From ABCs to DVDs: Profiles of infants' home media environments in the first two years of life

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Division

School of Education Counseling and Psychology in Education

Keywords

Print exposure; baby media; home-literacy environment; infants; family profiles; parent engagement

Disciplines

Cognitive Psychology | Developmental Psychology | Educational Psychology

Abstract

The very definition of print exposure has evolved in recent years as has the production of new media for infants and toddlers. Recognising that parents now have a confluence of media to select from, our study was designed to provide a richer understanding of home-literacy environments among 100 infants. Three profiles of families' home media environments emerged: (1) media abstainers, who neither knew much about baby books and DVDs nor owned them; (2) media knowers, who knew about baby books and DVDs, but chose to own many books and hardly any DVDs; and (3) media owners, who owned many baby books and DVDs, but appeared to have little knowledge about them. Parents who were readers themselves owned more baby books but fewer baby DVDs than parents with less print exposure. Results suggest a more complex understanding of print exposure in home environments than previously understood.

Publication Title

Early Child Development and Care

Volume

184

First Page

1250

Last Page

1266

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2013.862531

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