Drawing on family development theory, this study provides insight into how family stages with and without siblings are related to media habits and effects. Two national samples (N = 527 and N = 1,257) present a cross‐sectional snapshot of media uses in families across three stages of family life: families with preschoolers (2–6 years), with elementary school‐age children (7–12 years), and with adolescents (13–17 years). We observed differences between family stages in five domains of media use: alternative activities to screen media, media use, parental monitoring, consistency in applying media rules, and resistance to media effects. Generally, more positive media habits were associated with families in earlier stages, families with siblings, and families with larger age gaps in sibling spacing. But greater vulnerability to media effects was associated with those families with multiple children and gaps in sibling spacing that spanned more than one stage.

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The study of selective exposure seeks to understand how and why people consume particular communication content when faced with a constellation of choices. Broadly defined, selective exposure refers to behaviors that are deliberately performed in an effort to bring communication content within reach of one's sensory apparatus (Zillmann & Bryant 1985). In the modern, media‐saturated world, selective exposure often occurs within the context of mass media, although by definition it encompasses all forms of human communication. Within the discipline of communication, → mood management, cognitive dissonance, and → informational utility represent the major areas of selective exposure research (→ Cognitive Dissonance Theory). The current state of research in this area can be understood by tracing historical approaches to selective exposure, outlining key theoretical components, and describing directions of current research.

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