Content uploaded by Hee Jhee Jiow
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Hee Jhee Jiow on Jan 25, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
Content uploaded by Hee Jhee Jiow
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Hee Jhee Jiow on Nov 13, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Abstract
The rapid evolution of our media landscape has placed tremendous strain on parents’ efforts
and ability to mediate their children’s media use. This article argues that parental mediation
theory, with its restrictive, co-use, and active mediation framework, is rooted in television
studies and must be refined to accommodate the fast-changing media landscape that is
populated by complex and intensively-used media forms such as video games, social media
and mobile apps. Through a study of parental mediation of children’s video game play, we
identify the limitations of parental mediation theory as applied to current trends in children’s
media use and suggest how it can be enhanced. This study seeks to improve parental
mediation theory’s descriptive and explanatory strength by identifying and outlining the
specific activities that parents undertake as they impose their media strategies. We explain
how restrictive, co-use, and active mediation are constituted by four types of mediation
activities: gatekeeping, discursive, diversionary and investigative activities that are used in
dynamic combination depending on the overarching mediation strategy parents exercise.
Keywords: video games, parental mediation, restrictive mediation, active mediation,
co-playing
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for our Digital Media Landscape
Children are keen media consumers and parents are primarily tasked with guiding
their children’s media use. Parental mediation theory has sought to understand and theorise
about parental mediation efforts so as to better inform parents, educators and policy makers.
However, despite dramatic transformations in the media landscape over the past few decades,
parental mediation theory remains stubbornly rooted in a paradigm that emerged when
television viewing was a fresh and novel medium. This article proposes specific ways in
which parental mediation theory can be refreshed and refined to better reflect the rich and
intense media landscape that children inhabit today. We will begin with a comprehensive
review of parental mediation theory and identify its key limitations in the face of change. We
will then propose the refinement to the framework, drawing on evidence from our dyadic
study of parental mediation of video games. In so doing, we aim to highlight the
inadequacies of parental mediation theory in its current form and instead identify and outline
the specific gatekeeping, discursive, diversionary and investigative activities that parents
undertake as they impose their mediation strategies. We then explain how restrictive, co-use,
and active mediation are constituted by these four types of mediation activities that are used
in dynamic combination with each other depending on the overarching mediation strategy
parents choose to employ. By providing more detailed explication of the specific activities
parents perform to enact and support parental mediation, and by uncovering parental
motivations for engaging in these mediation activities, our study seeks to enhance the
descriptive ability and explanatory power of parental mediation theory (Baran, 2009; Griffin,
2009). We believe that this four-activity framework supplements and complements parental
mediation theory to offer a robust conceptual apparatus that can capture the complexities of
the digital media landscape enveloping families today.
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Parental Mediation Theory
Parental mediation is defined as the strategies that parents introduce to maximise the
benefits and minimise the risks (potential negative impacts) of media influence (Kirwil, 2009;
Shin & Huh, 2011; Zaman, Nouwen, Vanattenhoven, de Ferrerre, & Van Looy, 2016). The
term first appeared “in the 1980s when deregulation was in effect [in the United States] and
standards of children’s television was low” (Mendoza, 2009, p. 30). Parental mediation
theory therefore emerged from a media effects paradigm, and originally classified parental
interventions into children’s television consumption as restrictive, active and co-use activities
(Clark, 2011; Corder-Bolz, 1980; Horton & Santogrossi, 1978). Since then, parental
mediation theory as originally conceived for children’s television viewing has been
intensively applied to a broad range of media that have emerged over time including internet
use and video games (Bybee, Robinson, & Turow, 1982; Livingstone & Helsper, 2008;
Nathanson, 2008; Nikken & Jansz, 2003; Shin & Huh, 2011; Valkenburg, Krcmar, Peeters, &
Marseille, 1999). For example, research on parental mediation of video gaming has primarily
adopted the frameworks used for television viewing (Chakroff & Nathanson, 2009). This
approach prima facie appears reasonable for two key reasons: first, parents’ positive or
negative views about television content seem to be congruent with their opinions of game
content (Kutner, Olson, Warner, & Hertzog, 2008; Nathanson, 2008; Nikken & Jansz, 2003,
2006); and second, studies indicate that parents actually apply their mediation strategies for
television viewing to video game playing (Entertainment Software Rating Board, n.d.; Funk,
2005; Kirsh, 2009).
Be that as it may, there are critical differences between watching television and
playing video games or surfing the internet that necessitate adaptations in parental mediation
practices (Chakroff & Nathanson, 2009; Kutner et al., 2008; Nikken & Jansz, 2003, 2006;
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Shin & Huh, 2011). With the greater complexity of the current digital media landscape and
its manifold affordances for interactivity, immersive virtual environments, augmented reality,
mediated communication, social networking etc., parental mediation strategies that are
grounded in television viewing are significantly stretched and challenged. For example,
playing video games is more interactive in nature and far more immersive than watching
television (Nikken & Jansz, 2006). Consequently, violent effects of video gaming tend to be
more salient than those of television watching, for which active mediation discussions alone
may not mitigate any adverse effects (Anderson et al., 2010). Moreover, video games that
are internet-enabled provide the opportunity for socialisation with strangers in cyberspace.
Communication with unknown contacts presents particular risks that require more strategic
parental involvement than merely restrictive mediation and/or co-playing (Jiow & Lim, 2012;
Eklund & Bergmark, 2013; Kirwil, 2009; Kirwil et al., 2009; Kutner et al., 2008; Livingstone,
2007).
Using video gaming as a media form that embodies the spectrum of complexities
inherent in today’s digital media landscape, we will further highlight other critical differences
between television viewing and video gaming, so as to identify limitations in the prevailing
restrictive, active and co-use framework of parental mediation. Video games, defined as “an
electronic or computerised game played by manipulating images on a video display or
television (TV) screen” (Prato, Feijoo, Nepelski, Bogdanowicz, & Simon, 2010, p. 17), have
become one of the most popular leisure activities among young people (Funk, 2009).
