Parents’ television habits may have a greater influence on children’s screen time than previously thought, according to a new study appearing in the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers based the findings on interviews with more than 1,500 parents who had children age 17 or younger. The parents answered questions about their own viewing habits as well as the number of televisions in the home, where the TVs were located, children’s screen time and family rules about TV.

Parents who watched more TV had children who watched more. Researchers found the link between parents’ TV time and kids’ screen time was stronger than other factors, including time limits and TVs in the children’s bedrooms. Every hour of TV a parent watched resulted in an extra 30 minutes of TV viewed by kids. Teenagers who also participated in the survey reported spending an hour more per day on screen time than parents estimated.