Adolescent Media Use in a Changing Media Environment

Abstract

This article deals with the various empirical research projects on mass media use by adolescents, carried out in the German-speaking countries of Europe in the 1980s. It provides an overview of the development and the present state of youth-oriented media research, outlining the underlying theoretical perspectives, research designs and methods. It also summarizes some of the important research findings concerning the changing electronic media environment and its consequences on quantitative and qualitative aspects of adolescents' media use.