The relationship between Internet parenting styles and Internet usage of children and adolescents
Publication details
| Year: | 2016 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.081 |
| Issued: | 2016 |
| Language: | English |
| Volume: | 60 |
| Start Page: | 411 |
| End Page: | 424 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Özgür H. |
| Type: | Journal article |
| Journal: | Computers in Human Behavior |
| Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
| Topics: | Social mediation; Internet usage, practices and engagement |
| Sample: | The study samples consisted of two different groups. The first research group (from which the quantitative data were collected) consisted of a total of 1356 students who studied at five different primary and secondary schools and six different high schools located in Edirne City center. The questionnaires from 67 students who did not give the correct answers in the data-collection tool were excluded from the research. For this reason, the analyses were conducted from the data obtained from 1289 students. Edirne, which is located in western Turkey and shares borders with the Balkan states, is a city with a near-high level of development in terms of the socio-economic development ranking of the country. To collect data from the second group (from which the qualitative data were obtained), a typical case sampling was used. The purpose of this sampling was to obtain an idea of a certain area through studying the average cases and to inform those who did not have sufficient information about this area, subject matter, application and innovation (Yildirim & Simsek, 2013, p. 138). The qualitative study data were obtained from the second group, which consisted of eight females and 12 male parents ages 35–48 years. |
Abstract
Parenting styles, which are known to have a significant effect on children's development, also have a significant effect on children's Internet use. This study was designed to demonstrate how parenting styles in relation to Internet use are perceived by children and parents and how these styles affect children's Internet use. Both qualitative and quantitative data-collection techniques were used in the study. The quantitative data-collection process was carried out through the participation of 1289 students, and the qualitative data-collection process was carried out with 20 parents and 23 children. The result of the study showed that the Internet parenting styles could be categorized as laissez-faire, permissive, authoritative, and authoritarian. A significant relationship was shown between Internet parenting style and child's gender and mothers' education level. It was also found that as the students' age and grade level increased, Internet parenting styles that were interpreted as initially authoritative were later interpreted as laissez-faire. As the grade level increased, the Internet parenting style tended to lean toward laissez-faire.
Outcome
"The parents interviewed listed the positive aspects of Internet usage as follows: Fast and easy access to information, the facilitation of communication and daily work, and the acceleration and efficient use of time. However, in addition to these facilities and benefits, when used unconsciously and without supervision, the Internet may cause users, particularly children and adolescents, to experience various troubles. The parents listed these negative aspects
of Internet usage as possible safety problems, information pollution, management problems when misused, troubles with socialization, loneliness, addiction, exposure to content inappropriate for the age, and psychological and physiological problems." (Özgür, 2016, p.420)
"The parents expressed that they employed tools such as quota/ data limitation or log-tracking to track their child's Internet usage."
"In the research, female students considered the Internet parenting style of their families as primarily authoritative, followed by permissive, laissez-faire and authoritarian, whereas male students listed the Internet parenting style of their parents to be predominantly laissez-faire, followed by permissive, authoritative and authoritative." (Özgür, 2016, p.421)