However, the fast-moving video game industry has consistently introduced new content
genres, novel forms of game play, and fresh possibilities for player-to-player and player-to-
game interaction. With the growing ubiquity of the internet and cloud-enabled devices in the
home that support video game play, new concerns have emerged and existing fears amplified
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
with regard to the impact of video games on players, particularly children. Moreover, the
enhanced affordances of portability, perpetuity (multitasking) and pervasiveness of video
games have placed a strain on parental mediation efforts (Jiow & Lim, 2012). Yet, parental
mediation studies have not deviated significantly from concepts developed during the
television era, and have not adequately captured parental adaptations to variances and
emergent practices within the video gaming space (Clark, 2011; Nikken & Jansz, 2014;
Zaman, Nouwen, Vanattenhoven, de Ferrerre, & Van Looy, 2016). Hence, this paper seeks
to refine parental mediation so as to improve the theory’s descriptive and explanatory
strength in light of newer media genres.
Restrictive mediation is a strategy that involves parents setting the family’s rules and
boundaries for media consumption. Restrictive practices in video gaming have been
identified as active monitoring, and using rules and regulations to manage the child’s video
gaming (Nikken & Jansz, 2003, 2006). Parents may impose rules relating to the duration and
strategic times of usage, seeking parental approval, identifying permissible games, or setting
conditions to be fulfilled before game-play is permitted, e.g. that the child has completed
his/her school work or household chores (also known as behaviour contingency) (Hogan,
2001; Kutner et al., 2008; Nikken & Jansz, 2006). While restrictive mediation of television
viewing is fairly straightforward because parents can take guidance from television
programme classifications, watersheds and safe harbours, video games come in a greater
diversity of genres and are self-selected rather than viewed according to broadcasters’ pre-
determined schedules. Restrictive mediation of video games therefore requires parents to
undertake fact-finding about game genres and game content before actually setting rules and
regulations for their children as to which games are permissible and if so, for how long. As
Nikken and Jansz (2003, 2006) argued, “acquiring information about a videogame and
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
reading about game content before allowing children to play” (Nikken & Jansz, 2006, p. 191)
should be included as part of the restrictive mediation construct. Hence, restrictive mediation
as conceived for television viewing needs to be refined to take into account the relative
complexity of newer media such as video games.
Co-use mediation refers to approaches where the parent and child engage in media
use together, and this togetherness enhances the effect of media content on children
(Nathanson, 2002, 2008). Specifically, co-playing is the term used to refer to playing video
games with the child (Nikken & Jansz, 2003, 2006; Shin & Huh, 2011). However, in many
previous studies, no clear distinction is made between co-viewing/co-use and active
mediation; and parents have been observed to slip in some opinions during co-use even
though opinion sharing is meant to be a hallmark of active mediation (Chakroff & Nathanson,
2009; Mendoza, 2009). The definitional clarity of current constructs can therefore be
improved. As well, unlike television viewing which can be an impromptu, casual activity
that parents and children engage in jointly, video gaming studies show that parents rarely
engage in co-playing because it tends to be a more deliberate, planned activity (Eklund &
Bergmark, 2013; Kutner et al., 2008; Nikken & Jansz, 2006; Oosting, IJsselsteijn, & de Kort,
2008). Indeed, given these typical situational contexts surrounding video game playing, prior
studies have found that co-playing of video games by parents and children is difficult to
execute and hardly practised. The motivations for co-playing are also more complex than
previously assumed. Kutner et al.’s study (2008) strongly points to the fact-finding intent of
parents when playing video games with their children, instead of merely seeking to engage in
a shared activity. This observation was also echoed by findings from the Nielsen Games
study (2008). As a theoretical construct therefore, co-playing has inherent difficulties that
constrain its descriptive abilities (Eklund & Bergmark, 2013; Kutner et al., 2008; Nikken &
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Jansz, 2006; Oosting et al., 2008).
Active mediation is in turn theorised to centre around parent-child discussions on
media use and content (Chakroff & Nathanson, 2009). Specifically, for video gaming, it
refers to parents’ active efforts to process, interpret and translate video gaming content or
activities for their children (Nikken & Jansz, 2003, 2006). However, the term active
mediation fails to convey specifically the purpose of the conversational process and terms
such as ‘instructive’, ‘evaluative’, and ‘interpretive’ have been used to further sharpen the
concept of active mediation (Eastin, Greenberg, & Hofschire, 2006; Kirwil, 2009). Even
with these refinements though, there is insufficient specificity as to what parent-child
discussions in active mediation involve. With the complexity of the fast-changing video
game market, parents encounter significant challenges when they seek to understand the
games their children are playing and they may not even have enough basic knowledge to
undertake instructive, evaluative and/or interpretive mediation. Hence, the concept of active
mediation needs more careful refinement before it can be usefully applied to newer and more
complex media such as video games.
Limitations and inadequacies
As the preceding discussion shows, the existing parental mediation framework has
fundamental inadequacies when applied to more interactive media such as websites, social
media, mobile apps and video games. Furthermore, previous research suggests that parents
have adapted their mediation practices to keep up with changes in the media landscape.
However, these adaptations are neither taken into account nor well-reflected in the current
framework. Notably, prior research indicates that there is now a greater requirement for, and
emphasis on, monitoring activities which have hitherto been classified under restrictive
mediation (Eastin et al., 2006; Kirwil, 2009; Nikken & Jansz, 2003, 2006; Oosting et al.,
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
2008). Yet, parental monitoring need not necessarily lead to restrictive mediation but may
instead facilitate better parent-child discussions that should be considered a form of active
mediation. For video gaming in particular, parents do not merely monitor their children but
have been seen to apprise themselves actively of specific games. Indeed, extant research
indicates that parents use game classification guides and content descriptors such as ESRB
and PEGI ratings to decide on appropriate games for their children (Entertainment Software
Rating Board, n.d.; Pan European Game Information, n.d.; Piotrowski, 2007) - an
increasingly prevalent mediation practice termed “game rating checking” (Shin & Huh, 2011,
p. 1). The current parental mediation framework also fails to capture other parental
interventions that are not media-related, such as encouraging children to explore alternative
activities (Eklund & Bergmark, 2013). For example, participation in extra-curricular or
religious activities are apparently effective ways in which parents can guide teens and
decrease their engagement in potentially problematic behaviours (Skoien & Berthelsen, 1996),
including perhaps excessive video game play.
