A normative study of family media habits

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Abstract

The present study documents family media habits in six areas: electronic and print Media Use, parental Monitoring of children's media, parental Consistency regarding rules for children's media use, parents' reports of observable Media Effects on their children, parents' Knowledge about media and media effects, and how much children participate in Alternative Activities to electronic media. A random national sample of 527 parents of 2- to 17-year-olds were surveyed. Normative descriptive statistics in each of the six categories are provided. In general, families' scores in five of the six categories are positively correlated, indicating that families that practice positive media habits in one area tend to practice positive habits in other areas. Many family media habits predict children's school performance. Furthermore, having TVs in children's bedrooms is correlated with lower scores in all six areas, as well as with lower school performance. This study provides a normative baseline for future research.

Introduction

Research on the uses and effects of media has been a fertile area for study over the past five decades. Yet, most of the research has focused on individuals rather than family systems. Some researchers have begun to consider media within an ecological or systems framework. For example, Goodman (1983) stated, “The family system can be seen to include the family unit and the television. Family members interact with each other and with the television, both individually and as a family unit” (p. 408).

Public debate over the role of media usage in shaping values and attitudes increases every year. Numerous studies have demonstrated predictable correlations between school performance and children's use of media (e.g., Dorr & Rabin, 1995, Huston et al., 1992, Lin & Atkin, 1989); for example, for children watching at least 10 h of television per week, children's school performance declines as their amount of television watching increases. It is not sufficient to base these debates and studies on discrete statistics such as how individuals use media or how often a television is on in a given household. Media is not a discrete variable within the family environment; it is part of the rich interplay of variables that makes family life complex and formative. One of the gaps in our knowledge of family media usage has been the lack of a comprehensive picture of how average families relate to and interact with media. In other words, what are the media habits (e.g., usage, rules, monitoring, etc.) of the average family?

In documenting how families use media, both individual- and family-level variables are important. For example, 58% of families with children have the television on during dinner (Roberts, Foehr, Rideout, & Brodie, 1999). Presumably, this affects family interactions, in that this would be a time when family members would usually talk to one another. Furthermore, rules about media can be predicted by the number of parents in the household, the number of siblings, parent education level, parent employment, child age, and the number of TVs in a house Dorr & Rabin, 1995, Lin & Atkin, 1989. In fact, it has been suggested that the presence of rules about TV implies that TV is integrated into the family (Andreasen, 1990). The effects are likely to be bidirectional. Television use may both affect and be affected by family interactions. There is less verbal communication, less looking at each other, but more physical touching among family members when the TV is on (National Institute of Mental Health, 1982). Furthermore, effects on one member of the family can affect the whole family system (Cantor & Mares, in press). Imagine the effect on the whole family of a child who cannot sleep all night because she is scared by something she saw in a movie.

Because many researchers are moving to more of a systems approach when studying media uses and effects, there appears to be a need for a normative study of family media habits. Such a study could provide the foundation and context for studies as well as serving as a valuable benchmark for communities, policymakers, and individual families. By comparing family habits with the identified norms, we gain a clearer perspective on changes, if any, that we need to make at the individual, family, or community level.

We created the MediaQuotient survey tool to measure family media habits and observed media effects. Our first goal was to assess how many hours per week children and youth spend with media and family rules regarding the use of media. Our second goal was to gain insight into how media messages, habits, and usage were supported, reinforced, or contradicted by other family interactions. If there are rules, are they enforced consistently? If children are playing video games, do they also have structured family alternatives? Our third goal was to examine how all these factors—usage and family dynamics—might relate to school performance.

To construct the MediaQuotient tool, we identified the six critical domains of study that the tool would have to measure. These six domains became the indices through which we gathered and interpreted our data. They are Media Use, Monitoring, Consistency, Media Effects, Media Knowledge, and Alternative Activities. Each of these six indices is described below, along with theoretical reasons for its inclusion.

