Proactive vs. Retroactive Mediation: Effects of Mediation's Timing on Children's Reactions to Popular Cartoon Violence

Abstract

An experiment with 150 children aged 5–7 and 10–12 revealed that children’s reactions to violent TV shows differed based on when they received negatively valenced, evaluative mediation. Results also showed that the effect of mediation’s timing consistently depended on children’s age. Older children responded better to pre-exposure mediation than they did to postexposure mediation. In some cases, older children exhibited reactance to postexposure mediation. For younger children, on the other hand, mediation given at any time was more beneficial than no mediation at all. The refore, the timing of active mediation may be an important factor in interpreting research and in the design and implementation of mediation interventions. doi:10.1111/hcre.12030 Both experimental and survey research have consistently shown that active mediation is a highly effective way of reducing media’s negative effects on children (Nathanson, 2001). Survey research, however, is inherently limited in its ability to establish causality—it cannot tell us whether mediation in fl uences children’s responses to media exposure or whether children’s responses to media exposure instigate adult–child conversations about media content (Livingstone & Helsper, 2008; Nathanson, 2002). Therefore, we know that active mediation can reduce media effects, but survey research cannot tell us whether (a) mediation prevents media effects from occurring, (b) mediation reduces media effects after they have already occurred, or (c) active mediation is more effective at minimizing the effect of media exposure when it occurs before or after the exposure. Although experimental research tells us that mediation occurring before or during media exposure is effective at reducing the media’s influence, no research compares the relative effectiveness of pre-, during-, and postexposure active mediation. Therefore, thefirst purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of active mediation when given at different times relative to children’s exposure to violent television shows. In addition, mediation research shows that mediation must be developmentally appropriate in order to achieve its intended, desirable outcomes (Buijzen, 2007;