A bifactor model of U.S. parents’ attitudes regarding mediation for the digital age

ABSTRACT

Parents use digital-specific strategies to mitigate online risks and augment online benefits of digital technology in their children’s lives. The goal of this study was to develop and validate a measure of parents’ attitudes about mediation of digital technology. An internet-based survey was administered to 460 parents of children and adolescents in the United States. Exploratory bifactor analysis revealed one general factor, reflecting general parenting attitudes, and four digital-specific factors: discursive mediation, restrictive mediation and monitoring, participatory mediation, and mediation by modeling. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a bifactor model of the Digital Parental Mediation Attitudes Scale (DPMAS); the general factor explained shared variance related to parenting style and skills in general, while the mediation factors represented digital-specific attitudes. Construct validity was evidenced in differential associations between mediation factors and parenting efficacy, influence, child age, and parent and child technology use patterns.

Impact Summary

Prior State of Knowledge: Research exploring the effectiveness of digital parenting strategies (e.g. discursive and restrictive mediation) has not conceptualized or measured these constructs consistently. This limits the extent to which scholars, policy makers, and parents can draw conclusions about the efficacy of digital parental mediation.

Novel Contributions: To facilitate a coherent evidence base about digital parenting, the current study developed and validated a quantitative measure of US parents’ attitudes about mediation related to digital and social technologies using structural equation modeling.

Practical Implications: The Digital Parenting Mediation Attitude Scale (DPMAS) assess parents’ attitudes across four dimensions (discursive, restrictive/monitoring, participatory, modeling) and can assist in the development and evaluation of interventions to support youth and families in a dynamic and rapidly evolving technological environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Parental mediation
• adolescent
• child
• digital technology
• bifactor
• internet
• social media
• parenting

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2022.2123012

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessica L. Navarro

Jessica L. Navarro is social worker and Assistant Professor in the department of Human Service Studies at Elon University. Her work explores the intersection of digital technology and family life, particularly parent–child relationships in the digital age. Dr. Navarro’s research, practice, and teaching are grounded in bioecological theory.

Anne Fletcher

Anne Fletcher is Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Fletcher studies parenting and parent-child relationships across ages ranging from middle childhood through adolescence, as well as predictors of psychological and academic adjustment among college students from diverse backgrounds. Her research program involves qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches.

Michaeline Jensen

Michaeline Jensen is a licensed psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She heads the Interactions and Relationships Lab, where her work leverages novel methodological techniques and mobile communication technologies to better understand the role of close relationships (e.g., with parents, peers) in the development of adolescent mental health and substance use.