Children are growing up in a media-saturated environment. Current estimates suggest that the “average” American child between 2 and 18 spends 5 h and 48 min/day with electronic media and 44 min/day with print media (Roberts et al., 1999). Television still dominates children's media landscape, accounting for 3 h and 25 min of watching videotaped or live programming. Music, computer use, movies, and video games account for the rest of the electronic media diet.

Media consumption has been shown to be related to a number of family variables (Roberts et al., 1999). Children in single parent homes watch more television, watch more movies, and listen more to the radio each day than children in two-parent homes. Children in minority families watch more television, more movies, and play more video games. Children in low-income families watch more television, watch more movies, play more video games, listen to the radio and CDs more, read less, and use the computer less than children in higher-income families. Similar patterns are found for parental education level, such that lower education levels are correlated with higher electronic media use.

Researchers have documented numerous effects related to both the amount of media consumed and to the content of the media consumed. Many negative outcomes are correlated with increased amount of viewing television. These include lowered school performance Huston et al., 1992, Roberts et al., 1999, Williams et al., 1982, increased aggression American Academy of Pediatrics, 1995, Strasburger & Donnerstein, 1999, increased obesity Gable & Lutz, 2000, Robinson, 1999, and the prevalence of symptoms of psychological trauma (Singer, Slovak, Frierson, & York, 1998, cited in Cantor & Mares, in press).

Effects related to the amount of media are also present for media other than television. High levels of Internet use have been associated with lowered time spent with other human beings, lower communication, and increased depression and loneliness Hughes et al., 1999, Kraut et al., 1998, Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, 2000, although not all studies have found these effects Katz & Aspden, 1997, Parks & Roberts, 1998.

Increased amount of video game play is correlated with poorer grades (Gentile, Lynch, Linder, & Walsh, 2002). With regard to print media, the amount of reading (reading volume) contributes significantly to vocabulary, general knowledge, spelling, and verbal fluency, even controlling for differences in intelligence and reading ability (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998). Despite the fact that reading to young children is the best predictor of later reading ability, only one-half of infants and toddlers are read to routinely Anderson et al., 1985, Carnegie Task Force on Meeting the Needs of Young Children., 1994.

Media content also has effects independent of the amount of exposure. For example, media diets high in violence have been shown to increase aggression, fear, desensitization, and appetites for more media violence (e.g., Donnerstein, Slaby, & Eron, 1994). Educational television has been shown to teach prosocial attitudes (e.g., nonsexist and nonracist attitudes), skills (e.g., reading, math, science, media literacy skills, etc.), emotion recognition, and empathy (Calvert, 1999). In contrast to diets of educational television, diets of typical television tend to teach more sexist and aggressive attitudes, fear, and consumer behavior (Dorr & Rabin, 1995).

Media can be monitored in many ways. Parents can set limits on the amount of media allowed, the types of content allowed, or the context within which media consumption may take place (e.g., coviewing). A number of reviews have shown that parents typically do not exert much control over the media that their children consume (e.g., Austin, 1993, Dorr & Rabin, 1995, National Institute of Mental Health, 1982, Strasburger & Donnerstein, 1999). In a survey of children between 8 and 18, only 38% said that their families had “any rules about watching television” (Roberts et al., 1999). Having multiple television sets in households may also make it more difficult to have rules or limits, since there is increased privatization of viewing. One recent study showed that 85% of the time children watch television, parents are not in the room (Roberts et al., 1999). Yet, limits have been shown to be effective in reducing time with television (Truglio, Murphy, Oppenheimer, Huston, & Wright, 1996) and even to have beneficial effects in some cases. In one experimental study, reducing the amount of television children watched by half improved Performance IQ and increased reading time (Gadberry, 1980).

