Getting a High-Speed Family Connection: Associations Between Family Media Use and Family Connection

The way families have used the media has substantially changed over the past decade. Within the framework of family systems theory, this paper examines the relations between family media use and family connection in a sample of 453 adolescents (mean age of child = 14.32 years, SD = 0.98, 52% female) and their parents. Results revealed that cell phone use and watching television or movies were the most common mediums used in families. Analyses also revealed that greater amounts of family cell phone use, coviewing of TV and movies, and coplaying of video games were associated with higher levels of family connection. Conversely, engagement over social networking sites was related to lower levels of family connection, at least from the adolescent's perspective. Implications for practitioners are discussed.