Since video games have become so popular in the last few years, there has been great community concern about the effects of the content and prolonged play on children. This study investigated parental beliefs about video games and the guidance practices used by parents to mediate their children's play. A measure about parental beliefs and a measure about parental guidance practices were developed for the research. On the beliefs scale, four dimensions were identified. These were program content, perceived educational value, displacement and reality withdrawal, and behavioural consequences of play. On the guidance measure three dimensions were identified. These were similar to those which have previously been identified in research on children's television viewing. The dimensions were unfocused, evaluative, and restrictive guidance.

The parents of 117 children responded to the survey on video game play. The children were in Years 6 and Year 7 at school. Parents reported regular, but not excessive play. Parent-child conflict and parental restriction of the play were reported by a small proportion of parents. Through hierarchical regression analyses, it was found that parents concerned about the content of video games were more likely to discuss with their children, the content and characterisations within the games. Parents who believed that their children spent too much time playing video games rather than participating in other activities were more likely to restrict their children's use of video games. Similarly, parents who believed that children withdrew from reality because of video game play restricted playing time. The implications of these findings for parent-child relationships and parent-child conflict are discussed.

Video games are children's introduction to computers and the world of computer technology (Greenfield, 1994). They have come to dominate the toy industry. In 1993, Australians bought $100 million worth of Nintendo products and $150 million worth of Sega products (Computer Games, 1993). In 1993, forty new games were appearing on the Australian market every month (Senate Select Committee, 1993). While video games are still played in arcades and at corner stores, it is the home video games which have revolutionised children's leisure-time activities. It follows that research into the impact of video games on families would have been conducted. Surprisingly, this area has received little attention. While public concern has been expressed about the potential negative effects of excessive video game play on children, as well as the impact of games with aggressive and violent themes, a wider dialogue has not emerged about video game play and family life.

Mitchell (1985) provided evidence to counter speculation about the potentially detrimental effects that video games had on children's development. Her qualitative study of twenty families focused on how their interactional styles were influenced by the introduction of video games in the home. The families kept regular records regarding the use of these games including the players, the frequency, duration, time of play, and types of games played. Mitchell suggested that family interactions were enhanced as a result of video game play, and that families were brought together in common recreational interaction. Although Mitchell's sample was too small to make generalisations, her study gave an insight into the family dynamics which surrounded home video game play, the ways in which individual members interacted, and their attitudes toward the games. However, it is worth keeping in mind that this study was conducted during a time when home video games were a completely new phenomenon.

More recently, a study by Sneed and Runco (1992) looked at the beliefs that parent, adults, and children held about video games. Sneed and Runco asked parents, adults without children, and children to list the possible effects of playing video games and found that there were beliefs about desirable effects as well as undesirable effects. The desirable effects included the development of hand-eye coordination, entertainment and interest in computers. The undesirable effects included increase in aggressive behaviour, the waste of money buying games, and instilling competitive values. Parents were found to be more positive than non-parents about potential effects.

Parents provide the opportunities for children to access and play video games. Parental beliefs about the benefits or otherwise of that play are of primary importance. These beliefs about video games may be influenced by knowledge-based experience with video games or computers. Within the family context, experience could be gained simply from exposure to video games through their children. Alternatively, parents might have played video games in their youth or continued to play them in their adult life. Experience with computers may also influence parental thinking about video games. Parents who use computers may believe that video games help children learn about computers. Beliefs about video games may also be constructed from socio-cultural knowledge. Media debate about the possible negative effects of video games is an example of socially communicated discourse which has the potential to influence parental beliefs.

A number of factors, including beliefs, will influence parental behaviour in terms of how children's video game play is guided. According to McGillicuddy-DeLisi (1985), parental beliefs guide parental practices, which, in turn, influence outcomes for the child. She proposed that parental behaviour acts as a mediator between parental beliefs and child outcomes. Goodnow and Collins (1990) also noted that knowledge of parental characteristics, as well as knowledge about their beliefs, should enhance understanding of parental actions. Characteristics such as age, sex, and computer experience may underlie parental beliefs about video game play. For example, research has shown that males have more experience with video games than females (Shimai, Masuda, and Kishimoto, 1990; Silvern and Williamson, 1987), therefore, it is possible that gender-based differences in beliefs exist.

The aim of this study was to investigate parental beliefs about the effects of video games on children and to examine whether or not those beliefs influence the nature of the guidance which parents use in relation to their children's video game play. Within the study a measure of beliefs about the effects of video game play on children is developed and a measure of parental guidance practices used in monitoring children's video game play constructed. Conditions under which video games are used in families are described. and the power of parental beliefs with a number of demographic variables to predict parental guidance styles is explored.

