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: jjlcmd@mizzou.edu– Esther Thorson: thorsone@missouri.edu– Hans K. Meyer: hkm3hb@mizzou.edu

• Slideshow available online• Blog posting on the subject. Add your

comments