Family Interactions During Three Programs

This research was designed as an initial test of a model that posits that family interactions during television viewing are partially determined by the interaction of interests of different family members in the program being viewed and the roles assumed by each family member. Thirteen two-parent families with two male children between the ages of 3 and 6 were observed in their homes while watching three television programs: the evening national news, the Pink Panther cartoon show, and the Muppet show. Time-sampled data were collected on attention and verbalizations for each family member, and event-recorded data were collected on managing and question-asking sequences during each program. Family interaction differed across the three programs. Children were less responsive during the cartoon show, while fathers were less interactive during the news. Mothers maintained a responsive parenting role across programs. The findings provide initial support for the proposed model.