Methodologically, the existing parental mediation framework also suffers from
limitations when extended to video games. As discussed earlier, the rapid evolution of video
games necessitates that parents adapt their mediation techniques accordingly. Such
adaptations that fall outside the current conceptual framework are best investigated through
more exploratory, qualitative techniques. However, parental mediation research has tended
to be based on quantitative surveys that may not allow for a more nuanced understanding of
mediation practices (Bybee et al., 1982; Eastin et al., 2006; Kirwil, 2009; Livingstone &
Helsper, 2008; Nathanson, 2002; Nikken & Jansz, 2003, 2013; Shin & Huh, 2011;
Valkenburg et al., 1999; Warren, 2001).
In a bid to address the existing parental mediation framework’s conceptual and
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
methodological inadequacies in light of the current digital media landscape, we focused on
video games as the medium that best represents the complexity of the landscape, and sought
to answer the following questions:
RQ1: How is parental mediation of video games practised?
RQ2: Besides restrictive mediation, co-playing and active mediation, what mediation
practices do parents employ for video games?
Method
To obtain a more comprehensive perspective of parental mediation, we solicited the
views of parents and children through interviews with parent-child dyads. Children aged 12
to 17, who play First Person Shooter (FPS) or Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing
games (MMORPG), were recruited together with their parent. Of the different video game
genres available, FPS and MMORPGs have elicited the greatest societal concerns (L. Elliott,
Golub, Ream, & Dunlap, 2012; Jansz, 2005; Malliet & Meyer, 2005). We focused on youths
aged 12 to 17, because video game playing among young people peaks during this age range
which also coincides with the developmental stage where adolescents begin to exhibit
individuation through negotiating and asserting their rights (Funk, 2009; Griffiths, Davies, &
Chappell, 2004; Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010; Smetana, 2011). Hence, parents of
children fitting such criteria (age and game genre) are arguably more likely to exercise
mediation. Singapore is an appropriate location for study, in part because of the pervasive
use of video games among its adolescents (Baker, 2010; Choo et al., 2010; Khoo, Hawkins,
& Voon, 2005), and the nation’s aggressive push for internet connectedness and the
incentivizing of video gaming proficiency among its citizens (Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore, n.d.-a, n.d.-b; Loh, 2011; Oo, 2011; Seow, 2012; Tan, 2009; Ting,
2010), alongside evidence of parental concerns about the adverse impact of video games on
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
children (Choo et al., 2010; Chua & Poon, 2010; Oo, 2007, 2009).
The interviews were conducted between September 2012 and September 2013 after
ethical approval was granted by the National University of Singapore’s Institutional Review
Board following a comprehensive review of the research protocol including the consent
process, interview guide, confidentiality safeguards and procedures pertaining to data
gathering, storage and analysis. Interviews are ideal for exploring the full range of parental
mediation techniques and capturing nuances as they allow for probing and clarification
(Lindlof, 2002; Wimmer & Dominick, 2011). The interview guide was developed from a
comprehensive review of parental mediation literature, pooling together relevant questions
used in previous studies, along with the inclusion of new questions that we pilot tested. A
research company was engaged for participant recruitment (via purposive and snowball
sampling procedures) while the interviews were conducted by the authors themselves. The
final sample comprised 41 parent-child dyads. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in the
participants’ homes, thereby allowing us to observe the physical settings in which video
gaming took place within the home. Parents and children were interviewed separately to
avoid mutual influence of answers. As English is the lingua franca in Singapore, all
interviews were conducted in English and digitally recorded before being transcribed into
Microsoft Word documents. On average, each interview lasted between 60 to 90 minutes and
generated 16 pages of transcripts. The transcripts were then analysed using NVivo software,
adopting a concept coding approach, where themes were rigorously reviewed and refined
(Bazeley, 2013). The data was coded by two independent researchers, and an inter-rater
reliability test was performed on the earlier and later interviews that accounted for more than
30 percent of the respondents (Bazeley, 2013).
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Findings and Discussion
Our findings indicate that the parents’ mediation activities did not fall into clearly
demarcated categories that approximate restrictive, co-playing and active mediation. Instead,
we found that parents engage in a range of mediation activities that they used in a dynamic
combination that varied according to several factors including, for the child: personality and
behaviour; gaming activity and preferences; and for the parent: parenting approach, lifestyle
constraints, and prior experience with and knowledge of video games. Rather than viewing
parental mediation as broad monolithic categories therefore, we propose that it is more
productive to view mediation as a variable composite of activities that are undertaken in fluid
combinations. We identified four dominant mediation activities: gatekeeping, diversionary,
discursive, and investigative. These terms were developed after the first few interviews were
completed and are defined in Table 1. While the overall inter-coder reliability had a kappa
coefficient of .89 and percentage agreement of 99.2%, it would be useful to observe inter-
coder reliability for each of the newly developed concepts (Creswell, 2011; A. C. Elliott &
Woodward, 2007; McBurney, 2007; Wimmer & Dominick, 2011). The inter-coder reliability
is highlighted for newly developed concepts (see Table 1).
Our findings indicate that when parents exercise mediation, they tend not to utilise
any one particular mediation activity in isolation but engage in a concurrent application of
multiple mediation activities that are selectively applied depending on the circumstances.
The four activities we identified are gatekeeping, discursive, investigative and diversionary
activities.
Gatekeeping Activities
Gatekeeping activities refer to those parents undertaking regulation of their children’s
exposure to video gaming. Our interview findings show that these regulatory activities
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
typically take the form of rules and restrictive practices. First, parents set rules for when the
child can play video games. Typically, parents favour video gaming during school holidays
or after school examinations. During the school term, rules are typically imposed for children
to play during weekends, or at specific times, and not too late into weekday nights. Second,
these parents typically set limits on the duration of video game play, although these limits
may be raised during holidays, after exams, or on weekends. Third, parents exercise access
restrictions to control media consumption either through software e.g. installing passwords
and filters, or even hiding physical game device components e.g. power cables and internet
modems etc. Another avenue for access restriction was disallowing children from purchasing
video games and in-game equipment and accessories. Fourth, parents impose behaviour
contingency by insisting that obligations such as homework and chores be completed prior to
video gaming. Fifth, parents introduce rules on parties with whom the child can interact
during video gaming. Typically, playing with online strangers and friends who are known to
be compulsive gamers is forbidden, but gaming with relatives and family members is
encouraged:
15-year-old FPS gamer boy with 48-year-old father: If my friends are... kind of like
more compulsive gamers, then they (my parents) won’t allow me to play with them.