The first stage involved the generation of a pool of items reflecting beliefs about the influence of video games on children. A two-page survey was distributed to 23 parents (7 male, 16 female) to explore the nature of their beliefs. The pilot sample was drawn from a pool of subjects known to the researchers. These respondents were asked to list up to ten positive and ten negative consequences of children playing video games. A similar open-ended listing process was successfully used by Sneed and Runco (1992) to socially validate a video games and television beliefs scale. From the open-ended responses common themes were identified and a comprehensive set of statements about video games and children was developed.

A literature review of video and computer game research augmented the development of these statements by providing additional insight into the themes that characterised adult thinking about video games (c.f. Mitchell, 1985; Shimai, Masuda and Kishimoto, 1990; Sneed and Runco, 1992). Twenty-six belief statements about video games were identified. The themes included the effects of violent/aggressive behaviour, addictive/obsessive behaviour, harmful physical effects, confused perception of reality, inhibition of social skills and communication, displacement of other activities, presentation of gender stereotypes, development of computer skills, improvement of hand-eye/spatial/fine motor skills, and development of thinking skills.

A pilot questionnaire was distributed to twelve people for evaluation of interpretability and ease of use. The belief statements were rated on a five-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). The five-point scale was expected to be an appropriate range so as not to have floor or ceiling effects.
These respondents were also encouraged to provide criticism of any aspect of the measure. The written feedback from these participants was considered, and minor adjustments were made to the wording of the items.

Finally, the Beliefs About Video Games Scale was distributed to a large sample of adults. In the pilot studies and in this questionnaire, as well as the survey in Phase 2, video games were defined in a brief introductory section as:

'...electronic games designed primarily for entertainment, as opposed to those with specific educational aims. These games are commonly played at home on computers and on video game systems such as Nintendo or Sega.'

The respondents were 214 post-graduate and undergraduate students from the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology. The sample comprised of 173 (82%) females and 37 (18%) males. The mean age of the respondents was 28.75 years (SD = 8.16). One hundred and nineteen (56%) respondents were single, 83 (39%) were married or living with partners, and 11 (5%) were separated or divorced. One hundred and forty-nine (70%) students did not have children, while the remaining 65 students (30%) were parents. Of the respondents who were parents, the mean number of children was 2.12 (SD = 0.93).

Results

The structure of the Beliefs About Video Games Scale was explored using principal components analysis. The criterion adopted for loadings on each factor was .40. Factors loadings above .40 are considered reliable if the sample size is greater than 150 (Stevens, 1992). A five-factor solution with orthogonal rotation (VARIMAX - SPSS) was found to provide the most interpretable structure and accounted for 49% of the variance. This factor solution is presented in Table 1. The fifth factor was not considered to be robust enough for inclusion in this version of the scale. The first four factors were named as Educational Value, Displacement and Reality Withdrawal, Program Content, and Social and Behavioural Consequences. These factors had reliability estimates (Cronbach's Alpha), respectively, of .79, .80, .70 and .57. Three items failed to load at the .40 level and were removed from the solution. These items were 'Playing computer/video games can enhance children's self-esteem', 'The aggressive content of some computer/video games is not suitable for children', and 'Physical symptoms such as eyestrain and headaches may be experienced by children who play computer/video games for extended periods'.

The factor, Educational Value, represented beliefs about the educational benefits of playing video games, including improving cognitive skills, stimulating interest in computers, and developing positive attitudes to learning. The second factor was Displacement and Reality Withdrawal. In the context of television research, displacement has been referred to as the time spent watching television that children would have for doing other things (Roberts, Henricksen, Voelker, and van Vurren, 1993). This seems equally applicable for time spent playing video games which could have been spent in other activities. Reality Withdrawal refers to the notion that children withdraw from the real world, into the fantasy world of video games. The third factor was labelled Program Content to represent an aspect of video games which transmits social and cultural information by way of the content. This information includes presenting gender stereotypes, the reinforcement of violence, and the focus on male interests. The Social and Behavioural Consequences factor encompassed belief items focusing on the potential of video games to influence interpersonal skills, family life, addictive, and aggressive behaviour.

The presence of only two items grouped under Factor Five deemed the factor unreliable and not useful to the subsequent analyses. However, it did suggest another construct reflecting adult beliefs about the effects of video games. It might be related to children being 'in control' when playing video games.

More research is required to develop this scale to address the emergence of the other construct identified as Factor Five, and to ascertain whether the primary constructs can be reliably replicated in other samples. However this factor structure developed insight into adult thinking about video games. This sample represented a specific population which was highly educated and mostly female adults. An even number of males and females in the sample would have been desirable but was not obtainable. Future studies need to ensure a broader representation of respondents in the sampling as male/female, parents/non-parents, and various educational levels. This would help to establish the generalisability of the constructs identified.

Table 1. Factor Loadings of the Beliefs About Video Games Measure for a Principal Components Analysis Using an Orthogonal Rotation.

Parental respondents to a questionnaire about video game play within the family were involved in this second phase of the research. The questionnaire contained four main sections designed to examine aspects of parental beliefs and practices within the domain of video games and family life. The four sections were family demographics, The Beliefs about Video Games Scale, video games and home life, and a parental guidance scale about video game play. All parents were required to complete the family demographics section and the Beliefs About Video Games Scale. Instructions then advised parents to complete the rest of the questionnaire only if their children had video or computer games at home.

