Author Date

2019-08-05

Degree Name

Department

Family Life

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Defense Date

2019-06-26

Publication Date

2019-08-05

First Faculty Advisor

Laura Padilla-Walker

First Faculty Reader

Erin Holmes

Honors Coordinator

Mark Butler

Keywords

maternal gatekeeping, media conflict, media monitoring

Abstract

Within the last decade, there has been an onslaught of digital media among adolescents, the majority of whom are ill prepared to self-regulate and critically examine the messages they receive from the media. Unfortunately, parents are often unsure how to help, and may disagree on how to monitor the media in their home. This study was conducted on the influence of conflictual co-parenting behaviors on media monitoring style choice. The results indicated that parents who experience co-parental conflict and maternal gatekeeping may have a difficult time encouraging their children’s autonomy through active and autonomy supportive media monitoring and are more likely to use restrictive controlling monitoring. Families with higher incomes tended to experience higher levels of media monitoring overall. They also suggested that as adolescents age, parents tend to monitor less. By continuing to fill this gap in the research, the results of this study will shed some light on the relationship between co-parenting and the influence it has on the effectiveness of media monitoring in the home.