Parents and policymakers have been interested in having media ratings in order to provide information to caregivers. Movies have been rated since 1968, video games since 1994, and television shows since 1997. Unfortunately, each rating system is different from the others, and parents have voiced complaints about how difficult they are to understand and to use (e.g., American Medical Association, 1994, Cantorf, 1998a, Cantor et al., 1996, Dart & Shepard, 1999, National Institute on Media and the Family, 1996, Walsh, 1998). Regardless of the possible shortcomings of the various rating systems, they do provide some information for parents. Yet, many parents do not use them consistently, perhaps because of how confusing they seem. Only 32% of 10- to 17-year-olds say that their parents use the television rating system (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1998), and 90% of teenagers say that their parents never check the video game ratings before allowing them to rent or buy computer or video games (Walsh, 2000).

Research on parental coviewing and mediation of media messages has shown that both coviewing and talking about media messages have the potential to be beneficial. Some researchers have suggested that coviewing may be an effective way to mitigate many of the potentially harmful effects of television viewing (e.g., Huston et al., 1992, Strasburger & Donnerstein, 1999). It is hypothesized that coviewing may provide an opportunity for parents to filter the values shown by different media, reinforcing some and rejecting others, and by teaching children to be educated media consumers. Furthermore, some researchers have shown that coviewing can also facilitate children's understanding and learning from educational television (e.g., Huston et al., 1992, Lin & Atkin, 1989). Yet, Austin (1993) has suggested that mere coviewing may not mediate children's interpretations. Active parental involvement and discussion may be necessary. Indeed, some researchers have noted that rules limiting media use and active mediation (both positive encouragement to watch “positive” media and discouragement of “negative” messages) are theoretically independent of each other (e.g., Dorr & Rabin, 1995, Lin & Atkin, 1989). Whereas rules and limits have been shown to affect children's viewing, active mediation while viewing has been shown to influence children's understanding, reactions to, and imitation of program content. Mediation has been shown to increase learning, belief in social norms, skepticism, and to decrease fear. Parental mediation has been shown to be related both to better academic performance and to beliefs about the benefits of drinking alcohol Austin, 1993, Austin et al., 2000, Dorr & Rabin, 1995, Lin & Atkin, 1989.

Parental consistency can be defined as the similarity with which a child is treated by one or both parents in various situations (Brand, Crous, & Hanekom, 1990). With respect to media habits, parental inconsistency could be displayed in one of at least four manners: (1) Parents could be inconsistent across time; for example, they could require children to ask permission before going to see a movie some times but not others. (2) Parents could be inconsistent between different children in the family; for example, they could put limits on the amount of time one child may play video games but not limit another child. (3) Parents could be inconsistent among themselves, for example, both parents may not agree on the rules for children's media use. (4) Parents might model behaviors that are not consistent with their stated beliefs or that do not promote consistency; for example, they may have the TV on regularly even if no one is watching it.

Although we do not know of any studies that document the effects of parental consistency with regard to media, numerous studies have shown that parental disciplinary consistency is strongly related to children's developmental outcomes. In one recent study (Frick, Christian, & Wooton, 1999), parental consistency accounted for the most variance in predicting adolescent conduct problems (38%) of any of the parenting constructs measured. In another study (Brand et al., 1990), parental consistency accounted for over half of the variance in adolescent emotional development. These studies suggest that parental consistency of media rules may be important for children's outcomes. Some research has suggested that parents often are not as consistent with children's media use as they could be. For example, fewer than half of parents report “always” watching TV with their children (Strasburger & Donnerstein, 1999).

