Cohesion and Control: Adolescents' Relationships with Parents as Mediators of Television

This study explores the ways in which the contribution of television exposure to adolescents' conceptions of social reality is mediated by their relationships with their parents. The data come from a national survey of 10 to 14-year olds (N = 888). Indicators of parent-adolescent "cohesion" (e.g., maternal affection, shared activities, and satisfaction with time spent together) and "control" (e.g., parental rules, firmness, and disciplinary styles) were examined both in terms of family relationships in general and in terms directly related to television viewing. The analysis attempted to determine whether relationships between amount of viewing and adolescents' images of parental roles, divorce, and fear of strangers vary according to these key aspects of the family context. The results suggest that less parental control (either in general or specifically related to television) tends to increase television's impact on adolescents, especially when combined with lower levels of cohesion. Family cohesion and involvement surrounding television, however, works to intensify television's contribution; adolescents who co-view with their parents, who discuss television with them, and whose parents do not set rules about viewing seem most vulnerable to television.