https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9973-4423
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Abstract
Interest in the voluntary non-use of digital technology is growing, as is the number of studies on the subject. However, research on digital disconnection rarely addresses families and relationship between technology non-use and physical activity (PA). The family is a system in which individual elements and processes determine the achievement of homeostasis: cohesion, flexibility and communication. The study answers the question: In the context of achieving family homeostasis, what role does PA play in relation to digital regulation (DR)? To address this, a qualitative study was conducted on 86 individuals from 30 Polish families using semi-structured in-depth interviews supplemented by questionnaire responses. According to the study PA plays a key role in DR by serving as a major alternative to screen time while providing numerous familial and individual benefits. By having all family members reduce technology in solidarity with each other in favor of PA, they support the family cohesion. The variety and variability of forms of DR and forms of movement testify to their flexibility. In turn, the time saved on screen activity and spent together proactively serves to improve their communication.
Reviewing Editor:
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the interviewers who worked on data collection: Patrycja Cheba, Martyna Dudziak-Kisio, Roksana Gloc, Joanna Kukier, Mateusz Sobiech for their commitment and Jakub Nowak for his valuable guidance during the manuscript writing stage.
Ethical approval
The study did not require approval from an institutional ethics committee. The study was remote and did not involve any risky interventions. All the subjects have provided appropriate informed consent. The instructions contained all the necessary information about the purpose, scope and use of the data, emphasizing the voluntary, anonymous and withdrawable nature of the consent at each stage of the study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Data accessibility statement
The data underlying this article are available on Zenodo, at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8007244; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8007340; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8007081; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8006974.
Notes
1 In the amount of PLN 320 gross for the family.
2 These families rated their economic situation as very good or average; they were resigning to avoid the paperwork.
3 The names of quoted respondents have been deliberately changed.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Katarzyna Kopecka-Piech
Katarzyna Kopecka-Piech is a Doctor of Humanities and Doctor Habilitus of Social Science, working as an Associate Professor at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland. She specializes in research on new media technologies, and mediatization of everyday life. Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo, Norway, and at the Södertörn University, Sweden, as well as a research assistant at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. She is the author of ‘Mediatization of Physical Activity: Media Saturation and Technologies’, Rowman & Littlefield: Lexington Books, 2019 and ‘Media Convergence Strategies. Polish Examples’, Astrum, 2011; an editor of several books, including ‘COVID-19 Pandemic as a Challenge for Media and Communication Studies’ Routledge 2022; ‘Mediatization of Emotional Life’, Routledge 2022; ‘Contemporary Challenges in Mediatization Research’ Routledge 2023 and the author of more than few dozens of articles and book chapters. The presented article is the result of the implementation of the grant received by her from the National Science Centre, ‘Disconnect to reconnect. The role of physical activity in family digital detox – preliminary research’, no. 2022/06/X/HS6/00121.