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Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Associations between Peer Television Co-viewing and Media Internalization in Adolescent Girls and Boys

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Abstract

Despite the potential of peers to reinforce cultural appearance ideals, little work on peer media co-viewing has focused on body image. This study therefore examined relationships among peer television co-viewing, perceptions of media as important appearance-related information sources, and internalization of media appearance ideals. Adolescents aged 10–14 were included (Study 1: N = 363, Mage (SD) = 12.30 (0.86), 56.5% female; Study 2: N = 959, Mage (SD) = 11.17 (1.11), 48.9% female). Evidence emerged for a positive cross-sectional relationship between peer television co-viewing and media internalization, via media credibility. However, longitudinally, among adolescents reporting frequent media-related peer conversations, peer television co-viewing was negatively associated with media credibility. Peer co-viewing and mediation may be implicated in appearance-related beliefs among adolescents.

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Notes

  1. It is rather unlikely that adolescents set rules about television viewing of peers (i.e., restrictive mediation). Therefore, the current study only focuses on the role of active mediation (i.e., conversations with peers about television content) and peer co-viewing (i.e., viewing television together with peers).

  2. Following the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the number of books available at home was used as a proxy measure for family socio-economic. The respondents reported the number of books available at home by selecting one of the following categories: (1) 0–10 books; (2) 11–25 books; (3) 26–100 books; (4) 101–200 books, and (5) >200 books. This measure is considered to be a quite valid estimation of family SES (e.g., Lehmann & Nikolova, 2005) with children aged 8–9 years answering this question quite reliably (e.g., Kempert et al., 2011; Schnepf, 2004). The mean score on the SES variable was 3.05 (SD = 1.10), indicating that most of the respondents had an average socioeconomic status.

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Authors’ Contributions

A.R. conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, performed the statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript; R.R. participated in the design and interpretation of the data and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the FWO under Grant 12U6419N. This work was supported by the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research (12U6419N).

Data Sharing and Declaration

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Ann Rousseau

  2. Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Department of Applied Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Rachel F. Rodgers

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  1. Ann Rousseau
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Correspondence to Ann Rousseau.

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Rousseau, A., Rodgers, R.F. Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Associations between Peer Television Co-viewing and Media Internalization in Adolescent Girls and Boys. J Youth Adolescence 51, 86–99 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01437-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01437-9

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