The target group in this phase was restricted to parents of children aged from 11 to 12 years. This was considered appropriate for several reasons. First, as parental beliefs and guidance were the central focus of the study, it was considered important that children of the target group be of an age where video games are played frequently. The literature indicates that the frequency of video game play peaks during the middle childhood years (Greenfield, 1994; Provenzo, 1991). Middle childhood represents a time of growing competence in many developmental areas. As video games require competence in cognitive and motor skills, it is not surprising that many children of this age become skilled and frequent players. Second, this is an age where the peer group has a strong influence on activities, and yet the influence of parents is still strong (Berger, 1988). As well, prior research has shown that parental beliefs and guidance practices may vary according to the age of the child. For example, Bybee, Robinson and Turow (1982) and van der Voort, Nikken, and van Lil (1992) with respect to television viewing found that parents use more Restrictive Guidance on younger children than older children. While similar comparisons of parental guidance across child age groups would have been interesting, this process would have required a much larger sample than was practical, given the size and scope of the study.

Three hundred and sixty-five questionnaires were distributed to children in Year 6 and Year 7 at three State Primary Schools in Brisbane. Children were instructed by their teachers to take the questionnaires home for their parents to complete. Questionnaires were returned to the researcher in a reply-paid envelope, which was included with each questionnaire. Of the 365 questionnaires distributed, 117 (32%) were completed and returned.

Of the respondents, 95 (82%) were female and 21 (18%) were male. Respondents had a mean age of 40.5 years (SD = 4.29). The age range was 30 to 51 years. Of the sample, 108 (93%) were married or living with a partner, 7 (7%) were separated or divorced, and one person was widowed. The mean number of children was 2.6 (SD = 0.92). The number of children per family ranged from one to six. Sixty-five (56%) of the target children (the eldest child in the family under 12 years) were male, and 52 (44%) were female. Twenty-two of the parental respondents (19%) had completed some secondary school, 19 subjects (16%) had completed secondary school, 17 subjects (14%) had completed a post-secondary school course equivalent to two years training. A further 36 subjects (31%) had completed a degree or diploma, and 23 subjects (20%) had studied at the postgraduate level. Of the 117 respondents, 12 parents (10%) indicated that their children did not have video or computer games at home. Therefore, this group was excluded from the analysis of the Parental Guidance Scale.

Section 2a. Development of a Measure of Parental Guidance of Video Game Play

The development of the Parental Guidance Scale had two stages. Firstly, as there were no models of parental guidance styles from previous video game research, a review of the literature which pertained to understanding parental practices in the guidance of television viewing was made. Bybee et al. (1982) developed a scale containing 14 items designed to tap into particular approaches used by parents to guide their children's television viewing. Their measure had three subscales named Restrictive, Evaluative, and Unfocused Guidance. Restrictive Guidance was defined as restricting the amount of time children watching television or prohibiting the viewing of particular programs. Evaluative Guidance involved discussing program material with the child with the intention of assisting the child to evaluate the meaning, morality, and characterisation of program content. Unfocused Guidance referred to non-specific guidance methods such as coviewing and talking about a program with the child. Unlike Evaluative Guidance, unfocused coviewing and discussion occur primarily because parents and children enjoyed the same programs rather than parents being concerned about the possible positive or negative effects of a program on their child. In a replication study, by van der Voort et al. (1992) this scale was expanded to 16 items, and the scale structure confirmed.

Although there are obvious differences between television viewing and video game playing (ie., television is a relatively passive medium; video games are interactive), similarities between the two (ie., children spend hours occupied with both video games and television; both contain content which is of concern to parents; parents and children sometimes co-view television and play video games together) were sufficient to justify using an adapted version of this measure. It was considered that the same dimensions of parental guidance of children's television viewing (Restrictive, Evaluative, Unfocused) would also apply to parental guidance of children's video game play. The dimension of Restrictive Guidance would apply to video games if parents restricted the number of hours children played or prohibited certain video games. Parents would employ evaluative guidance if they were concerned about the content of certain video games and would discuss the content, morality, and characterisations within certain games in a similar way to evaluative guidance of certain television programs. Unfocused guidance would be used by parents who enjoyed playing video games with their children in a similar manner to parents and children coviewing television programs.

Individual items from the van der Voort et al. (1992) study were adapted to apply to video games. Sentence structure was retained and words substituted where necessary. For example, the original item 'How often do you forbid the viewing of certain programs?' was changed to 'How often do you forbid the playing of certain games?' Several questions were not directly transferable to video games. In such cases, the original item was replaced by a similar item created to suit the nature of video games. For example, the Restrictive Guidance item 'How often do you switch the channel on an objectionable program?' was replaced by the similar item 'How often do you forbid the purchase of an unsuitable game?'

