Abstract

An index tapping the frequency with which parents actively mediate children's interpretations of television messages is tested in a survey of 346 adolescents. The measures produce a reliable index, which predicts skepticism, public affairs media use, and public affairs discussion. When tested along with family communication norms including concept orientation, socio orientation, and communication warmth, mediation remains a significant predictor. It is the only significant predictor among the variables tested for skepticism, in which the variance explained remains small.