Download - ICA09-littau
Parental andEnvironmental Antecedents
of Adolescent News UseEsther Thorson
Hans MeyerJeremy Littau
Mi Rosie Jahng
This study was part of a five-University partnership to research parents and adolescents during the 2008 Presidential election and beyond. We thank our
partners at the Universities of Wisconsin, Kansas, Arkansas and Texas.
Adolescents and news habit
• News use across all channels is declining among adolescents.– They are using news less than adults (Pew,
2008; Patterson, 2007).
• Journalism and democracy: How do adolescents develop news habit?– Media use is crucial for political knowledge,
participation, and community connectedness
Research question
• What parental influencesand features of thehome environmentlead to higher levelsof use of news useacross both traditionalchannels andemerging channels?
Research on parenting styles
• Early thinking focused on dueling parental motives involving nurturing and controlling particular behaviors for the purpose of socializing adolescents (Rogers, 1960; Freud, 1933; Watson, 1928).
• Research in recent years has focused on how parenting style brings structure to child development.
Baumrind’s typology
Low
High
Uninvolved
Neglectful style of parenting. Children have little structure and no parental attention to
needs or social growth.
Authoritarian
Emphasis on obeying structure as goal of choice, little on child's growth and learning from mistakes.
Permissive
Child has more choice and freedom, but parent is
engaged. More discussion of choices, fewer penalties
for bad choices
Authoritative
Demanding of child behavior and choices. Structure exists to support child's growth and welfare, not punish. "Goal is
self-regulation."
RESPONSIVE
Demanding (L)Demanding (H)
Family, political socialization
• Children acquire political attitude, information and behavior from their parents through observation and modeling (Butler & Stokes, 1974; McDevitt, 2005; Chaffee & McDevitt, 2000).
Methods
• Survey using Synovate• Pairs of parents and children aged 12-17• 1,291 responses
Parenting Styles
• Authoritative/Involved– “I restrict the types of Web sites my kids can visit.”– “I often encourage my child to follow the news.”
• Permissive– “In our family, it’s OK to disagree with adult’s ideas
about the world.”
• Authoritarian – “Kids are taught not to question parents’ rules in our
family.”
Other dependent variables
• Elaboration – “I try to connect what I see in the media” – “I often recall what I see in the media”
– “It’s important to know what’s going on in the world” • Political interest
– “I am interested in the presidential campaign”– “I am interested in politics”
Hypotheses and findings
• H1 and H2: Predicts positive impact on all news use measures with higher levels of Authoritative and Authoritarian parents. SupportedSupported
• H3 and H4: Predicts negative impact on all news use measures with higher levels of Permissive and Uninvolved parents. PartialPartial
• H5: Predicts direct positive effect of family communication on adolescent attention to news, elaboration, political interest. SupportedSupported
Findings
• Talking about politics at home is the strongest predictor of news use, political interest and elaboration.– Parents who are involved in their children’s
lives also seem to be more likely to talk with them about politics.
• Involved or authoritative parenting style a highly positive impetus toward news use
Findings
• Authoritarian parenting style– It might force children to the news, but does
little to help them internalize and apply the news in their lives.
• Permissive parenting style– Can have a direct impact on how children
incorporate the news into their lives but it does not lead to political interest or news use.
Discussion
• Involved or authoritative parenting styles– Encourage children to use news, pay
attention to it, remember and integrate it into their lives.
– Encourage them to stay interested in politics.
Discussion
• Getting adolescents to focus their attention on news seems capable of engendering interest in the news and deeper processing of that news. – Interest on the part of parents and willingness to talk
with their teen children about that interest encourages the youth to use the media.
– Political conversation also increased attention to news, elaborative responses to political messages, and interest in politics.
Thank you!
• Contact us for a copy of the paper– Jeremy Littau: [email protected]– Esther Thorson: [email protected]– Hans K. Meyer: [email protected]
• Slideshow available online• Blog posting on the subject. Add your
comments