Maternal Predictors of Young Children’s Television Exposure: Findings From a Panel Study of Mothers’ Structural Life Circumstances

• In Event: Parents and Media as Agents of Socialization

Abstract

The longitudinal association between mothers’ life circumstances and children’s television time was examined within the context of time conflict theory and stress process theory. Structural equation modeling using data from a two-wave panel survey of mothers of one- to four-year-olds (N = 404) demonstrated that mothers’ working hours affect children’s television time. Unexpectedly, this association arises from two different underlying processes. When mothers work longer, their well-being improves and their children consequently watch less television. Conversely, when mothers work longer hours, they experience more parenting time pressure, which undermines their well-being, which, in turn, leads to children watching more television. The findings emphasize the importance of mothers’ life circumstances as contributors to children’s television time.

Author

• Ine Beyens, U of Leuven - School for Mass Communication Research