Antisocial Behavior in Early Adulthood From Television Viewing Between 5 and 15 y Old

Outcome Variable	Study Group	Unadjusted Odds Ratio^a (95% Confidence Interval)	Multiadjusted Odds Ratio^b (95% Confidence Interval)
Any criminal conviction by age 26 y	Total sample^b	1.55 (1.26–1.89)**	1.27 (1.00–1.61)*
	Males	1.42 (1.12–1.79)**	1.24 (0.93–1.64)
	Females	1.92 (1.32–2.79)**	1.46 (0.93–2.31)
Any violent conviction by age 26 y	Total sample^b	1.34 (1.07–1.70)*	1.25 (0.95–1.66)
	Males	1.43 (1.10–1.86)**	1.29 (0.93–1.77)
	Females	1.07 (0.64–1.79)	1.10 (0.59–2.06)
Diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder at either age 21 or 26 y	Total sample^b	1.70 (1.24–2.34)**	1.61 (1.10–2.36)*
	Males	1.69 (1.21–2.36)**	1.62 (1.08–2.43)*
	Females	^—	—

Odds ratios indicate the increase in the odds for the outcome associated with a 1-h increase in mean weekday television viewing. Significant at *P < .05, **P < .01. —, Too few cases to analyze (n = 4).
↵a Odds ratios are unadjusted for male and female subgroups but adjusted for sex for the total sample.
↵b Adjusted for sex, childhood SES, childhood IQ, undercontrolled temperament at age 3 y, parent- and teacher-rated antisocial behavior at age 5 y, and parental control at ages 7 and 9 y.

TABLE 3

Linear Regression Predicting Personality Traits in Early Adulthood From Television Viewing Between 5 and 15 y Old

Outcome Variable	Study Group	Unadjusted Coefficient^a (95% Confidence Interval)	Multiadjusted Coefficient^b (95% Confidence Interval)
Aggression	Total sample^b	0.21 (0.14 to 0.28)**	0.19 (0.11 to 0.27)**
	Boys	0.25 (0.15 to 0.35)**	0.20 (0.08 to 0.31)**
	Girls	0.17 (0.07 to 0.27)**	0.18 (0.06 to 0.30)**
Negative Emotionality	Total sample^b	0.19 (0.12 to 0.26)**	0.13 (0.05 to 0.21)**
	Boys	0.24 (0.14 to 0.34)**	0.17 (0.05 to 0.27)**
	Girls	0.14 (0.03 to 0.24)**	0.10 (−0.02 to 0.21)
Positive Emotionality	Total sample^b	−0.14 (−0.21 to −0.07)**	−0.10 (−0.19 to −0.02)*
	Boys	−0.15 (−0.25 to −0.04)**	−0.14 (−0.26 to −0.02)*
	Girls	−0.13 (−0.23 to −0.03)**	−0.07 (−0.19 to 0.05)

Coefficients represent the increase in age- and sex-adjusted SD score for MPQ personality data associated with a 1-h increase in weekday television viewing. Significant at *P < .05, **P < .01.
a Analyses unadjusted for male and female subgroups but adjusted for sex for total sample.
↵b Adjusted for childhood SES, childhood IQ, undercontrolled temperament at age 3 y, parent- and teacher-rated antisocial behavior at age 5 y, and parental control at ages 7 and 9 y.