Besides measuring family media habits, we felt that it was important to measure parents' reports of children's behaviors that may be the effects of media. Given the prominence of electronic media in children's lives, it is reasonable to be concerned about the potential effects of media. Media effects can be positive or negative (Walsh, Goldman, & Brown, 1996). Concern about effects reached a new high with Bandura's classic studies showing that children learn aggression when they are exposed to violent content, even if they do not copy it immediately (e.g., Bandura, 1965). Children as young as 14 months of age have been shown to copy behaviors shown on a TV screen Barr & Hayne, 1999, Meltzoff, 1988. Media content can increase physiological arousal, decrease physiological arousal (desensitization), and can cause persistent fears (e.g., Cantor, 1998b, Cantor & Mares, in press, Huston et al., 1992). Media habits have been shown to be related to youth drinking (e.g., Austin et al., 2000), youth smoking (e.g., Strasburger & Donnerstein, 1999), childhood obesity (e.g., Robinson, 1999), and sleep disturbances (e.g., Owens et al., 1999). There is a positive correlation between exposure to advertisements and consumption (Strasburger & Donnerstein, 1999). Increased media usage (in terms of amount) is correlated with poorer social relationships, fewer social interactions, lower reading scores, and poorer school achievement (e.g., Dorr & Rabin, 1995, Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, 2000). However, increased usage of educational and prosocial media have been shown to have beneficial effects (e.g., Linebarger, 2000). This is only a partial review of the effects media may have on children and families.

The family setting is an excellent context in which to examine the effects of media on children. Parents are in a privileged position to notice whether their children are copying behaviors that they have seen on TV, to know whether their children want to dress like media stars, to know how much the children nag for products that they have seen advertised, or to know whether their children have been scared about something that they have seen in a movie or on TV.

How much parents know about media, rating systems, and media effects may play an important role in how families use media. Parents as a group tend to underreport the amount of time children watch TV, how much violence they see, and how much it affects their children Cantor & Mares, in press, National Institute of Mental Health, 1982, Strasburger & Donnerstein, 1999. This may be part of the reason why parents exert few controls over their children's media use.

While the vast majority of parents understand the movie rating system, far fewer understand the TV rating system, the video game rating system, or the Internet rating system. For example, only 14% of parents can define 9 out of the 11 TV rating symbols, and only 22% of parents with children under 10 can name one of the children's show ratings (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1998). The fact that the rating systems for movies, TV, video games, arcade video games, Internet sites, and recorded music are different is likely to contribute to parents' lack of understanding and lack of use (Walsh & Gentile, 2001). This is unfortunate, because almost two-thirds of parents who have used the TV rating system say that it has been somewhat or very successful at keeping children from being exposed to inappropriate material (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1998). Obviously, parents need to know about rating systems before they can use them effectively.

Parents' media knowledge may be important for multiple reasons. Providing information about television shows and recommendations to parents increases parent–child discussions about television programs (National Institute of Mental Health, 1982). As was stated in Section 1.2, parental mediation has been shown to have a significant effect on children's understanding and media effects. It has been suggested that increasing parents' media literacy may be an effective way to influence children's critical viewing skills (Abelman, 1990, cited in Dorr & Rabin, 1995). Furthermore, there is some support for the idea that parents can impart their values to children in a way that acts as “preventive socialization” (Dorr & Rabin, 1995). That is, by imparting knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and patterns of behavior, parents can effectively influence children's media habits and the results of those habits even when the parents are not available to monitor children's media use.

Thus, parents' media knowledge is likely to be important in mediating children's media habits and the effects that could result from those habits (e.g., American Academy of Pediatrics, 1999). Because children's television viewing patterns are highly stable beginning in preschool (Huston, Wright, Rice, Kerkman, & St. Peters, 1990), addressing parental knowledge is very important since parents are in a position to help set early media habits.

As has been shown above, there is a great deal of research suggesting that spending large amounts of time with electronic media (especially TV) may have negative cognitive, emotional, and physical outcomes for children. In many cases, these effects may be indirect, through the reduction of other activities. Adult Internet users say that they attend fewer events, spend less time with family and friends (both in person and on the phone), and spend less time reading newspapers because of the Internet (Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, 2000). Children who are heavy TV viewers also have fewer hobbies and engage in fewer extracurricular activities than light viewers (Huston et al., 1992). Watching television is associated with lower family communication (National Institute of Mental Health, 1982), yet the amount of mothers' speech to infants has been shown to be a significant predictor of children's later vocabularies (Brownlee, 1998).

