Television, family atmosphere and perception of values in teenagers with and without ADHD

The current media culture offers few opportunities for people to maintain their attention over prolonged periods of time and may complicate the understanding of the meaning of the transmitted messages. Thus, this research aims to establish the similarities and differences between teenagers with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in terms of television preferences in relation to the family atmosphere and the perception of values. The study is based on the opinions of 209 teenagers with and without ADHD and aged between 14 and 18 years. The results, which are based on answers to the CH-TV 0.2 and VAL.TV.02 questionnaires, indicate that there are two majority TV-viewer profiles among the sample of teenagers. These profiles are differentiated by the preference towards certain TV genres, the importance granted to the physical attractiveness of TV characters, which is related to the values of openness to change and self-enhancement, and family cohesion and expressiveness. However, there are remarkable differences between the ADHD and normal groups with regards to those profiles. This study aims to contribute to the study of individual differences in relation to media consumption, and to the development of educational media literacy programmes for children and teenagers, according to the characteristics of their target audience.