Nine items from the television scale (Bybee et al., 1982; van der Voort et al., 1992) were directly transferable to the new scale by substituting words where necessary. A further four items were adapted to suit the specific nature of video games. These items were 'How often do you forbid the purchase of an unsuitable game?', 'How often do you discuss your child's interest in the game? ', 'How often do you encourage the child to play a game you enjoy?', and 'How often do you watch while your child plays a game?'. The Guidance Scale employed a four-point rating scale with response options of 1 (Never), 2 (Occasionally), 3 (Often), and 4 (Always).


Results

A principal components analysis was performed on the Parental Guidance Scale to examine the factor structure pertaining to parental guidance of video game play. A three factor solution with orthogonal rotation (VARIMAX - SPSS) was found to provide the most interpretable structure, although there were several complex loadings. One item, 'Discuss your child's interest in the game', had loading of .58 on the first and .56 on the second factor and was removed from further analysis. The three-factor solution accounted for 76% of the variance and is presented in Table 2.

The factor structure was similar to the structure of the parental guidance scales of children's television viewing (Bybee et al., 1982; van der Voort et al., 1992). Factor One contained four items and accounted for 60.3% of the variance and was labelled Unfocused Guidance. Four of the five items on the Unfocused Guidance scale were indicative of a degree of parental involvement and interest in children's video game activity but not in a clear directed manner. Involvement may have involved actual participation or merely onlooking. Factor Two contained three items and accounted for 8.6% of the variance and was labelled Evaluative Guidance. The items in this factor involved directed verbal interactions (discussing, explaining, pointing out) related to game content and characterisations. Factor Three contained five items and accounted for 7.3% of the variance and was labelled Restrictive Guidance. Items loading on the Restrictive Guidance subscale were characterised by various forms of parental restrictions including setting times for play, restricting hours of play, specifying games played, and prohibiting purchase and playing of certain games.

Table 2. Factor Loadings of the Parental Guidance Styles Scale Using Principal Components Analysis With an Orthogonal Rotation.

Section 2b: Demographic and Beliefs Variables as Predictors of Parental Guidance Styles

In this section, families' use of video games in the home is described and influencing variables in family usage examined. Demographic variables of parents' sex, age, education and computer experience and measures of parental beliefs about video games are then used to develop predictive models of parental guidance practices in relation to video game play. The respondents were the 117 parents of children in Year 6 and Year 7 who were described in Section 2a.

Measures

Family Demographics. The first section of the questionnaire sought information about parental age, marital status, number of children, child age and sex, educational level attained, occupation, educational level of partner, occupation of partner, degree of experience with computers, and whether or not children had access to computer or video games at home.

Parental Experience with Computers. Two items measuring (a) frequency of computer use and (b) depth of computer use formed the measure of Parental Experience with Computers. The item measuring frequency of computer use employed a four-point rating scale ranging from 1 (never) to 4 (always). The item measuring depth of experience with computers asked respondents to describe the nature of their contact with computers. Responses across the two items were then coded using a three-point scale of 1 (limited experience) to 3 (extensive experience).

Video Games And Home Life. This section consisted of items designed to explore the extent and nature of video game play at home and its effects on the dynamics of the home life. Items required respondents to list the names of video game systems and favourite games played by children, to comment on ownership of games and systems, and to estimate the hours played during the previous week and during a time of heightened interest. Respondents were also asked to describe the strategies they use to moderate their children's video game play. Items also explored issues of restriction of game play, presence of parent-child conflict surrounding play, pressure to buy video games, and interpartner agreement about amount of video game play. These items used a four-point rating scale with response options ranging from 1 (never) to 4 (always).

Beliefs About Video Games Scale (Beliefs Scale). The Beliefs About Video Games Scale was developed in the first phase of this research. It was a 21-item measure with four subscales relating to beliefs about video games. Educational Value was an eight item subscale; Displacement and Reality Withdrawal had five items; Program Content had four items; and Social and Behavioural Consequences had four items. The Beliefs About Video Games Scale employed a five-point scale as used during scale development.

Parental Guidance Scale. The Parental Guidance Scale was the 13-item scale reported in Phase 2a. The Guidance Scale employed a four-point rating scale with response options of 1 (never) to 4 (always).

Results

Descriptive statistics were developed for all quantitative questions and the dimensions of the Parental Beliefs Scale and the Parental Guidance Scale in the questionnaire. Responses to the qualitative questions were also collated around categories identified in the responses. Three hierarchical regression analyses were performed using the demographic variables and the four belief variables as predictors and the three guidance variables as criteria.

Parental Experience With Computers

Frequency: The mean rating for frequency of usage on the four-point scale was 2.85 (SD = 0.91). Twenty-nine subjects (28%) said they used computers almost always. Thirty-eight subjects (36%) said they used computers often. Thirty-one subjects (29%) said they occasionally used computers, and the remaining seven (7%) never used computers.

