A normative study of family media habits

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. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.