Abstract

Objective: To examine the impact of digital parenting awareness (DPA) levels on problematic media use (PMU) among children.

Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted with children between the ages of 7-11 who admitted to the family medicine outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital between 09.06.2022 and 08.12.2022, and met the inclusion criteria for themselves and their parents. Data were obtained through the patient information form, digital parenting awareness scale (DPAS), and problematic media use measure-short form (PMUM-SF) administered to the parents.

Results: A total of 301 children, with an average age of 8.21±1.13 years and 174 (57.8%) girls, were included in the study. Most children had access to televisions (80.1%), mobile phones (67.4%), and tablets (34.6%) during the day. The percentage of those who spent ≥5 hours in front of the screen was 3.7% on weekdays and 14.6% on weekends. The mean PMUM-SF score was 17.37±7.40. The mean scores were 7.25±2.41 for being negative model (NM), 9.05±3.34 for Digital negligence (DN), 15.96±3.29 for efficient use (EU) and 15.09±3.61 for protection from risks (PR). There was a positive relationship between PMU, NM, and DN, but a negative relationship between EU and PR (p<0.001 for all). There were significant differences in gender, academic performance, weekday and weekend screen time, and PMUM-SF score (p=0.006; p<0.001; p<0.001; p<0.01, respectively). There was a significant relationship between the duration of weekday and weekend screen time and all subdimensions of DPAS (p<0.05 for all).

Conclusion: Although the DPA was moderate to good in parents, the PMU level was low in children. The PMU increased as the DPA decreased. PMU was higher among male students, those with low academic performance, and those who spent more time in front of screens. Children of parents with low DPA duration had increased screen time.