The relationship between Parent and Child Digital Technology use.

Objectives: The home is significant ecological context of development. This study explored parental practices concerning digital communication technologies and applications e.g. mobile phones, computers, gaming and social media, and how they relate to the use of technology by their children.

Design: A purpose designed questionnaire-based survey including open and closed questions.

Method: 107 parents of children aged five years or above completed a questionnaire examining the amount of time spent using technology, watching television, listening to music, social networking, preferences and motivations for using technology, their child’s technology use and the perceived impact of the use of technology on the parent-child relationship.

Data analysis: Descriptive statistics captured frequency of use. Inferential statics (correlations and linear regression) examined the relationship between parent and child technology use.

Results: Parents engaged in a range of activities: watching television, gaming, mobile phone use and social media and reported their children engaging in a similar range. Two thirds of parents reported using digital media to gain knowledge while acknowledging that the information obtained is not always accurate. 67% of parents expressed the view that social media was harmful for their child. Positive correlations were found between parent and child Television viewing, reading, gaming, social networking, mobile phone use and listening to music.

Conclusions: Parental technology use is closely related to that of their child. Given that concerns were expressed about the negative impact of such technologies; parental awareness should be raised about the influence of their behavior in the context of internet safety and iRights.