Grandparenting with media: How grandparents mediate young children’s media use

Given the ongoing public and scholarly concern over the effects of media on children’s development and wellbeing, mediation practices are understood to offer means of minimizing negative effects and maximizing positive ones. Recent research demonstrates that many grandparents are involved in caring for their grandchildren and that using various media, such as television, computers and video games, accounts for a large proportion of the time children spend under their grandparents’ supervision. Nevertheless, grandparents were completely ignored in previous research on mediation of children’s media use. The gap in the body of knowledge is particularly troubling in the case of young children, for whom grandparents often play an important role as significant caregivers and who are especially in need of adults’ mediation. 

The main goal of the pioneer study proposed here is to provide an in-depth understanding of the grandparents’ role as mediators in shaping their grandchildren’s media habits. Specifically, the study will examine the grandparents’ place in the “mediation triad” (i.e. grandparents-parents-grandchildren), the factors that shape grandparental mediation, and its effect on all parties involved. These goals will be achieved by applying a large-scale, mix-methods study that will be conducted in three phases (1) Observations: 40 three-generational triads (grandparent-parent-child), namely, a total of 120 participants, will be recruited. Each triad will be observed twice: when the grandparent is caregiving for the grandchild and when the parent is looking after the child. (2) In-depth interviews: Individual semi-structured in-depth interviews with all triad members will be conducted, seeking their own perspective on the dynamic of the mediation process. Parents and grandparents’ perceptions of their own behavior and that of others will be compared and contrasted with the observational data. (3) Survey: The integrative analysis of the qualitative findings will initiate a comprehensive survey aimed at systematic exploration of grandparental mediation within the reciprocal dynamic of the three-generational triad. The survey will allow us to measure and compare the frequency of mediation practices, attitudes, media use and perceived outcomes among parents and grandparents, and to point at associations between these variables and the factors explaining them. Overall, a minimum of 300 parents and 300 grandparents will be interviewed, and quotas will be instituted to ensure equal representation according to the grandparents’ gender and education.

The significance of the proposed project lies in both its theoretical and practical aspects. The insights resulting from the study will allow an important development of existing theoretical models concerning mediation of children’s media uses. Moreover, based on the findings we will formulate a detailed guide for proper media use in the multi-generational family context, which will provide parents and grandparents with new opportunities to enrich the children’s lives, stimulate media-related conversations, and encourage new forms of cooperation and shared leisure experiences.