Intergenerational food-focused media literacy in Jamaica

Abstract

Media use has been linked to unhealthy eating, but there is evidence that parent discussion about media and media literacy can inoculate against negative media effects. Therefore, we examined the relationships between mothers' food-focused media literacy and their discussions about media and their adolescents' food-focused media literacy in a survey of 82 motheradolescent dyads in Jamaica, a middle-income country where obesity is rising. As expected, mothers' food-focused media literacy was both greater than and positively related to their adolescents' food-focused media literacy. The nature of the discussion (i.e., emotional intensity) about the time adolescents spent using media (TV, computer/electronics) positively related to adolescents' media literacy. This study contributes to understanding how mothers may shape their adolescent's media literacy and underscores the importance of considering parent-adolescent discussions for food-focused media literacy.

Screening parent–adolescent relationships, screen behaviors, tridimensional acculturation, and health among Black immigrant and refugee adolescents during dual pandemics.

“…Parental mediation includes how parents limit (restrictive mediation) and/or talk with their child about what they see in media (active mediation) and is typically related to lower screen time and better quality media use (Valkenburg et al, 2013). One study found that over 70% of Black Jamaican mothers in Jamaica report discussing screen time with their adolescents and that the emotional intensity of those parent–adolescent discussions is associated with higher adolescent media literacy (Nelson et al, 2020). However, little work has been done to examine parental mediation in Black American or U.S. immigrant families (Chen & Shi, 2019).…”