BioPsychoSocial Development Laboratory

In the current media-rich environment, exposure to war and terror often occurs indirectly through various media platforms. While extensive research shows that news media engagement adversely impacts adults’ emotional states, the effects on young children remain underexplored. Utilizing a 7-day daily diary design, this study examined the effects of war-related media exposure on parent and child well-being during active regional conflict. Participants were 193 Jewish-Israeli parents (child Mage = 4.53 years, 53.4% girls; parent Mage = 38 years, 51.3% fathers), who provided daily reports on both themselves and their children on war-related media exposure, direct exposure to war, negative affect and parent–child relational strain. Multilevel models revealed that children’s higher media exposure was associated with increased negative affect and more parent–child relational strain both at the between-participants and the within-participants levels. The associations between parental media engagement and child negative affect were mediated by parental negative affect and parent–child relational strain. Finally, children’s direct exposure and media exposure to war interacted to predict their well-being. These findings underscore the significant role of parent and child media exposure in shaping the emotional climate within families during times of war and related acts of violence.