Parental mediation of media messages does matter: more interaction about objectionable content is associated with emerging adults' sexual attitudes and behaviors

Parental Mediation, Digital Media Usage, and Health Literacy: An Exploration Among Chinese Elementary School Students

This study examines the relationship between parental interactions, digital media usage, and health literacy among 19,386 elementary students (ages 6-11) in Guangdong Province, China, using the framework of parental mediation theory. Path analysis revealed that increased digital media usage is associated with decreased health literacy, particularly for short video platforms, which exhibit a significant negative correlation (β = -.335). Parental interaction was found to significantly reduce the use of instant messaging apps (β = -.007) and short video platforms (β = -.008), with the influence being moderated by the student's residence status (boarding or non-boarding). The findings highlight the importance of frequent parental interaction in limiting digital media usage and enhancing health literacy among children. This study suggests that parental mediation theory should pay closer attention to environmental or living status factors, as they can significantly influence its mechanisms of action. Overall, this research contributes to the discourse on digital behavior in childhood and offers evidence-based insights for improving educational and health literacy strategies.

Talking about TV: Mother-Daughter Viewing and Discussion of an Entertainment Narrative about Teen Pregnancy

Narratives can bring about related discussions, which can influence narrative comprehension and future conversations - though little is known about how these processes interact. This study considers the interplay of exposure to a teen pregnancy narrative and subsequent mother-daughter discussion in an experiment with mothers and their teenage daughters. Participants watched a teen pregnancy narrative or a control narrative. After watching, they either participated in a mother-daughter discussion of sexual health or completed a distractor activity. The teen pregnancy narrative led to greater endorsement of teen pregnancy myths on the part of daughters - particularly when identifying with the pregnant teen character - but maternal discussion mitigated their effects on overall attitudes toward pregnancy prevention. Moreover, participants who viewed the teen pregnancy narrative were more satisfied with their discussions afterwards than were those who discussed sexual health without first watching the teen pregnancy narrative. This conversational satisfaction, in turn, led to more frequent mother-daughter conversations about sexuality in the following weeks.

Medical Drama Viewing and Medical Trust: A Moderated Mediation Approach

This study investigates the relationship between medical drama viewing and medical trust, applying the cultivation theory and using a moderated mediation approach. A multigroup Structural Equation Modeling analysis of survey data on 983 U.S. adults indicates that exposure to medical dramas is positively associated with perceived realism of medical dramas, which in turn is positively associated with trust in physicians in medical dramas, and this trust in physicians in medical dramas is positively associated with trust in physicians in the real world. The study suggests that perceived realism of and trust in physicians in medical dramas mediate the relationship between medical drama viewing and medical trust, with health literacy moderating this cultivation process. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Parental Mediation in the Digital Era: Increasing Children's Critical Thinking May Help Decrease Positive Attitudes toward Alcohol

We demonstrate in our research that discussion-based parental mediation may successfully decrease the negative effects that youth's engagement with alcohol brands on social media may have on attitudes toward alcohol through its effects on critical thinking. A clear pattern was found with positive mediation leading to unhealthy outcomes and negative mediation predicting healthier behaviors. Youth whose parents critiqued media messages reported more critical thinking skills, which predicted less interaction with alcohol brands on social media and fewer expectancies toward alcohol. On the other hand, youth whose parents endorsed media portrayals of drinking reported fewer critical thinking skills and were thus more likely to interact with alcohol brands on social media. Including a media literacy component in alcohol education that target parental strategies and that are conducive to discussion may lead to beneficial health outcomes in the digital era.

Promoting Parent-Child Sexual Health Dialogue with an Intergenerational Game: Parent and Youth Perspectives

OBJECTIVES

Sexual health discussions between parents and their preadolescent youth can delay sexual debut and increase condom and contraceptive use. However, parents frequently report being uncomfortable talking with their youth about sex, often reporting a lack of self-efficacy and skills to inform and motivate responsible decision making by youth. Intergenerational games may support parent-youth sexual health communication. The purpose of this study was to explore parent and youth perspectives on a proposed intergenerational game designed to increase effective parent-youth sexual health communication and skills training.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Eight focus groups were conducted: four with parents (n=20) and four with their 11-14-year-old youth (n=19), to identify similarities and differences in perspectives on gaming context, delivery channel, content, and design (components, features, and function) that might facilitate dyadic sexual health communication.

RESULTS

Participants concurred that a sex education game could improve communication while being responsive to family time constraints. They affirmed the demand for an immersive story-based educational adventure game using mobile platforms and flexible communication modalities. Emergent themes informed the development of a features inventory (including educational and gaming strategies, communication components, channel, and setting) and upper-level program flow to guide future game development.

CONCLUSIONS

This study supports the potential of a game to be a viable medium to bring a shared dyadic sexual health educational experience to parents and youth that could engage them in a motivationally appealing way to meaningfully impact their sexual health communication and youth sexual risk behaviors.