Portrayals of Pain in Children's Popular Media: Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs and Attitudes
Evidence suggests that children's popular media may model maladaptive and distorted experiences of pain to young children. In a recent study, pain depicted in popular media targeting 4–6-year-olds was frequently and unrealistically portrayed, evoked little response or empathy from observing cha...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Pain Research |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2022.898855/full |
| _version_ | 1818028417638989824 |
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| author | Maria Pavlova Kendra Mueri Madison Kennedy Sarah Wallwork G. Lorimer Moseley Abbie Jordan Melanie Noel Melanie Noel Melanie Noel Melanie Noel |
| author_facet | Maria Pavlova Kendra Mueri Madison Kennedy Sarah Wallwork G. Lorimer Moseley Abbie Jordan Melanie Noel Melanie Noel Melanie Noel Melanie Noel |
| author_sort | Maria Pavlova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Evidence suggests that children's popular media may model maladaptive and distorted experiences of pain to young children. In a recent study, pain depicted in popular media targeting 4–6-year-olds was frequently and unrealistically portrayed, evoked little response or empathy from observing characters, and perpetuated unhelpful gender stereotypes. Parents play a critical role in both children's pain experiences and children's media consumption. Yet, no study to date has examined parents' beliefs and attitudes regarding how pain is portrayed in media for young children. The present study aimed to fill this gap by examining how parents perceive and appraise painful instances depicted in children's popular media. Sixty parents (48% fathers) of children aged 4 to 6 years completed a semi-structured interview to assess their general beliefs and attitudes toward how pain is portrayed in children's media. Inductive reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to identify and analyze key patterns in the data. Qualitative analyses generated two major themes representing parental beliefs regarding pain that is portrayed in children's media: “entertaining pain” and “valuable lessons”. Findings reveal that parents believe that pain portrayed in popular media serves either a function of entertaining and amusing children or can provide valuable lessons about appropriate emotional responses and empathic reactions. Further, pain portrayals could also instill valuable lessons and provide children with a point of reference and language for their own painful experiences. Parents serve as a primary socialization agent for young children; thus, it is important that parents remain aware of underlying messages about how pain is portrayed in children's popular media so that they can optimally discuss these portrayals, promote their children's pain education and understanding and positively impact future pain experiences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:03:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ec436316c22b4e21bcbb189e097df431 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-561X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:03:28Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Pain Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-ec436316c22b4e21bcbb189e097df4312022-12-22T02:01:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Pain Research2673-561X2022-05-01310.3389/fpain.2022.898855898855Portrayals of Pain in Children's Popular Media: Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs and AttitudesMaria Pavlova0Kendra Mueri1Madison Kennedy2Sarah Wallwork3G. Lorimer Moseley4Abbie Jordan5Melanie Noel6Melanie Noel7Melanie Noel8Melanie Noel9Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaSchool of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, CanadaIIMPACT in Health, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, AustraliaIIMPACT in Health, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, AustraliaDepartment of Psychology and Centre for Pain Research, University of Bath, Bath, United KingdomDepartment of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaAlberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, AB, CanadaHotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, AB, CanadaMathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education, Calgary, AB, CanadaEvidence suggests that children's popular media may model maladaptive and distorted experiences of pain to young children. In a recent study, pain depicted in popular media targeting 4–6-year-olds was frequently and unrealistically portrayed, evoked little response or empathy from observing characters, and perpetuated unhelpful gender stereotypes. Parents play a critical role in both children's pain experiences and children's media consumption. Yet, no study to date has examined parents' beliefs and attitudes regarding how pain is portrayed in media for young children. The present study aimed to fill this gap by examining how parents perceive and appraise painful instances depicted in children's popular media. Sixty parents (48% fathers) of children aged 4 to 6 years completed a semi-structured interview to assess their general beliefs and attitudes toward how pain is portrayed in children's media. Inductive reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to identify and analyze key patterns in the data. Qualitative analyses generated two major themes representing parental beliefs regarding pain that is portrayed in children's media: “entertaining pain” and “valuable lessons”. Findings reveal that parents believe that pain portrayed in popular media serves either a function of entertaining and amusing children or can provide valuable lessons about appropriate emotional responses and empathic reactions. Further, pain portrayals could also instill valuable lessons and provide children with a point of reference and language for their own painful experiences. Parents serve as a primary socialization agent for young children; thus, it is important that parents remain aware of underlying messages about how pain is portrayed in children's popular media so that they can optimally discuss these portrayals, promote their children's pain education and understanding and positively impact future pain experiences.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2022.898855/fullpain portrayalthematic analysismothersfatherspediatric pain |
| spellingShingle | Maria Pavlova Kendra Mueri Madison Kennedy Sarah Wallwork G. Lorimer Moseley Abbie Jordan Melanie Noel Melanie Noel Melanie Noel Melanie Noel Portrayals of Pain in Children's Popular Media: Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs and Attitudes Frontiers in Pain Research pain portrayal thematic analysis mothers fathers pediatric pain |
| title | Portrayals of Pain in Children's Popular Media: Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs and Attitudes |
| title_full | Portrayals of Pain in Children's Popular Media: Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs and Attitudes |
| title_fullStr | Portrayals of Pain in Children's Popular Media: Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs and Attitudes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Portrayals of Pain in Children's Popular Media: Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs and Attitudes |
| title_short | Portrayals of Pain in Children's Popular Media: Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs and Attitudes |
| title_sort | portrayals of pain in children s popular media mothers and fathers beliefs and attitudes |
| topic | pain portrayal thematic analysis mothers fathers pediatric pain |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2022.898855/full |
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