Parental Mediation and Acculturation

The prevalence of televisions in the home make parental mediation of television viewing an important topic for researchers to understand. Alongside the increased use of television over the past six decades, three parental television mediation styles have been identified: coviewing, instructive, and restrictive. Previous research on mediation styles has been conducted on Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, and Asian cultural groups. This research focuses on Middle Eastern families, specifically those of Islamic faith. Researchers were interested in learning which mediation style would be most prevalent amongst the participants, as well as cultural factors that strongly correlated with the types of television mediation and the acculturation patterns found in the parents. Surveys were distributed at community events by a researcher who was a member of the community. Collected data revealed that this group of parents were more likely to follow the restrictive style of parental mediation