Depth: Parental responses on the depth of experience with computers was rate on a three-point scale. The mean score for this item was 2.1 (SD = 0.7). Eighteen subjects (17%) had limited experience with computers. Fifty-eight subjects (56%) reported moderate depth of experience with computers. Twenty-eight subjects (27%) had extensive experience with computers.

Computer Experience: The two items, frequency of experience and depth of experience, were added to form the computer experience variable with a possible range of 2 to 7. This was used as a predictive variable in the multiple regression analyses. A minimum score of two on the computer experience variable indicated minimal experience with computers. The maximum score of seven indicated extensive experience with computers. The mean score for the six-point computer experience variable was 4.95 (SD = 1.42).

Video Games And Home Life

Twelve parents (10%) indicated that they did not own a video game system so the percentage of responses which follow represent those who did own video game systems.

Type of System Owned: Subjects were asked to name the type of video game system or computer they (or their children) owned. Twelve parents (10%) indicated that they did not own a video game system or computer. Twenty-five parents (21%) reported owning a video game system. Forty-three parents (39%) owned a computer, and 35 parents (30%) owned both a video game system and a computer.

Hours Played Last Week: The mean number of hours children spent playing video games in the previous week was 3.6 (SD = 4.27), ranging from 0 to 20 hours. Twenty-two parents (22%) indicated that their children had not played video games at all in the previous week. Fifty-one parents (51%) estimated that their children had played between one and five hours in the previous week. Twenty-two parents (22%) indicated that their children spent between six and ten hours playing video games. Two parents (2%) estimated that their children spent 11 to 15 hours playing video games. Three parents (3%) indicated that their children played with video games for 16 to 20 hours in the previous week.

Extended Periods of Play: It was anticipated that children's interest in playing video games would fluctuate for various reasons, for example, after a new game was purchased. Respondents were asked to indicate the number of hours that their child played during a time of heightened interest in playing video games. A four-point rating scale ranging from 1 (less than 5 hours per week) to 4 (26 or more hours per week) was used. Forty-nine parents (48%) indicated that their children would spend less than five hours per week playing video games. Forty-two parents (42%) indicated that their children would spend five to fifteen hours playing video games. Seven parents (7%) said that their children would spend 16 to 25 hours playing video games. Four parents (3%) said that their children would play video games for 26 hours or more.

Parental Restriction of Play: The frequency of restriction on playing video games was measured on a four-point rating. The mean score for this question was 2.2 (SD = 0.76). Fifteen subjects (15%) said they never have had to restrict their child's video game play. Fifty-nine (57%) said they occasionally have had to restrict their child's video game play. Twenty-three (22%) said they often have had to restrict their child's video game play. Six subjects (6%) indicated that they always have had to restrict their child's video game play.

Parent-Child Conflict: Degree of parent-child conflict was also measured on a four-point rating scale. The mean score for this item was 1.74 (SD = 0.65). Thirty-eight respondents (37%) said that the amount of video game playing had never caused conflict. Fifty-five subjects (53%) said it had occasionally caused conflict. Nine (9%) said it had often caused conflict, and one subject said it had always caused conflict.

Pressure To Buy: Whether or not children pressure their parents into buying video games was measured using a four-point rating scale. The mean item score for this item was 1.56 (SD = 0.65). Fifty-three respondents (53%) said they had never been pressured into buying video games by their children. Forty-two subjects (41%) said their children had occasionally pressured them to buy video games. Six (6%) said they had often been pressured into buying video games by their children. One respondent said that their child had always pressured them into buying video games.

Partner Agreement: The degree of partner agreement or disagreement regarding decisions about the amount of video game play children were permitted was measured on a four-point rating scale and the mean score for this item was 3.4 (SD = 0.80). Four respondents (5%) indicated that they had never agreed, six (7%) indicated occasional agreement, 32 subjects (36%) often agreed, and 47 (52%) said that they always agreed with their partners.

Parental Strategies for Restricting Play: Subjects were asked to describe the strategies they used for restricting their children's video game play. Their responses were listed and coded under three categories: (1) direct instruction, or coercive strategies, (2) suggesting alternatives, and (3) use of rules and negotiation.

Thirty-four parents (35%) used some form of direct or coercive strategy. Some examples of the range of responses coded under direct instruction and coercion are presented. The following examples make use of direct instruction: 'I simply said 'no' and that is it.' ........ 'Told him to turn it off.' ........ 'Request it be turned off and at times forbid it going on at all.' Some parents within this group reported using more coercive tactics to restrict their children's video game play. For example, 'Banning for several days or weeks.' ........ 'Simply take the game away until I'm ready to give it back.' ........ 'Turn game off, at times threaten removal of TV set and yell when game turned on sneakily when supposedly off.' ........ 'Whack!'

Twenty-two parents (23%) suggested, encouraged, or provided alternatives activities to their children's video game play. Some examples of parental strategies are provided. 'I suggest or provide alternative activities for them - ie. a bike ride.' ........
'Tell them to play outside for a while.' ........ 'Encourage outdoor activity.'

