Identifying and explaining the relationship between parental mediation and children's aggression

A survey of 394 parents and children in 2nd through 6th grades was conducted to explore the relations between parental mediation of violent television and children's generalized and TV-induced aggressive tendencies. In addition explanations for why mediation is related to aggression were sought by exploring a number of intervening variables. It was found that parental active mediation and restrictive mediation were both negatively related to children's generalized and TV-induced aggressive inclinations, whereas parental coviewing was positively related to children's TV-induced aggressive tendencies. The data also revealed that parental mediation works by first influencing either how important children perceive violent TV to be or how much attention they grant this content, which, in turn, influences aggressive tendencies. Hence, parental mediation seems to socialize children into an orientation toward TV that makes them less vulnerable to negative effects.