There is evidence that participation in a number of types of nonelectronic media activities may have benefits for children. Children's participation in arts programs is associated with math, reading, writing, and language skills. There is also evidence that working with creative drama and theatre may have benefits for language, reading, writing, and interpersonal skills (Seidel, 1998). In a longitudinal study of 695 students tracked from middle childhood to age 24, it was found that participation in school extracurricular activities was related to reduced rates of school dropout and criminal arrest, even among high-risk youth (Mahoney, 2000). If the students' friends also participated in extracurricular activities, there was an additional decrease in antisocial outcomes. Gable and Lutz (2000) also found that the risk of childhood obesity is negatively related to the amount of active play and participation in extracurricular activities. However, they found a positive relationship between childhood obesity and the amount of television watched.

In a study of over 3000 8th and 11th grade students, Willits and Willits (1986, p. 189) attempted to discover whether adolescent involvement in work, organizations, and social groups tended to encourage or discourage other participation in extracurricular activities. This study included broad categories of youth involvement in work, chores, family and peer socialization, reading, participation in school and community organizations, and watching television. In general, they found that participation in leisure activities and after-school jobs tends to increase the odds that students “seek out and utilize additional opportunities for leisure participation.” The only item that clearly contradicted this finding was the amount of time spent watching TV. That is, the more time youth spent watching TV, the less time they spent in other leisure activities.

Heavy electronic media use may thus pose double jeopardy for children, both because heavy media use has been linked to numerous negative outcomes (often linked to the types of content consumed, e.g., media violence) and because participation in alternatives to electronic media has been linked to numerous positive outcomes. In a review of parenting and television, Dorr and Rabin (1995) sum up the research by stating that parents emphasizing alternatives to electronic media (TV in their specific review) may even be more effective in promoting positive development than parental monitoring.

It was hypothesized that family scores on the six indices described above would be positively correlated with each other. That is, we expected that family systems would show fairly consistent patterns regarding media-related variables. Families that score well on Media Use would also score well on Monitoring, Consistency, Media Effects, Media Knowledge, and Alternative Activities (each index is scored such that a high score is “good”). It was further hypothesized that children's amount of television viewing would also be negatively correlated with each of the indices.

We were also interested in learning how family media habits would be related to children's school performance. We hypothesized (based on our understanding of other research) that we would find positive correlations between the Media Use and Alternative Activities indices and children's school performance. We did not make any predictions about the relationship between the other indices and school performance and approached these as exploratory analyses.

Section snippets

Participants

The sample was a random national sample of parents of children aged 2–17. In order to ensure that the sample included at least 100 completed surveys from low-income families (who are harder to survey), two national lists of parents were purchased from Metromail (a national list vendor). One list was a general list of parents of 2- to 17-year-olds, including addresses and telephone numbers. The second list targeted low-income parents of 2- to 17-year-olds, including addresses and telephone

Results

Table 1 displays the intercorrelations among the six index scores. It was hypothesized that families who scored highly in one category would also score highly in the others. This hypothesis was supported with the exception of correlations with the Media Effects index. All correlations among the six indices are positive (and statistically significant) except for those with the Media Effects index, which are negative (and statistically significant).

Table 1 also displays the correlations between

Discussion

Our first hypothesis stated that family scores on each of the six indices would be positively intercorrelated (recall that the indices are scored such that high scores are “good”). This hypothesis was confirmed for five of the six indices. In general, families that use electronic and print media carefully also monitor their children's media use, carefully are more consistent in the application of rules, know more about media and media effects, and participate in more alternatives to electronic

Acknowledgements

This research was funded in part by Target. The opinions herein are those of the authors. We wish to thank Jennifer Ruh Linder and Diane Bales for their helpful comments, Anderson, Niebuhr, and Associates for their assistance in conducting the survey, and two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions. Some of the findings were previously presented in a proprietary report titled “MediaQuotient™: national survey of family media habits, knowledge, and attitudes.”

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