Forty parents (42%) used rules and negotiation as a strategy for restricting their children's video game play. Some parents in this group provided explicit rules for times when children were permitted to play. 'Limit play to weekends only and then only for limited times.' ........ 'Each child gets only 1/2 hour on the game.' ........ 'put a roster up in the house.' .......... 'Allowing a certain amount of time after homework and chores are completed.' ......... 'Computer(s) are not available until all other commitments are fulfilled: Music practice, homework, sports training, household duties.'
Other examples within this group suggest a certain amount of parent-child negotiation about video game play. 'Agree on a time limit and only when particular chores and homework is complete.' ........ 'Negotiate with the child about other activities and set levels or time to play, e.g., after homework and chores are completed.'

Beliefs About Video Games

The mean item scores, standard deviations and reliability coefficients for the items on the four subscales of the Beliefs Scale were calculated. For each subscale, a score below three, the midpoint of the scale, was a negative response. The mean item score for the Educational Value subscale was 3.72 (SD = 0.52). Reliability (Cronbach's alpha) for the Educational Value subscale was .79. The mean item score for the Displacement and Reality Withdrawal subscale was 3.72 (SD = 0.72). The reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) for this subscale was .83. The mean item score for the Program Content subscale was 3.61 (SD = 0.70). The reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) for this subscale was .68. The mean item score for the Social and Behavioural Consequences subscale was 2.28 (SD = 0.65). This subscale had a reliability coefficient of .52.

Educational Value: Ninety-nine parents (94%) scored above the midpoint of the scale, an indication that they believed that video games have educational value. Six parents (5.7%) scored below the midpoint of the scale, an indication that they did not believe in the educational value of video games.

Displacement and Reality Withdrawal: Ninety-one parents (87%) scored above the midpoint of the scale, indicating that this group believed that time spent playing video games can result in less time for other activities and cause children to become detached from the real world. The remaining 14 parents (13%) did not perceive these effects.

Program Content: Ninety-one parents (87%) scored above the midpoint of this scale, an indication of their belief that video games transmitted social and cultural messages about gender stereotypes and violence. The remaining 14 parents (13.3%) did not perceive this as an element of video games.

Social and Behavioural Consequences: One hundred and three parents (98%) scored below the midpoint on this scale, indicating beliefs that playing video games could lead to such social and behavioural consequences as addictive behaviour, disruption of family life, and copying the aggression of video games. The remaining 2% percent did not perceive these consequences for children who play video games.

Parental Guidance

The mean item scores, standard deviation, and reliability coefficients for the three subscales of the Parental Guidance Scale were calculated. A score below the mid-point of 2.5 indicated less frequent use of guidance. A score above the mid-point indicated more frequent use of guidance. The mean item score for the Unfocused Guidance subscale was 2.00 (SD = 0.48). Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.67. The mean item score for the Evaluative Guidance subscale was 2.09 (SD = 0.84) and Cronbach's alpha was 0.80. The mean item score for the Restrictive Guidance subscale was 2.55 (SD = 0.75). The reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.75.

Unfocused Guidance: Of the sample, 46 parents (44%) reported using unfocused guidance between never and occasionally, while 53 parents (51%) reported using unfocused guidance between occasionally and often. The remaining four parents (3%) reported using this form of guidance between often and always.

Evaluative Guidance: Of the sample, 44 parents (43%) used evaluative guidance between never and occasionally. Another 43 parents (42%) used evaluative guidance occasionally to often. Evaluative guidance was reported as being used often to always by 12 parents (12%), and four parents (3%) reported that they always used evaluative guidance.

Restrictive Guidance: Restrictive guidance was reported by 21 parents (20%) between never and occasionally. Fifty-one parents (50%) reported using Restrictive guidance between occasionally and often. Twenty-five parents (24%) said they used restrictive guidance between often and always. Six people (6%) said they always use restrictive guidance.

Predicting Parental Guidance

The relationships between the demographic variables and belief variables on the three parental guidance styles were analysed using hierarchical regression analyses. Three hierarchical regression analyses were performed with Unfocused, Evaluative, and Restrictive guidance variables as separate criteria.

For each of the three analyses, variables were entered in two steps. In the first step, a block containing the demographic variables of sex, age, education, computer experience, sex of child, and number of children were simultaneously entered as predictors in the analysis. In the second step, the four belief variables, Educational Value, Displacement and Reality Withdrawal, Program Content, and Social and Behavioural Consequences, were simultaneously entered into the analysis, thus controlling for the effects of the demographic variables. This hierarchical approach was used because it provided a conservative, analytic procedure which allowed for determination of those variables making an independent contribution to the prediction of parental guidance.

