Did the researchers consider the possible impact of such factors as home life or family situation?
Both studies considered an array of societal and family factors. Teasing out these factors was at the core of the Oklahoma State study, which looked specifically for family, parental and child factors that may confound effects attributed to TV. The Michigan/Montreal study did, as most studies do, try to weed out other economic, social and other factors; however, here’s a key sentence from that study: “Preexisting maternal or familial factors predicted television exposure and were consistently related to most of the dependent variables,making them, in addition to sex, essential as controls.” To me, this says that the amount of screen time allowed a child doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it is related to family needs (if you live in an unsafe neighborhood, TV may be the safest option; if a family is dysfunctional, the child may end up spending more time alone with the screen; if parents are working two jobs trying to make ends meet, they may not be able to afford quality child care). It’s easy