Sixth, the parent respondents impose content restrictions for video games, often prohibiting
games that are too violent or not age-appropriate.
While these different activities have restrictive effect, we prefer to employ the term
gatekeeping activities instead of restrictive mediation because parents recognise that children
want to play video games and do not wish to ban the medium wholesale. Hence, through
gatekeeping activities, parents can actively manage their children’s relationship with video
gaming by dynamically opening and closing the “gate” to regulate access as circumstances
allow. Notably however, and consistent with prior literature, this study found no evidence of
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
parents pro-actively encouraging their children to play video games (Kutner et al., 2008;
Nikken & Jansz, 2006; Oosting et al., 2008). Indeed, none of the parents in this study
encouraged their children to play more, or to pick up video games in the first instance.
Rather, the prevailing situation is one of allowing the child to play by relaxing the rules on
when and for how long they are allowed to play. Such relaxation of restrictions was also
motivated by an appreciation that their children would be disadvantaged in peer socialisation
if they were completely in the dark about video games.
However, the practice of gatekeeping is highly nuanced. While the more laissez faire
parents would simply have guidelines for the child, stricter parents would use corporal
punishment or written parent-child contracts pertaining to video gaming to ensure adherence.
42-year old mother of 17-year-old FPS gamer boy: You have a copy, I have a copy,
both of us sign, my husband signs, three persons sign, everybody signs. Then, it’s just
like a contract between us.
Discursive Activities
Discursive activities refer to the discussions between parents and children about video
gaming. Our findings reveal that such discussions typically centre around several salient
issues. First, the content of the video game is frequently discussed. These discussions
typically occur when parents notice unhealthy content elements in the video game. Parents
also highlight to their children the negative values that some games promote:
36-year-old mother of 15-year-old FPS gamer boy: I said that one [Grand Theft Auto]
is not a very good game ‘cos it teaches you all the wrong ideas and the language is
bad.
Some parents were proactive about broaching discussions about video games with their
children, seeking to inculcate in their children values that they felt could serve as a bulwark
against the adverse influence of video games:
48-year-old father of 15-year-old FPS gamer boy: Of course, not sure whether there
are games that are, become sexually explicit, or those type of games that encourage
you to pick up all the bad values, like greed, self-centred whatever all those bad
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
values… or being disrespectful to parents… Then we will tell the child, you know,
not to get exposed to those games… But once in a while we do ask, “hey, what games
are you playing?”, “can we take a look?”, “can we see what you are playing?”, you
know… but we do ask him what is he playing, and can we take a look, more or less
take a look at the game, and sometimes we do see and observe and we will give him
our appropriate advice.
Parents would also use high-profile, headline-grabbing incidents to teach their children to be
more discerning and to distinguish between the virtual and the real:
45-year-old mother of 17-year-old MMORPG gamer girl: I’ll tell them the stories
from the newspaper… sometimes I understand they slowly pick up from my stories…
[I] just tell them…the game I say, is fake…real life is totally different.
Second, parents also discuss issues related to interactions with other online video
game players and the gaming community, often advising their children not to meet with or
trust strangers they encounter online. Third, parents would discuss with their children
concerns about time displacement and possible addiction:
48-year-old father of 15-year-old FPS gamer boy: Yes. We will discuss with
him…obviously we will ask him “why the deviation [from the rule]? Why [do] you
want to play more? What is the reason?”
42-year-old mother of 13-year-old FPS gamer girl: Ask them [the children] to discuss
video game play with you? Sometimes, they will discuss with me… after that I will
check.
13-year-old FPS gamer girl with 42-year-old mother (paired with the quote above):
Yes [I discuss with my parent about the rules].
Fourth, parent-child discussions that are usually initiated by the child tend to be about
whether to buy video games or in-game items that require financial expense. Some parents
would then take the opportunity to impart lessons about financial prudence.
Discursive activities are therefore dialogues that enable parents and children to share
perspectives on various aspects of video games, where parents air their concerns while
inculcating values and proffering advice on managing the negative aspects of video games.
While such activities were previously labelled as active mediation, we prefer the term
‘discursive’ for two reasons. First, as new media platforms are interactive and constantly
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
evolving, parents’ mediation efforts cannot be cast in stone but must be an ongoing process of
rationalising with the child the changing nature of media and the consequent response.
Furthermore, in light of parents’ ignorance about video games, consultations with the child
may help parents to understand the medium better and apply more appropriate mediation
strategies. Hence, ‘discursive’ captures the dynamic nature of the mediation process, as well
as the dyadic parent-child engagement that underpins it. Such a conceptualisation would be
consistent with Clark’s (2011) and Zaman et al.’s (2016) assertions that the collaborative
nature of parent-child interactions over media use should be more prominently highlighted in
parental mediation literature. Second, ‘discursive’ helps distinguish these dialogic
discussions from gatekeeping activities, where parents simply remind or inform their children
of their restrictions without drawing out the views of the child (Nikken & Jansz, 2013).
Consistent with many parenting studies, discussions and negotiations on parental
requirements demonstrate responsiveness on the part of parents, and parental responsiveness
is widely known to be associated with favourable child outcomes, thereby potentially
contributing to the effectiveness of parental mediation (Baumrind, 1971; Grolnick, 2003;
Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979; Sclafani, 2004). In other words, discursive mediation may
be considered a productive mediation strategy given the opportunity for parents to display
responsiveness and mutual respect between parent and child. Earlier attempts were
previously made at further refining the concept of active mediation so as to better capture the
dimension of parent-child interaction (see Eastin et al., 2006; Kirwil, 2009; Mendoza, 2009;
Nathanson, 2008; Valkenburg et al., 1999) and we feel that our conceptualisation of
‘discursive’ mediation activities can help to advance that effort.
