Developing a scale to assess three styles of television mediation: “Instructive mediation,” “restrictive mediation,” and “social coviewing”

Abstract

Telephone interviews from a random sample of Dutch parents (N = 123 for the pilot study, N = 519 for the main study), provided an opportunity to explore television mediation activities in which parents could engage. From principal components analysis, three reliable styles of television mediation emerged: restrictive mediation, instructive mediation, and social coviewing. In addition to a number of demographic variables, parental concerns about the negative effects of television were significant predictors of style of television mediation.