Origins and Correlates of Parents’ Expectancy Value Beliefs About Children’s Media Use

• In Event: Laymen’s Media Beliefs in Communication: Theoretical Concept and Empirical Perspectives

Abstract

Literature indicates that parents’ perceptions of the educational value of media are related to the extent they let their children view TV/videos (Vanderwater et al., 2007). Not yet clear are additional dimensions to parents’ beliefs about children’s viewing (e.g., health implications), how parents come to hold these beliefs, or how they relate to other parenting beliefs. This presentation incorporates data from two surveys of US parents. The first investigates mothers’ (N = 698) beliefs about the benefits and risks of TV/video-viewing for infants and toddlers, and how they relate to beliefs about early childhood brain development. Additionally, analyses examine how beliefs about brain development moderate relationships between beliefs about TV/video viewing and mothers’ attitudes and use of TV/video with their children. The second survey queries parents (N = 1,454) about their sources of information about children’s TV/video use to understand the origins of their beliefs about risks and benefits.

Authors

• Sarah Ellen Vaala, Vanderbilt University

• Matthew A. Lapierre, University of North Carolina Wilmington