Engl. transl.: Childhood use of mobile devices: Influence of mothers’ socio-educational level

The presence and variety of mobile devices in Spanish homes, regardless of the social and economic context, has been widespread for years. Several studies focus on parental mediation in children's consumption of smart devices, however, there is a lack of scientific evidence about how the educational level and the professional profile of parents affect children’s digital media consumption. This study analyzes the influence of the socio-educational level of families on the consumption of digital screens. The study deepens the understanding on the educational level of parents, as well as their professional category. A quantitative methodology was applied on a sample of 792 primary school children, between 5 and 9 years of age, in three Spanish cities. The consumption of television, smartphones, tablets, computers and videogames was analyzed. Results indicate that, the lower the level of education and professional category of the mother, the greater the consumption of content through smart devices by children. The study demonstrates, there-fore, the importance of considering the educational and professional levels of mothers and fathers for a better understanding of the consumption of digital screens and, at the same time, as an opportunity for designing family strategies that encourage critical thinking and digital media education.

Results show the importance of considering the socio-educational level of parents when understanding the type of use and consumption of digital screens by children, especially in the case of videogames, mobile phones and television. More specifically, the two mediating variables are related to the educational and professional level of the mother. Jiménez-Morales et al. (2020) remark that these results confirm a higher involvement in parenting tasks by mothers compared with fathers. Regarding the differences obtained in the amount of digital screen consumption by children based on the educational and professional level of their mothers Jiménez et al. (2020: 26) point out that: "a higher educational and professional level among mothers also increases the income level of the family as a whole, which gives access to a wider variety of extracurricular and recreational activities that families with fewer economic resources can hardly afford". On the other hand, the authors also point out that it could be that those mothers that mothers with a higher level of education are also more attentive to research on children’s issues including those that warn of the risks of failing to set limits on screen consumption. Nonetheless, Jiménez-Morales et al. (2020: 24) warn that: "It is necessary to reflect on the results from this structural perspective in order to avoid making the mistake of blaming mothers with lower educational and professional levels". The authors advice the need to design family plans for media use, considering the mother´s characteristics as well as children's needs. These plans "should present an appropriate balance between screen time and other offline activities, set limits on access to content, guide the viewing of personal information, encourage critical thinking and age-appropriate digital literacy, and support family communication and the implementation of consistent rules on media use" (Jiménez-Morales et al., 2020: 24).