Available Now: Media and the Well-Being of Children and Adolescents

This spring, Oxford University Press released an important new contribution to the literature of media and developmental psychology with Media and the Well-Being of Children and Adolescents, edited by Amy B. Jordan and Daniel Romer.

The volume examines the role that media play in the daily lives of families with children, from “traditional” media such as television and film as well as “new” digital media, including video games and mobile devices. Together, the research that comprises this volume provides an overview of the latest data and trends on children’s access to media, as well as examining various aspects of the controversial debates around the potential problems as well as benefits, of different kinds of media use.

The Cooney Center’s Lori Takeuchi and Michael H. Levine have contributed “Learning in a Digital Age: Toward a New Ecology of Human Development.” The chapter delves into the need for a more holistic examination of a child’s development within an ecosystem that includes microsystems of family and friends, school programs and community institutions, as well as the personal social networks in which they participate in the broader context of the dominant cultural values and beliefs around them. Former Cooney Center Fellow Sarah Vaala co-authored “Media Access and Use in U.S. Homes with Children and Adolescents” with Amy Bleakley, Amy Jordan and Dan Romer. Other contributors include Ellen Wartella, Alexis Lauricella, Sandra Calvert, and Melissa Richards. Our Sesame Workshop colleagues David Cohen, Jeannette Betancourt and Jennifer Kotler also contributed “Sesame Workshop’s Talk, Listen, Connect: A Multiple Media Resource to Benefit Military Families with Young Children.”

Click here for a preview of the book, which is available for sale on Amazon.