2014 Volume 28 Issue 1 Pages 14-24
This study examined how school-aged children (elementary school students) who suffered directly from the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 were stressed by watching video of disasters on TV. This study also examined how that stress was alleviated or promoted based on family conversations during TV viewing. Participants in this study were 61 child-mother pairs. Two-way (duration of TV viewing and five types of family conversations) ANOVA revealed that the duration of TV viewing had a main effect, and stress (measured by physical reaction) was higher in pairs who watched TV for more than two hours a day. In addition, there was significant interaction between the duration of TV viewing and the topics of family conversations (moral topics and preciousness of life or safety measures). Analysis of simple main effects indicated that pairs with less family conversation experienced significantly increased levels of stress (depression and anxiety) when they watched TV more than two hours a day. Pairs with more family conversation also experienced significantly increased levels of stress (physical reaction) when they watched TV more than two hours a day. These results suggest that watching TV for more than two hours a day is a factor that promotes stress and that more family conversations about safety measures, moral topics, and the preciousness of life are a factor that alleviates stress.
