“No—You Can’t Watch That”

Abstract

This study addresses the relations between parental rules regarding television use (for time and program, respectively) and television use among very young children (ages 0 to 6). Higher education level was related to rules of both types, whereas higher household income was related to having program rules. Parents with time rules reported their children watching less television, but parents with program rules reported their children watching more television. Parents with program rules were more likely to have positive attitudes toward television and more likely to be present when their children were viewing. Parents with both types of rules were more likely to see their children imitating positive behaviors from television, whereas parents with program rules were more likely to see their children imitating negative behaviors. Exploratory path models suggest that the processes by which television time rules and television program rules are related to young children’s viewing differ in important ways.