Long-Term Sociopolitical Effects of 9=1/1 Television Viewing, Emotions, and Parental Conversation in U.S. Young Adults Who Were Children in 2001

This research used a survey to examine how 9/11 television viewing, emotions, and parental conversation influenced current sociopolitical attitudes of young adults who were children in 2001. Young adults who watched more television coverage of the 9/11 attacks as children were found to exhibit lower levels of social trust and support for immigration now, whereas young adults who had more frequent conversations about 9/11 with their parents as children were found to have more confidence in U.S. political institutions and to exhibit more support for immigration. These results illustrate that, although the psychological distress from an event like 9/11 may fade for children not directly affected by the event, the influence of that event on how young people think about the world may remain, and that media coverage of and parental conversation about the event play significant roles in influencing these long-term effects.