Background Video games are one of the favourite leisure activities of children; the influence on child health is usually perceived to be negative. The present study assessed the association between the amount of time spent playing video games and children mental health as well as cognitive and social skills. Methods Data were drawn from the School Children Mental Health Europe project conducted in six European Union countries (youth ages 6–11, n = 3195). Child mental health was assessed by parents and teachers using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and by children themselves with the Dominic Interactive. Child video game usage was reported by the parents. Teachers evaluated academic functioning. Multivariable logistic regressions were used. Results 20 % of the children played video games more than 5 h per week. Factors associated with time spent playing video games included being a boy, being older, and belonging to a medium size family. Having a less educated, single, inactive, or psychologically distressed mother decreased time spent playing video games. Children living in Western European countries were significantly less likely to have high video game usage (9.66 vs 20.49 %) though this was not homogenous. Once adjusted for child age and gender, number of children, mothers age, marital status, education, employment status, psychological distress, and region, high usage was associated with 1.75 times the odds of high intellectual functioning (95 % CI 1.31–2.33), and 1.88 times the odds of high overall school competence (95 % CI 1.44–2.47). Once controlled for high usage predictors, there were no significant associations with any child self-reported or mother- or teacher-reported mental health problems. High usage was associated with decreases in peer relationship problems [OR 0.41 (0.2–0.86) and in prosocial deficits (0.23 (0.07, 0.81)]. Conclusions Playing video games may have positive effects on young children. Understanding the mechanisms through which video game use may stimulate children should be further investigated.
ObjectiveTo ascertain patterns of parental smoking in the vicinity of children in Eastern and Western Europe and their relation to Tobacco Control Scale (TCS) scores.MethodsData on parental smoking patterns were obtained from the School Child Mental Health Europe (SCMHE), a 2010 cross-sectional survey of 5141 school children aged 6 to 11 years and their parents in six countries: Germany, Netherlands, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey ranked by TCS into three level categories toward tobacco control policies.ResultsA slightly higher proportion of Eastern compared to Western European mothers (42.4 vs. 35.1%) were currently smoking in but the difference was not statistically significant after adjusting for maternal age and maternal educational attainment. About a fifth (19.3%) and a tenth (10.0%) of Eastern and Western European mothers, respectively, smoked in the vicinity of their children, and the difference was significant even after adjustment for potential confounders (p<0.001). Parents with the highest educational attainment were significantly less likely to smoke in the vicinity of their children than those with the lowest attainment. After control of these covariates lax tobacco control policies, compared to intermediate policies, were associated with a 50% increase in the likelihood of maternal smoking in the vicinity of children adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.52 and 1.64. Among fathers, however, the relationship with paternal smoking and TCS seems more complex since strict policy increases the risk as well AOR = 1,40. Only one country, however belongs to the strict group.SignificanceTobacco control policies seem to have influenced maternal smoking behaviors overall to a limited degree and smoking in the vicinity of children to a much greater degree. Children living in European countries with lax tobacco control policies are more likely to be exposed to second hand smoking from maternal and paternal smoking.
ZusammenfassungDer Klimawandel stellt eine der wesentlichen Herausforderungen des 21. Jahrhunderts dar und gilt durch seine Struktur als hochrelevantes Thema im Geographieunterricht. Gleichzeitig stellt Interesse eine der zentralen themenspezifischen Voraussetzungen für fachliches Lernen dar. Bezogen auf den Klimawandel ist dieses bisher allerdings nur in Ansätzen erforscht. Die vorliegende Studie entwickelte daher auf Basis themenspezifischer sowie geographiedidaktischer Vorüberlegungen einen Fragebogen zur Erfassung kontextbezogenen Schüler*inneninteresses am Klimawandel. Im Zuge einer Faktorenanalyse ergaben sich fünf eindeutige Faktoren mit jeweils angemessenen bis hohen Reliabilitätswerten. Auf Ebene der unterrichtlichen Kontexte zeigten sich die lebensweltlich orientierten und individuell geprägten Kontexte Handlung sowie räumliche Nähe als besonders gewichtige Determinanten des Schüler*inneninteresses. Weiterhin ergab sich der Kontext Messung/Methodik. Mit Blick auf die fachlich-inhaltliche Struktur des Themas konnten die Faktoren globale Ursachen sowie Folgen als interesseleitend identifiziert werden. Es zeigte sich, dass das Interesse am Klimawandel vor allem durch die Lebenswelt sowie den Alltag der Schüler*innen betreffende Kontexte (z. B. den Nah‑/Heimatraum) determiniert wird. Die inhaltlichen Facetten des Themas spielen – zumindest soweit diese Kontexte berührt werden – eine nachgeordnete Rolle. Somit liegt ein hochreliables Verfahren zur Erfassung des Schüler*inneninteresses am Klimawandel gegen Ende der Sekundarstufe I vor, das eine Ausdifferenzierung des derzeitigen Forschungsstandes sowie eine interessenbezogene Wirksamkeitsprüfung unterrichtlicher Interventionen ermöglicht.
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