Table 3 presents the hierarchical regression strategy, categorising the variables into three sets. These sets were the demographic variables (sex, age, education, computer experience, sex of child, number of children), the belief variables (Educational Value, Displacement and Reality Withdrawal, Program Content, Social and Behavioural Consequences), and the parental guidance variables (Unfocused, Evaluative, Restrictive) as criteria.

Table 3. Hierarchical Multiple Regression Strategy

Table 4. Hierarchical Multiple Regression of Unfocused Guidance

Table 5. Hierarchical Multiple Regression of Evaluative Guidance

Table 6. Hierarchical Multiple Regression of Restrictive Guidance

Discussion of Findings from Regression Analyses

Unfocused Guidance: In the first model, computer experience, age, sex, and Educational Value predicted Unfocused Guidance. Computer experience was included as a predictor in the regression model to allow for the investigation of a relationship between a related technology (computers) and video games. A predictive relationship was confirmed in the regression analysis, indicating that parents who were experienced with computers were more likely to use unfocused guidance, which involves the parent playing video games with the child or watching while the child plays. Age also predicted Unfocused Guidance. Younger parents were more likely to report the use of unfocused guidance. One explanation for the effect of age on the prediction of unfocused guidance is that the younger parents would have been children or adolescents when video games emerged in the 1970s and early 1980s. Younger parents were more likely to have grown up with the culture of video games than the older parents, and therefore be more likely to play them as adults. Sex also predicted Unfocused Guidance. Mothers were more likely to report the use of unfocused guidance. These results are in agreement with findings in television research. Van der Voort et al. (1992) found that mothers used more unfocused guidance of children's television viewing. Overall, their study found that sex significantly predicted all three guidance styles. Their explanation for this was that it was due to the unequal gender division of household labour. Mothers generally take more responsibility and spend more time caring for their children. Van der Voort et al. suggested that caring for children encompasses the responsibility of guiding children's television viewing. A similar explanation can be applied to the present study. Mothers may provide unfocused guidance for children, particularly if they are at home more often with their children than their male partners.

In the present study, however, sex predicted Unfocused Guidance only. The explanation of the gender division of labour does not completely explain these results, because sex of the parent did not predict evaluative or restrictive guidance. Being a female parent predicted the usage of unfocused guidance, but not evaluative or restrictive guidance. If mothers have greater child-care responsibilities, it would be expected for mothers to report significantly higher usage of all three guidance practices. It should be noted that in view of the unequal distribution of sex in the sample (81.9% female and 18.1% male), analyses which indicate sex as a significant predictor should be interpreted with caution.

The scale, Educational Value also predicted unfocused guidance. Parents who held beliefs about the educational value of video games were more likely to be involved with video games at an interactional level or an observational level with their child. The perception of video games having educational value may motivate parents to play with their child or encourage their child to play a particular game, which they perceive as being educational. Alternatively, by becoming more familiar with video games through play and observation, parents may see more educational value in video games than parents who rarely get involved and are not familiar with video games.

Although the percentage of parents reporting frequent use of unfocused guidance was small, those who used it frequently were more likely to have computer experience, to be mothers, to be young, and to believe in the educational value of video games.

Evaluative Guidance: The scale, Program Content predicted evaluative guidance. The items within the Program Content scale were related to specific content of video games, such as the presentation of stereotypes and of rewarding violence and using it to solve problems. Parents who were concerned about such content were more likely to use evaluative guidance techniques such as pointing out the bad things the video game characters were doing, or discussing the motivations of the characters. In this context, parents may have used evaluative guidance to counteract the (perceived) negative influence of video games. Although only a small percentage of parents reported the use of evaluative guidance regularly or frequently. Those who used it believed that video games transmitted social and cultural messages such as presenting gender stereotypes and rewarding violent acts. Previous television research had found that mothers and more highly educated people used more evaluative guidance (Bybee et al., 1982; van der Voort et al., 1992). However, neither of these variables predicted evaluative guidance in the present study.

Restrictive Guidance: The scale, Displacement and Reality Withdrawal predicted restrictive guidance. Parents who were concerned that their children's video game play would interfere with other activities, and who were concerned that their children might become detached from reality as a result of playing video games were more likely to impose restrictions on the hours of play or on the games that their children played. None of the demographic variables significantly predicted restrictive guidance. In the television literature, mothers and more highly educated parents used more restrictive guidance of their children's television viewing (Bybee et al., 1982; van der Voort et al., 1992).

Two possible explanations for the predictive relationship of the scale, Displacement and Reality Withdrawal and the use of restrictive guidance are presented. The first refers to displacement. In television research, the term displacement has been used to refer to time spent watching television which takes away time that could be spent in another activity In the context of video games, displacement refers to time spent playing video games which displaces time for other activities, (such as homework, chores, outdoor play, or sport) which parents may feel their children should be doing. If parents perceive video games as displacing children's time, they may restrict children's video game play. The second explanation is related to beliefs about children's withdrawal from the real world into the simulated, fantasy world of video games. If parents are concerned about the potential for video games to capture and fixate children's attention to the point of detachment from reality, they may restrict children's video game play. This has important implications for the future with the development of more sophisticated and realistic games. Virtual reality games are already becoming accessible to families, and this might be accompanied by increased concern by parents about reality withdrawal.