Investigative Activities
Investigative activities refer to information-seeking and skill acquisition activities that
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
give parents the tools to effectively mediate their children’s video gaming activities.
Investigative activities typically comprise several activities. First, parents engage in visual
inspections to check on video gaming content, the time spent on gaming, and the extent to
which the computer is used for video gaming versus doing homework or other activities.
These checks may be at planned or unplanned intervals, or covertly undertaken:
42-year-old mother of 17-year-old FPS gamer boy: Usually we will, on [and] off, go
inside and take a look... Stand there (gesturing to a spot inside the room which faces
the computer screen) and see.
53-year-old father of 17-year-old FPS gamer boy: Most of the time it’s me doing the
watching. I just sit next to him and watch him play.
At times, checks that reveal violations in video gaming rules may not result in any
further restrictions being imposed, but can translate into further discussions with the child,
geared towards convincing the child to play appropriately:
48-year-old father of 15-year-old FPS gamer boy: When we spot him playing, so we
will ask him “…have you completed your homework?” No. “Have you, you know,
finished your homework?” No. “Then why are you playing?”... So he felt guilty, so he
said “Oh, you know…” and gave some not very good reasons… So I said “No, you
should not be doing this, you know, especially you know you have not finished your
homework. Then tomorrow the teacher asks you for it, then what are you going to
do?” You can’t say you have been playing video games and you didn’t finish your
homework… So he, he kind of stops.
To facilitate such monitoring of video game play, many parents ensure that video
gaming devices are situated at highly visible locations within the home, or insist that if the
game is played in a separate room, the child is to leave the door open.
45-year-old mother of 15-year-old FPS gamer boy: Because it’s [the computer] in a
very visible area, it’s hard to ignore... So when I feel he’s been there way too long, I’ll
just say, “David it’s time to get off [the computer]” That’s my definition of
monitoring.
42-year-old mother of 13-year-old FPS gamer girl: Because we want them to play
within the vicinity. So, they are not supposed to close the door (pointing to the door of
the bedroom). So we actually put some [computers] in the sitting room (which
facilitates visual inspection), some here, so that it’s all over the place, so that when we
walk pass, we can take a look on what they are playing. So that’s very visible.
Having devices placed in visible areas of the house also enables parents to hear what is going
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
on while their children are video gaming.
45-year-old mother of 15-year-old FPS gamer boy: I know who he plays with,
because sometimes he’ll talk on the mic [microphone], mention someone’s name.
Through such efforts, parents can gain a more intimate understanding of their children’s
video gaming experience.
Previous studies have subsumed monitoring activities under restrictive mediation
because these activities are seen as informing parents as to whether the rules they set are
obeyed. Yet, our findings indicate that monitoring activities are undertaken not merely to
ensure the children’s adherence to restrictions but also serve to inform the rule-making
discussion process. Hence, we assert that it is too limiting to subsume monitoring activities
under restrictive mediation. Instead, we posit that monitoring is a key component of
investigative mediation because parents can thereby assess the effectiveness of their
regulations.
Second, consistent with previous parental mediation studies (e.g. Eklund & Bergmark,
2013; Kirwil, 2009; Livingstone & Helsper, 2008; Nathanson, 2002; Nikken & Jansz, 2003,
2013; Shin & Huh, 2011) our findings affirm that parents utilise a range of resources to seek
more information about video games. This includes consulting friends, relatives and even
game retailers about specific games, checking game rating databases, educating themselves
through various media sources such as newspapers and the internet and attending parenting
talks:
45-year-old mother of 15-year-old FPS gamer boy: What other information? I think
once… I Googled to find out the reviews from other parents. I don't know [more
details] about the website, it’s some parenting website… That’s one avenue.
Then…I’ve attended one cyber wellness talk that’s organised by the school. So that’s
more general information…whatever I read in the newspapers. These are the places I
get information [about video games].
Third, a small minority of parents reported playing video games so as to better
understand them. When co-playing with children did occur, it was by parents who actually
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
played video games or, more accurately, attempted to play with their children. These parents
engaged in co-playing not with the intention of introducing educational or beneficial games
to their children, but to find out more about the game so as to inform their mediation.
45-year-old father of 13-year-old FPS gamer boy: At least I can play with him, at least
I know what he is doing.
Notably too, the interview findings do not suggest that co-playing is employed by
parents as a mediation approach because many lack the competency to play games to begin
with:
45-year-old mother of 15-year-old FPS gamer boy: It’s just too fiddly, like controlling
the characters with the backward forward, it’s just too much for me.
Moreover, children expressed resistance to their parents playing with them:
49-year-old father of 13-year-old MMORPG gamer boy: No, he doesn't [play with
me]. Usually he says, “You don't know how to play. You’re too slow. You caused me
to lose. You are too antique”.
Such perspectives indicate that it is misplaced to view the co-playing of video games
as evidence of parent-child sharing of media content. Instead, co-playing can be undertaken
by parents as a means of informing their supervision and/or mediation efforts, fundamentally
an exercise in investigative fact-finding. Overall, we propose that investigative activities
such as monitoring, information seeking, and co-playing reflect intent on the part of parents
to apprise themselves of the games their children play, so as to guide and fortify their
mediation efforts.
Diversionary Activities
Diversionary activities refers to parents’ active and intentional efforts to divert their
children from video gaming. Through this approach, parents encourage their children to
pursue alternative activities, typically those that are deemed healthier, more wholesome, pro-
social, or beneficial. These activities include engaging in sporting and outdoor activities,
participating in Co-Curricular Activities (CCA), attending after-school tuition classes,
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
reading books, playing musical instruments and bonding activities with family members.
Primarily, parents believe that such activities are superior to video game playing which is
predominantly sedentary.
48-year-old father of 15-year-old FPS gamer boy: Yes. I mean it [being involved in
the school’s drama activities] is something he likes, and it is something we think that
is... healthy curriculum, it is a healthy CCA [co-curricular activity]... It is not looking
at the screen and playing these types of games.
17-year-old FPS gamer boy with 53-year-old father: They [parents] will prefer for me
to go out and exercise than to stay at home and use the computer.
