Orig. title: ‘Ze zijn lekker rustig achter een schermpje’
Engl. transl.: “They are so nice and quiet behind a screen”
Keywords
children’s digital media use
parents’ self-interest
qualitative research
Publication details
| Year: | 2020 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s12453-020-00240-w |
| Issued: | 2020 |
| Language: | Dutch |
| Volume: | 41 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Start Page: | 313 |
| End Page: | 329 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Geurts S.; de Bok R.; van den Eijnden R.; Vossen H.; Koning I. |
| Type: | Journal article |
| Journal: | Kind en adolescent |
| Topics: | Social mediation |
| Sample: | 31 parents (of at least 1 child in te age of 3 to 16 years old) were interviewed, of which 21 mothers. The age of the parents ranged from 22 to 51 years (M=41,52, SD=7,02). 91% was married or lived together and lived in an urban area (58%). 5 out of 31 parents had a degree from a university, 15 parents had a degree from higher vocational education (hbo), 10 parents had a degree from post-secondary vocational education (mbo), and 1 parent completed high school. 9 parents worked fulltime (more than 36 hours per week), 18 parents parttime, and 3 parents did not have a job. Of these 3 parents, one mother studied fulltime. Most of the parents (84%) had multiple children. Mean age of the children was 10 years (SD=4,08), half were boys. Children outside the category of 3 to 16 years were disregarded. '(translated by the coder)' |
| Implications For Parents About: | Parental practices / parental mediation |
Abstract
This qualitative study gives insight into the role of parents’ self-interest regarding children’s digital media use in different age groups. We conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with mothers and fathers of children aged 3–16 who were recruited via targeted sampling. A deductive and inductive content analysis was applied. These analyses revealed that parents’ self-interest regarding children’s digital media use includes ‘being able to do other tasks without being pestered’, ‘having some me-time’, ‘managing children’s behaviour’, ‘avoiding discussions’, ‘occasions to use digital media themselves’ and ‘spending quality time together’. Parents of younger children stimulate digital media use more actively for their own convenience by initiating digital media use or having structured periods during which children are allowed to use digital media. In contrast, parents of older children make use of children’s digital media use more passively by not intervening. The findings can be used to inform interventions aimed at reducing children’s screen time.
Outcome
Parents occasionally provide digital media to their children for self-interest. Self-interest play a role in four different ways. Out of self-interest, parents can (1) initatie the media use of their children, (2) do not intervene in the media use of their children, (3) agree with their child if it asks to use media, and/or (4) have fixed moments for children to use media. The time when the child is using media is used to: ‘being able to do other tasks without being
pestered’, ‘having some me-time’, ‘managing children’s behaviour’, ‘avoiding
discussions’, ‘occasions to use digital media themselves’ and ‘spending quality
time together’.
The role of self-interest differs between families with younger or older children. Parents of younger children stimulate digital media use more actively for their own convenience by initiating digital media use or having structured periods during which children are allowed to use digital media. In contrast, parents of older children make use of children’s digital media use more passively by not intervening. The role of self-interest decreases when the child is 12 years or older.