Family and Media Lab

The Family and Media Lab (FaMLab) studies the role of screen media in family life and youth development. Research projects are collaborative and have explored topics such as preschoolers' media exposure and beliefs about healthy eating; body image among young media users; media and sexual decision-making; media as sensory tools to manage the built and social environments; and parent-child media conflict.

Recent student-led projects have revolved around media’s role in empowering young women; college women’s occupational and family role expectations; the use of Internet sites by sex workers in Detroit; Black women’s sexual risk-taking and its connection to their consumption of Black Love media; and adolescents’ perceptions of the online body positivity movement.

The FaMLab meets weekly or biweekly with student collaborators at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Undergraduate students whose interests mesh closely with those of the lab are invited to inquire about participation under COMM 322 (Research Practicum), work-study, or the COMM Thesis Program. Lab activities include brainstorming to design studies and construct surveys; providing support and direction through IRB approval and data collection; discussing analysis and writeup of research findings; and strategizing about funding, publishing, and creating future studies. The mission of the lab is to further Dr. Harrison’s and her collaborators’ programs of research on media and youth development within a family context while building strong relationships between collaborators and the broader community of researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and parents.