48-year-old mother of 16-year-old MMORPG gamer boy: Maybe you play for a while,
you stop and do your own leisure thing like cycling, or go out with friends…You go
and form a music group. It’s better for you [than playing video games]!
37-year-old mother of 15-year-old MMORPG gamer girl: Yes, and she can exercise
[hip-hop dancing] at the same time and I would think that’s a healthy exercise, and it
also brings her away from the computer.
Hence, parents seek to divert their children’s attention from video games by
encouraging substitute activities that they regard as more positive and edifying. In parenting
literature, non-academic pursuits such as sports and religious activities are recommended as
alternatives to steer children away from harmful behaviours, but such a construct is
surprisingly absent in parental mediation literature (Holden, 2009; Sclafani, 2004). Yet our
interview findings show that parents do employ this approach in their mediation of video
gaming, by directing their children towards other activities that they consider a better use of
recreational time. Although diversionary activities do not involve parental mediation of
video gaming specifically, the ultimate motivation is to guide the child away from video
games by broadening their slate of recreational pursuits. Parents who practise diversionary
activities shared that they see it as an important part of their overall strategy for managing
their children’s video gaming. Hence, we feel that parental mediation theory should go
beyond parenting efforts that are media-centred and propose that diversionary activities
constitute another critical pillar in the theoretical framework.
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Refining parental mediation theory
In summary, this study has identified the limitations associated with the prevailing
concepts of parental mediation (restrictive, active and co-use mediation) and asserts that
refining parental mediation as comprising gatekeeping, investigative, discursive and
diversionary activities more effectively captures the adaptations in parental mediation
strategies as applied to the fast-evolving and increasingly complex media landscape that
young people currently inhabit. However, we are not arguing for a dismantling of the
prevailing restrictive, active and co-use/co-play framework. Instead, the four mediation
activities we identified and fleshed out are used to advance the three mediation strategies,
albeit for slightly different purposes and assuming different timbres depending on situational
circumstances, the child’s behaviour and personality and a parents’ lifestyle and parenting
approach.
As can be seen from Table 2, these activities we identified help to provide some
clarity on why parents undertake particular mediation activities and how they serve the larger
mediation strategy. Hence, parents who are inclined towards restrictive mediation may be
more avid in using gatekeeping and diversionary activities to limit their children’s video
game play but they may very well also engage in discursive activities to explain why they
have imposed particular rules. Similarly, they would also use investigative activities to
gather more information on how they need to introduce new rules or recalibrate existing ones.
As for parents who primarily practise active mediation, they would centre their efforts
around the discursive activities that can help with relationship building, but nonetheless also
use investigative activities to learn more about video games so that they can have more
meaningful discussions with their children. At the same time, this does not foreclose the
possibility of such parents undertaking gatekeeping and diversionary activities that can help
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
them moderate the amount of gaming the child engages in and his/her exposure to a broader
range of recreational pursuits. By the same token, parents who are inclined to engage in co-
use/co-playing will use gatekeeping and diversionary mediation to control the amount of time
the child spends on video games, but nevertheless use investigative activities to enhance their
knowledge for co-playing and discursive activities to impart values to their children during
game play. The prevailing parental mediation theory emerged when the television-dominated
media landscape was far more predictable, and the largely monolithic and mutually exclusive
categories of restrictive, active and co-viewing mediation were sufficient. In the rapidly
shifting digital media environment, these pre-existing mediation categories are far too “black
box” to have practical applicability or analytical utility. Indeed, our findings demonstrate
that parents utilise a range of mediation activities and also toggle from one mediation strategy
to another so it is unproductive to view mediation strategies as absolute categories. By
identifying and explaining how the four types of mediation activities are employed in
furtherance of different parental mediation strategies, we can have a more nuanced
appreciation of which mediation activities are more effective and appropriate for particular
kinds of media. Although our study focused specifically on video games, we found evidence
that parents in the respondent pool apply mediation strategies consistently across all media
platforms, be it the internet, video gaming, television viewing or the use of mobile devices.
We believe our proposed framework of gatekeeping, discursive, investigative and
diversionary mediation activities can be applied to all prevailing media and need not be
confined to the realm of video gaming. Even with television and the internet, parents can
reasonably be expected to discuss their perceptions of media with the child; to apply some
gatekeeping strategies, diversionary tactics; and to investigate their consumption. We believe
that our four-activity framework has helped to augment parental mediation theory in two
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
distinct ways: first, enhancing its descriptive ability through a detailed explication of specific
mediation activities; and second, raising its explanatory value by identifying parental
motivations for these mediation activities. Given the contextual, cultural and situational
circumstances of our fieldwork, we urge future research to apply and further refine this
framework for a broader range of research contexts.
Every study has its limitations and this one is no exception. Principally, our sampling
of FPS and MMORPG players may have dampened the prominence of co-playing by parents.
Future studies with console gamers may yield more co-play mediation by parents, as console
games are easier to play. Additionally, we encourage caution when making external validity
claims, as our sample is situated in Singapore, which has a high technology adoption rate and
the typical parenting style is more authoritarian than authoritative (Stright & Yeo, 2014). We
suggest that our proposed framework can be further tested with parental mediation of other
forms of media, how they relate to different parenting styles, and comparative research with
other samples. Such findings can yield even greater refinement of parental mediation theory.
Overall however, we strongly believe that the parental mediation framework with its origins
in television needs to be urgently updated in view of our current media landscape that is
characterised by multiple platforms and a plethora of media that offers interactivity,
immersiveness and online social interaction.
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
References
Anderson, C. A., Shibuya, A., Ihori, N., Swing, E. L., Bushman, B. J., Sakamoto, A., . . .
Saleem, M. (2010). Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial
behavior in Eastern and Western countries: a meta-analytic review. Psychological
bulletin, 136(2), 151-173. doi:10.1037/a0018251
Baker, J. A. (2010, August 4). Singaporean youth most wired in Asia: survey. The Straits
Times.
Baran, S. J. (2009). Mass communication theory : foundations, ferment, and future (5th ed.).
Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology, 4(1,
Part 2), 1-103. doi:10.1037/h0030372
Bazeley, P. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: practical strategies. London, UK: Sage
Publications.
