Parental Mediation Regarding Children's Smartphone Use: Role of Protection Motivation and Parenting Style

Parental mediation is a type of behavior that could protect children against the negative uses and effects of smartphones. Based on protection motivation theory, this research (a) predicted parental mediation based on parents' threat and efficacy perceptions and (b) predicted threat and efficacy perceptions based on parenting styles and parents' addiction to smartphone use. An online survey of 448 parents of fourth to sixth graders was conducted. Results showed that both restrictive and active parental mediation were predicted by perceived severity, response efficacy, and self-efficacy. With regard to parenting styles, (a) authoritative parenting was positively related to perceived severity as well as response- and self-efficacy, whereas (b) permissive parenting was negatively related to self-efficacy. In addition, parents' addiction was a negative predictor of perceived severity, but a positive predictor of perceived susceptibility.

[1]  Yoori Hwang,et al.  Predictors of Parental Mediation Regarding Children's Smartphone Use , 2015, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[2]  L. Kirwil,et al.  Parental Mediation Of Children's Internet Use In Different European Countries , 2009 .

[3]  Yeong-Mi Ha,et al.  Gender Differences in Internet Addiction Associated with Psychological Health Indicators Among Adolescents Using a National Web-based Survey , 2014, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.

[4]  P. Petraitis,et al.  Inferring multiple causality : the limitations of path analysis , 1996 .

[5]  Yoori Hwang,et al.  What type of content are smartphone users addicted to?: SNS vs. games , 2016, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[6]  Sook-Jung Lee,et al.  Children's Internet Use in a Family Context: Influence on Family Relationships and Parental Mediation , 2007, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[7]  Kyeong-Sook Cha,et al.  Associations between overuse of the internet and mental health in adolescents. , 2014, Nursing & health sciences.

[8]  Patti M. Valkenburg,et al.  Developing a scale to assess three styles of television mediation: "restrictive mediation," "instructive mediation," and "social coviewing" , 1999 .

[9]  D. Baumrind.  Current patterns of parental authority. , 1971 .

[10]  Min Kwon,et al.  The Smartphone Addiction Scale: Development and Validation of a Short Version for Adolescents , 2013, PloS one.

[11]  Kimberly Young,et al.  Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder , 1998, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[12]  Amy I. Nathanson,et al.  Perceived Media Influence and Efficacy as Predictors of Caregivers' Protective Behaviors , 2002 .

[13]  M. Eastin,et al.  Parenting the Internet , 2006 .

[14]  P. Sheeran,et al.  Prediction and Intervention in Health-Related Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of Protection Motivation Theory , 2000 .

[15]  R. W. Rogers,et al.  A meta-analysis of research on protection motivation theory. , 2000 .

[16]  E. Maccoby,et al.  Socialization In The Context Of The Family: Parent-Child Interaction , 1983 .

[17]  Soojung Kim,et al.  Predictors of Pro-Environmental Behaviors of American and Korean Students , 2013 .

[18]  Mark D. Griffiths,et al.  A brief report on the relationship between self-control, video game addiction and academic achievement in normal and ADHD students , 2013, Journal of behavioral addictions.

[19]  K. Demi̇rci̇,et al.  Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale in a Younger Population , 2014 .

[20]  Dongil Kim,et al.  Development of Korean Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale for Youth , 2014, PloS one.

[21]  V. Stavropoulos,et al.  Recognizing internet addiction: prevalence and relationship to academic achievement in adolescents enrolled in urban and rural Greek high schools. , 2013, Journal of adolescence.

[22]  P. Valkenburg,et al.  Developing and Validating the Perceived Parental Media Mediation Scale: A Self‐Determination Perspective , 2013 .

[23]  S. Livingstone,et al.  Parental Mediation of Children's Internet Use , 2008 .

[24]  R. W. Rogers,et al.  A Protection Motivation Theory of Fear Appeals and Attitude Change1. , 1975, The Journal of psychology.

[25]  Amy I. Nathanson.  The Unintended Effects of Parental Mediation of Television on Adolescents , 2002 .

[26]  Yoori Hwang,et al.  Media Literacy Interventions: A Meta-Analytic Review. , 2012, The Journal of communication.

[27]  Regina J. J. M. van den Eijnden,et al.  Meeting online contacts in real life among adolescents: The predictive role of psychosocial wellbeing and internet-specific parenting , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[28]  Barbara Mandleco,et al.  Authoritative, Authoritarian, and Permissive Parenting Practices: Development of a New Measure , 1995 .

[29]  L. Clark.  Parental Mediation Theory for the Digital Age , 2011 .