Parental beliefs were also investigated because they serve as a useful guide for understanding parent-child interactions (Sigel, 1985). The development of the Beliefs About Video Games Scale resulted in the emergence of a number of constructs not previously identified. Previous research had identified positive and negative beliefs constructs, whereas the present study identified belief constructs which reflected more complexity in adult beliefs about this domain of family life.

Although the study of the relationship between beliefs and behaviour can be problematic (Sigel, 1985), relationships between beliefs and behaviour in the present study were identified. In the present study, guidance styles used by parents were related to specific beliefs which they held about video games. Parents who believed in the educational value of video games used unfocused guidance. Parents concerned about the content of video games used evaluative guidance. Parents who thought that video games caused displacement and withdrawal from reality used restrictive guidance.

According to McGillicuddy-DeLisi (1985), parental beliefs affected child outcomes in ways that may not be evident through observation or self-report of parental behaviour. For example, parents may provide toys and activities for their children based on their beliefs about child development. From this perspective, parents would provide video games for their children if they believed that video games would be educationally beneficial to their children. The implications for the provision of these materials would not be evident necessarily from observations or parent-child interactions or self-report of interactional style by parents.

This has implications for children's development as video games are children's introduction to the world of computer technology. Playing video games helps prepare children for a future where computer skills are essential for survival in a technological world (Greenfield, 1994). More specifically, experience with video games develops a type of cognitive socialisation needed to understand the symbolic systems of computers (Donald, 1993, cited in Greenfield, 1994). There is no question that parents play a crucial role in influencing their children's development. It follows that parents who are involved in their children's video game play provide support, which is beneficial for the development of skills relating to computers.

Parents who have not grown up using computer technology and/or playing video games may be less likely to believe in the benefits of video game play. As discussed, parents with a greater degree of computer literacy were more likely to get involved with their child on a playing level than those with less computer experience. The implications are that parents who are more involved have a 'window' into this part of the child's world. The ability to communicate based on the interests of the child has implications for the enhancement of parent-child interactions and relationships within the family. Parents who believed that video games interfere with other activities and cause children to withdraw from reality imposed more restrictions on their children's video game play.

There has been little research investigating the relationships of parental beliefs about video games and the relationship of beliefs and parental behaviour in terms of guiding children's video game play. Because of the lack of prior research in this area, the research was largely exploratory. Measures of parental beliefs and parental guidance with respect to video games were developed. Clearly, this research opens up a number of possible directions for further studies.

First, although this study was able to show that a relationship could be predicted from beliefs to behaviour, future research could investigate other factors which influence parental behaviour which have been outlined in other research of parental beliefs and behaviour. For example, it has been theorised that measuring the constructs of attitude, intention, and value would strengthen investigations into the relationship between beliefs and behaviour (Sigel, 1985). Attitude could be measured, by asking parents to rate the amount of liking of, and interest in video games. Measures of intention could provide an indication of parental intention to act in accordance with their beliefs and in terms of their expectancies of compliance by their children to adhere to their requests. Measures of valuing could provide an indication of how important parents view their action for guiding their children's video game play.

Second, further scale refinement of the Beliefs About Video Games Scale and the Parental Guidance Scale is recommended. The constructs in these scales needs to be validated with other samples.

Third, future research could investigate the extent of direct experience that parents have with video games (the extent to which they themselves play video games) and their attitudes towards video games. Although a predictive relationship was found between computer experience and unfocused guidance, a measure of parental experience with video games may develop more understanding of how such experience influences parental beliefs and guidance of children's behaviour.

Fourth, the reason why unfocused guidance was the only guidance method reported significantly for mothers remains a question that should be addressed in future research. Although women's greater participation in child-care was a possible explanation for the results, it did not explain why mothers did not report more use of evaluative or restrictive guidance. Also, it has been found that males display more participation when care is linked to leisure activities (Goodnow and Bowes, 1994). Unfocused guidance of children's video games could be viewed as a leisure activity relating to care of children, in this case, males could have been expected to display more unfocused guidance.

Fifth, video games are often played with other family members including siblings. Valuable information about the nature of family dynamics could be gained by focusing on sibling interaction in this domain of activity within the family.

This study has developed some important ideas about this relatively unexplored area of current social significance for families and for the community. Although media and community attention has focused on the violent content of video games and the possible negative effects on children, this research has found that there was less negativity expressed within families about children's use of video games than could have been expected. As previously noted, video games are part of a larger, rapidly changing electronic technology, which is increasingly becoming part of everyday and home life. Video games have become a primary leisure activity for children. The research has provided some insight into the nature and extent of children's play and parental beliefs and behaviour within this domain. Exploring the relationship between parental beliefs and behaviour has provided insight into how this aspect of technology affects family life.

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