Bybee, C. R., Robinson, D., & Turow, J. (1982). Determinants of parental guidance of
children's television viewing for a special subgroup: Mass media scholars. Journal of
Broadcasting, 26(3), 697-710. doi:10.1080/08838158209364038
Chakroff, J. L., & Nathanson, A. I. (2009). Parent and school interventions: mediation and
media literacy The Handbook of Children, Media, and Development (pp. 552-576).
Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Choo, H., Gentile, D. A., Sim, T., Li, D., Khoo, A., & Liau, A. K. (2010). Pathological video-
gaming among Singaporean youth. Annals of the Academy of Medicine Singapore,
39(11), 822-829.
Chua, H. H., & Poon, C. H. (2010, December 9). Stress may turn youngsters into video game
addicts. The Straits Times.
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Clark, L. S. (2011). Parental Mediation Theory for the Digital Age. Communication Theory,
21(4), 323-343. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2885.2011.01391.x
Corder-Bolz, C. R. (1980). Mediation: The Role of Significant Others. Journal of
Communication, 30(3), 106-118. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1980.tb01997.x
Creswell, J. W. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Eastin, M. S., Greenberg, B. S., & Hofschire, L. (2006). Parenting the Internet. Journal of
Communication, 56(3), 486-504. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00297.x
Eklund, L., & Bergmark, K. H. (2013, May). Parental mediation of digital gaming and
internet use. Paper presented at the Foundations of Digital Games, Chania.
Elliott, A. C., & Woodward, W. A. (2007). Statistical analysis quick reference guidebook :
with SPSS examples. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Elliott, L., Golub, A., Ream, G., & Dunlap, E. (2012). Video Game Genre as a Predictor of
Problem Use. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(3), 155-161.
doi:10.1089/cyber.2011.0387
Entertainment Software Rating Board. (n.d.). Game ratings & descriptor guide. Retrieved
April 18, 2016, from http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp
Funk, J. B. (2005). Video games. Adolescent Medicine Clinics, 16(2), 395-411.
doi:10.1016/j.admecli.2005.02.007
Funk, J. B. (2009). Video games. In V. C. Strasburger, B. J. Wilson, & A. B. Jordan (Eds.),
Children, adolescents, and the media (pp. 435-470). Los Angeles, CA: Sage
Publications.
Griffin, E. A. (2009). A first look at communication theory (7th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-
Hill Higher Education.
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Griffiths, M. D., Davies, M. N. O., & Chappell, D. (2004). Online computer gaming: a
comparison of adolescent and adult gamers. Journal of Adolescence, 27(1), 87-96.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2003.10.007
Grolnick, W. S. (2003). The concept of control The psychology of parental control: how well-
meant parenting backfires (pp. 1-10). Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Hogan, M. J. (2001). Parents and other adults: models and monitors of healthy media habits.
In D. G. Singer & J. L. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of children and the media. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Holden, G. W. (2009). Parenting: adolescents Parenting: a dynamic perspective (pp. 207-
230). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Horton, R. W., & Santogrossi, D. A. (1978). The Effect of Adult Commentary on Reducing
the Influence of Televised Violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 4(2),
337-340. doi:10.1177/014616727800400236
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (n.d.-a). Household access to Internet,
2003-2013. Retrieved April 18, 2016, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-
Landscape/Facts-and-Figures/Infocomm-Usage-Households-and-Individuals#4
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (n.d.-b). Infrastructure. Retrieved April 26,
2015, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Infrastructure
Jansz, J. (2005). The Emotional Appeal of Violent Video Games for Adolescent Males.
Communication Theory, 15(3), 219-241. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2885.2005.tb00334.x
Jiow, H. J. & Lim, S. S. (2012). The Evolution of Video Game Affordances and Implications
for Parental Mediation. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 32(6), 455-462.
DOI: 10.1177/0270467612469077
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Khoo, A., Hawkins, R., & Voon, F. (2005, September). Aggressive, addicted or both? A
study of digital gamers in Singapore. Paper presented at the Safety and Security in a
Networked World: Balancing Cyber-Rights and Responsibilities Conference, Oxford,
UK.
Kirsh, S. J. (2009). Media and youth: a developmental perspective. Malden, MA: Wiley-
Blackwell.
Kirwil, L. (2009). Parental mediation of children's Internet use in different european countries.
Journal of Children & Media, 3(4), 394-409. doi:10.1080/17482790903233440
Kutner, L. A., Olson, C. K., Warner, D. E., & Hertzog, S. M. (2008). Parents' and sons'
perspectives on video game play: a qualitative study. Journal of Adolescent Research,
23(1), 76-96. doi:10.1177/0743558407310721
Lindlof, T. R. (2002). Qualitative communication research methods (2nd ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Livingstone, S., & Helsper, E. J. (2008). Parental mediation of children's Internet use.
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 52(4), 581-599.
doi:10.1080/08838150802437396
Loh, S. (2011, June 8). E3 unveils this season's hot console games. The Straits Times, p.
DIGITAL LIFE.
Malliet, S., & Meyer, G. D. (2005). The history of the video game. In J. Raessens & J.
Goldstein (Eds.), Handbook of computer game studies (pp. 23-46). Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.
McBurney, D. H. (2007). Research methods (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.
Mendoza, K. (2009). Surveying parental mediation: connections, challenges and questions for
media literacy. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 1, 28-41.
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Nathanson, A. I. (2002). The unintended effects of parental mediation of television on
adolescents. Media Psychology, 4(3), 207-230. doi:10.1207/S1532785XMEP0403_01
Nathanson, A. I. (2008). Parental mediation strategies. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The
International Encyclopedia of Communication (Vol. 8, pp. 3506-3508). Malden, MA:
Wiley-Blackwell.
Nielsen Games. (2008). Video gamers in Europe - 2008. In Interactive Software Federation
of Europe (ISFE) (Ed.).
Nikken, P., & Jansz, J. (2003, August). Parental mediation of children's video game playing.
A similar construct as television mediation. Paper presented at the DIGRA 2003
Conference, Netherlands.
