Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Caregiver Responses to Youth Media Exposure (CRYME)

The current study evaluates the psychometric properties of a measure of caregivers’ behaviors in relation to youths’ exposure and response to violent news. Using data from caregivers (N = 350) recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk, a confirmatory factor analysis, an assessment of concurrent and discriminant validity, and a two-week test-retest reliability of the Caregiver Responses to Youth Media Exposure (CRYME) were performed. Results support a three-factor structure with scales reflecting caregivers reassuring a child of his/her safety, limiting access to violent news, and encouraging safety behaviors by instilling fear of situations covered in the media. Concurrent and discriminant validity of the three scales were supported. Test-retest reliability was acceptable for two of the scales. The revised CRYME is a valid and reliable measure that can be used to identify caregiver practices for regulating violent news consumption and/or buffering its impact following violent/tragic events.