A Qualitative Inquiry into the Contextualized Parental Mediation Practices of Young Children’s Digital Media Use at Home

Mediation of young children’s digital technology use: The parents’ perspective

“…This result is in line with the research of Zaman et al (2016), who also indicated the importance of considering contextual factors, like when, where, and under which external conditions children are allowed to use the media. Several studies have shown that parents use rules to mediate their children's usage (i.e., Livingstone & Helsper, 2008).…”

“…Similar types of parental mediations have already been identified by previous research (Nikken & Jansz, 2014;Zaman et al, 2016). In our investigation, we enrich current knowledge by linking these mediation strategies to specific online opportunities and risks.…”

“…The distant mediation included "deference" when parents decide not to intervene and to respect the autonomy of their children, and "supervision", which is associated with situations where the parents allow their children to use digital technology independently but under close parental supervision. Zaman et al (2016) also revealed several external and internal contextual factors that are associated with parental mediation. Situational factors were related to weather, family composition and schedule, social contact, the disposition of media devices, and the architecture of the house.…”

“…They hypothesized that this kind of mediation applies more to older children. Zaman et al (2016) carried out a qualitative, mixed-method study in Belgium that included 24 Flemish parents and their 36 children, aged 3 to 9. They investigated the strategies the parents used to mediate their young children's media use and what contextual factors influenced the parental mediation practices.…”

Mediating social media use: Connecting parents’ mediation strategies and social media literacy

“…They often cannot keep up with continuously evolving digital changes, and frequently experience difficulties using social media platforms (Zaman, Nouwen, Vanattenhoven, de Ferrerre, & Van Looy, 2016). Because of this, more uncertainties arise among parents about their own capabilities of using social media, all the while struggling to find the best way to mediate their children's social media use.…”