Nikken, P., & Jansz, J. (2006). Parental mediation of children's videogame playing: a
comparison of the reports by parents and children. Learning, Media and Technology,
31(2), 181-202. doi:10.1080/17439880600756803
Nikken, P., & Jansz, J. (2013). Developing scales to measure parental mediation of young
children's Internet use. Learning, Media and Technology, 1-17.
doi:10.1080/17439884.2013.782038
Oo, G. L. (2007, November 13). MP's young nephew a cyber addict and $80,000 in 'debt'.
The Straits Times.
Oo, G. L. (2009, May 31). Playing the ratings game. The Straits Times, p. THINK.
Oo, G. L. (2011, August 24). S'pore clinches major cybergaming victory; $180,000 cash prize
believed to the most money ever won by a local team. The Straits Times, p. DIGITAL
LIFE.
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Oosting, W., IJsselsteijn, W. A., & de Kort, Y. A. W. (2008, November). Parental
perceptions and mediation of children's digital game play at home: a qualitative study.
Paper presented at the Computer Supported Cooperative Work, San Diego, CA.
Pan European Game Information. (n.d.). About PEGI. Retrieved April 18, 2016, from
http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/28/
Parker, G., Tupling, H., & Brown, L. B. (1979). A parental bonding instrument. The British
Journal of Medical Psychology, 52, 1-10. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8341.1979.tb02487.x
Piotrowski, D. A. (2007). Factors associated with young children's home video game habits.
(Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY). Retrieved from
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1331412441&Fmt=7&clientId=23896&RQT=3
09&VName=PQD
Rideout, V. J., Foehr, U. G., & Roberts, D. F. (2010). Generation M2: media in the Lives of
8- to 18-year-olds. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Sclafani, J. D. (2004). The development triad (part two): parenting styles and triad
interactions. The educated parent: recent trends in raising children (pp. 43-61).
Westport, CT: Praeger.
Seow, T. H. (2012, December 5). There's more at Licence2Play; Besides Digital Life's King
Of Shooters, other games and events await you at Licence2Play. The Straits Times, p.
DIGITAL LIFE.
Shin, W., & Huh, J. (2011). Parental mediation of teenagers' video game playing:
Antecedents and consequences. New Media & Society, 1-18.
doi:10.1177/1461444810388025
Skoien, P., & Berthelsen, D. (1996). Video games: parental beliefs and practices. Paper
presented at the 5th Australian Family Research Conference 1996, Brisbane.
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Smetana, J. G. (2011). Disclosure and secrecy in adolescent-parent relationships Adolescents,
families, and social development : how teens construct their worlds. West Sussex,
UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Stright, A. D., & Yeo, K. L. (2014). Maternal Parenting Styles, School Involvement,
and Children’s School Achievement and Conduct in Singapore. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 106(1), 301-314. doi: 10.1037/a0033821
Tan, W. (2009, July 4). Cyber games 'world cup' blasts off; Over 600 gamers vie to fly the
S'pore flag in world finals. The Straits Times.
Ting, L. (2010, July 18). New game queens; Girl gamers are the new force to be reckoned
with in the virtual gaming world as they win competitions and get sponsorships. The
Straits Times.
Valkenburg, P. M., Krcmar, M., Peeters, A. L., & Marseille, N. M. (1999). Developing a
scale to assess three styles of television mediation: "instructive mediation,"
"restrictive mediation," and "social coviewing". Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic
Media, 43(1), 52-66. doi:10.1080/08838159909364474
Warren, R. (2001). In words and deeds: parental involvement and mediation of children's
television viewing. Journal of Family Communication, 1(4), 211 - 231.
doi:10.1207/S15327698JFC0104_01
Wimmer, R. D., & Dominick, J. R. (2011). Mass media research : an introduction (9th ed.).
CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Zaman, B., Nouwen, M., Vanattenhoven, J., de Ferrerre, E., & Van Looy, J. (2016). A
Qualitative Inquiry into the Contextualized Parental Mediation Practices of Young
Children’s Digital Media Use at Home. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic
Media, 60(1), 1-22. doi:10.1080/08838151.2015.1127240
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Table 1.
Coding Results for Parental Mediation activities
Mediation
Process
Definition
Kappa
Coefficient
Inter-coder
Agreement
Gatekeeping
• activities parents undertake to regulate
their children’s exposure to video
gaming
• e.g. rules and regulations on time and
duration of game play, permissible game
content etc.
0.81
98.24
Discursive
• discussions between parents and
children about video gaming
• e.g. imparting financial wisdom about
video game and in-game purchases,
sharing values that guide game play and
selection
0.81
98.42
Investigative
• information-seeking and skill acquisition
activities that parents undertake to better
manage their parental mediation
• e.g. consulting friends, relatives, game
retailers about specific games and
gaming in general, checking game
rating databases and media sources
such as newspapers and the internet,
attending public parenting talks,
monitoring children’s game play etc.
0.86
98.70
Diversionary
• parents’ active efforts to intentionally
direct their children away from video
gaming and encourage them to pursue
alternative activities
• e.g. encouraging children to engage in
sports, musical, outdoor activities etc.
0.75
99.41
This is the pre-print version of
Jiow, H. J., Lim. S. S. & Lin, J. (2017). Level Up! Refreshing Parental Mediation Theory for
our Digital Media Landscape. Communication Theory. In press.
Table 2.
Parental mediation framework and purposes of mediation activities
Restrictive
Active
Co-Viewing/Co-
playing
Gatekeeping
Parents exercise authority to dynamically limit and permit game play
through imposing rules and regulations
Discursive
Discussions between parents and children about video gaming
Discussions used to
inform rules and
regulations imposed on
the child
Discussions are meant to inculcate values and
discernment, and also to enable more dialogic
relationship building between parent and child
Investigative
Parents find out more about games through monitoring children’s game
play and seeking information from a range of sources e.g. game
classifications, parenting advice websites
Investigative activities
help parents understand
what kinds of media
content should be
restricted or permitted
and whether rules on
game play are effective
Investigative activities
facilitate further
discussions with the
child, geared towards
convincing the child to
play appropriately
Investigative activities
help parents engage in
co-playing so that they
can understand the
games and connect with
children
Diversionary
Parents introduce children to alternative activities so as to steer child away
from video game play and broaden their slate of recreational activities
