Guiding young children’s internet use at home: Problems that parents experience in their parental mediation and the need for parenting support
Keywords
parental mediation
parenting support
media diffusion
Publication details
| Year: | 2015 |
| DOI: | 10.5817/cp2015-1-3 |
| Issued: | 2015 |
| Language: | English |
| Volume: | 9 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Nikken P.; de Haan J. |
| Type: | Journal article |
| Journal: | Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace |
| Publisher: | Masaryk University Press |
| Topics: | Social mediation |
| Sample: | "The final sample (N = 785) contained somewhat more mothers than fathers (see Table 1). In addition, parents with older children were overrepresented: 11% of the parents had children 0 or 1 years old, 21% 2 or 3 years, 33% 4 or 5 years, and 35% 6 or 7 years. As compared to the general Dutch population (CBS, 2013), our sample also contained somewhat less lower educated (22% versus 30%) and somewhat more middle educated parents (49% versus 42%)." (Nikken & de Haan, 2015, p. 4) |
| Implications For Stakeholders About: | Other |
| Other Stakeholder Implication: | Practitioners who support parents |
Abstract
Using an online questionnaire among 785 parents (children 0-7 years) in the Netherlands we investigated a) whether parents experience problems when guiding children’s digital media usage, b) whether they feel competent in dealing with these problems, c) whether they need parenting support, and d) how these problems, competences and need for support are related to the characteristics of the parents, the family and the child. The analyses reveal that the parents’ experiences of problems is associated with negative views on media effects, the presence of older siblings living at home and occur especially when their child is active on social media. Parents’ feelings of competence are enhanced by positive views on media effects, older children being present in the home, and the involvement of the young child in educational games and media skill level. Parents feel less confident if their child is active on social media. Support is primarily dependent on the level of problems at hand. Moreover, professionals are consulted especially when parents feel less competent, their child is active on social media and no older siblings are present at home. Parents ask family or friends for advice when they have a negative view on media effects.
Outcome
"There are four main findings from our study. First, the media use of young children can put the parent in a potentially stressful situation on a daily basis. A very high proportion of the parents confirmed that at least one of the concerns we presented to them was an issue in the guidance of their children’s media use. Second, the prevalence of problems in the parent’s mediation practice was systematically associated with characteristics of the children, the family context, and the parent. Third, notwithstanding the concerns, most parents felt rather confident in their mediation capabilities. Yet 1 in 8 parents reported
that they felt insecure when guiding their children’s media use. Finally, parents did not make much use of parenting support, in particular the support provided by professionals. " (Nikken & de Haan, 2015, p. 9)