Different Parenting Approaches in Children’s Digital Interaction
Parenting style was originally accepted as traditional parenting styles as the theoretical basis for studies on parental involvement in children’s activities with the media. According to Darling and Steinberg, parenting styles are defined as the context (or emotional climate) in which parents raise and socialize their children and are different from practices. That is, different actions depending on the child’s behavior (for example, scolding when the child uses the smartphone during mealtime). As is known, two main dimensions of parental behavior and natural variations in a continuum define styles: These are; sensitivity / concern (expressed parental involvement, acceptance and influence towards the needs of the child) and demand / control (rules for the child’s socialization, control and maturity expectations).
Parenting styles derive from a combination of the following variable dimensions. One of them is authoritarian parenting, and in this style, parents are overly controlled. For example, parents listen to the child’s wishes but set clear limits on the child’s behavior. Another style is Laissez-faire parenting style. In this, control is more moderate and the parents are independent of the needs expressed by the child. That is, they do not set rules or limits on the child’s behavior, but they are more moderate.
In the high control mechanism in authoritarian parenting, parents expect the child to obey, neither discuss nor listen to the child’s opinions and react with harsh discipline. In the other, parents are very affectionate, but lack guidance through rules and place little limit on the child’s behavior. Studies applying these “classic” parenting styles to children’s behavior with new communication tools have not yielded convincing results. As an alternative to broad parenting styles, the definition of specific media-related practices is more useful in experimental studies to explore the link between parental behavior and child outcomes (e.g. time spent online).
Therefore, researchers have attempted to refer more tightly to the basic dimensions of parental control to children’s behavior on the Internet or in new media. These Internet parenting styles are more tightly linked to the actual use of digital technologies by children; For example, low parental control predicted more time for school-age children to use the Internet.
Parenting style dimensions appear to be influenced by individual characteristics of parents, such as gender, education, beliefs, or previous experiences with digital technologies. For example, Valcke et al. According to his research, if mothers are more controlling than fathers but also compassionate, both dimensions are associated with an authoritarian style. In other studies, young fathers and those who use the internet more frequently with their teenagers have higher control. Parental education and experiences with digital technologies are other important variables: higher educated parents are more involved and higher in control, possibly because higher education levels also correspond to more parents’ Internet competence.
Early studies investigated parenting styles related to Internet use at home, but more recently, different researchers have investigated the impact of digital parenting styles on children’s mobile device (tablet and smartphone) use. Konok et al. parents of children (3-7 years old) who use devices more and more every day are more permissive (e.g. they talk to children about apps on devices but have a low level of demand), more authoritative (e.g., they give time limits but they expect the child to regulate themselves) they do not block) and are less authoritative (i.e., parent restricts and prohibits mobile use). Interestingly, these parenting styles are also associated with parental beliefs about the positive and negative consequences of early media use. Parents with a higher permissive or authoritative digital style have declared more useful than negative (i.e. skills development, entertainment, and early learning of digital skills). Impacts (i.e., less time for other activities and associated with developmental problems.
Digital parenting styles also vary according to children’s characteristics, such as age, self-esteem, emotional regulation or behavioral problems that can interfere, mediating the link between parenting and children’s actual behavior. (digital technologies) In particular, styles vary and adapt to children’s age: authoritarian parents in infancy become more permissive in older children. Overall, these findings reevaluate the notion that there is a linear, cause-effect relationship between parenting and child outcomes on digital behavior, but bidirectional and operative parent-child effects should be considered.
