Television, reading, and the home environment

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Abstract
This study was designed to analyze the relationship of the home learning environment and children's television viewing and leisure reading preferences. From an initial survey of media habits involving 122 fifth‐graders, 59 students were identified as representing either the upper or lower quartiles in the following categories: 1) heavy TV viewing‐heavy reading, 2) light TV viewing‐heavy reading, 3) light TV viewing‐light reading, and 4) heavy TV viewing‐light reading. A 93‐item home environmental questionnaire, designed to measure parent‐child interaction in seven categories, was individually administered to parents. Responses were content‐analyzed using a clustering technique to provide an in‐depth profile of the four media patterns. Results indicated that media‐related behavior was strongly tied to certain characteristic family patterns. Children appeared to internalize media behaviors and attitudes manifested by their parents.

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