Effect of a Family Media Use Plan on Media Rule Engagement Among Adolescents

Abstract

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all families use a family media use plan to select and engage with media rules. To date, the effectiveness of this tool in promoting adolescent media rule engagement is unknown. To test the effect of a family media use plan on media rule engagement in adolescents. This randomized clinical trial with parallel design used the online Qualtrics platform for recruitment, data collection, and intervention delivery. Parents and their children (aged 12 to 17 years) who spoke and read in the English language were recruited, enrolled, and randomized to either the intervention or control group. Parent-adolescent dyads in both groups completed baseline surveys individually, and the dyads in the intervention group completed the family media use plan survey. Baseline recruitment was conducted from April 8, 2019, to May 1, 2019, and follow-up surveys were completed between June 11, 2019, and July 2, 2019. The American Academy of Pediatrics family media use plan. The primary outcome was media rule engagement reported by adolescents. Media rules were extracted from the family media use plan, and adolescents rated each rule (using Likert scales) according to whether the rule was present or followed in their home. Secondary outcomes were adolescent-perceived technology importance and changes in sleep, physical activity, and depression. A total of 1520 parent-adolescent dyads were enrolled in the trial and randomized to either the intervention or control group. Adolescents had a mean (SD) age of 14.5 (1.6) years, and 789 were female (51.9%) and 1027 were White (67.6%) individuals. Parents had a mean (SD) age of 44.1 (8.5) years, and 995 were women (65.5%) and 1021 were White individuals (67.2%). For media rule engagement, the between-group difference was -0.1 (95% CI, -1.1 to 0.9). This randomized clinical trial found that completing a family media use plan did not lead to statistically significant changes in media rule engagement for adolescents in the intervention group. Future studies should consider revising the family media use plan and exploring the importance of technology as an intervention outcome. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03881397.