Effects of Media Use on Family Bonding

Abstract

Family bonding, or family connectedness, refers to a sense of belonging and closeness to the family. It is related to a host of indicators of personal and family well‐being, including family resilience and mental, physical, and emotional health. Family connectedness also decreases the likelihood that family members will experience many risks to their well‐being. Family connectedness is enhanced when families spend time together and engage in positive communication with each other. From a family systems perspective, media use is an input that results in changes to the family, including changes in family functioning. While solitary media use by individual family members tends to isolate family members from each other, shared media use can serve to enhance family relationships. Several types of shared media use, such as listening to music together, playing video games together, and watching TV and movies together can facilitate family communication, togetherness, and, ultimately, connectedness. Certain types of media content are associated with either increased or decreased family connectedness. Family connectedness can also protect against excessive media use by family members. Parent–child media‐related communication serves to promote quality family functioning. As a large part of contemporary family life, media can be harnessed to facilitate meaningful interactions and promote family connectedness.