Digital Parenting Education: Impact on Mothers' Social Media Use and Children's Tech Attitudes

Official title

The Effects of Digital Parenting Training Given to Mothers on Social Media Addiction and Their Children's Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Technology Use

Overview

The aim of the study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of mothers regarding social media addiction and their children's technology use. The research is a randomized controlled trial. The universe of the research consists of all family health center affiliated with the Artvin Provincial Health Directorate, and the sample consists of mothers with healthy preschool children (3-6 years old) registered in family health center No. 1, determined by drawing lots. The sample size was determined as 152 participants, with 76 assigned to the experimental group and 76 to the control group. The digital parenting training to be given to mothers consists of 8 sessions of 20 minutes each. The digital parenting training content, presentation and brochure were prepared according to the Ministry of Family and Social Services' "Parental Guide for Protecting Children from Digital Risks", the Ministry of Health's "Technology Addiction Parental Guide" and the Presidency's Directorate of Communications' "Social Media Usage Guide". Opinions of 10 experts were received for the prepared training presentation and brochure. As a result of the evaluation, descriptive statistics; number (N) and percentage (%) for variables between groups, mean, standard deviation (SD), minimum (min), maximum (max) values for numerical data and significance level will be stated as p\<0.05.

Detailed description

In today's digital age, technological tools have become an integral part of both children's and adults' daily lives. Numerous studies conducted globally and in Turkey indicate a significant increase in screen technology usage since the 2010s. Although digital tools offer various advantages for families and children, their unconscious and uncontrolled use can lead to harmful consequences such as screen dependency, social isolation, and reduced physical activity.

To mitigate these risks, parents are encouraged to limit screen time, promote physical and social engagement, and act as role models by regulating their own digital behaviors. Conscious technology use, digital privacy awareness, and safe internet navigation must be reinforced from early childhood to support healthy development.

This study aims to evaluate the effects of digital parenting education on mothers' social media addiction levels and their knowledge and attitudes regarding their children's technology use. The study was designed as a randomized controlled experimental trial with a 2x2 mixed design consisting of two groups (experimental-control) and two measurements (pre-test and post-test).

Setting and Sampling The study population consisted of mothers affiliated with all Family Health Centers under the Artvin Provincial Health Directorate. The sample included mothers with healthy preschool children (aged 3-6 years) registered in Family Health Center No. 1, selected through lot-drawing method. Using G\*Power 3.1.9.7, the sample size was calculated as 152 participants - 76 in the experimental group and 76 in the control group - using simple random sampling. Random assignment to groups was conducted using the internet-based tool www.randomizer.org, ensuring equal and unbiased distribution.

Instruments and Data Collection

Data will be collected through:

A sociodemographic questionnaire Parental Knowledge and Attitude Scale on Technology Use Social Media Addiction Scale - Adult Form

Dependent Variables:

Mothers' knowledge and attitudes regarding their child's technology use Mothers' social media addiction levels

Independent Variables:

Sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, education, family type, etc.)

Pre-test data will be collected face-to-face from March to May 2025. All participants who met the inclusion criteria provided written informed consent prior to data collection. After completing the pre-test, the contact information of mothers was documented to facilitate follow-up and training.

The experimental group will receive face-to-face digital parenting education over eight sessions (two 20-minute modules per week). Educational brochures containing key points will be distributed to enhance retention. After the final session, post-test measurements will be administered. The control group will only complete pre- and post-test assessments during the same timeline, without intervention during the study phase. To address ethical considerations, they will be offered an informational brochure and a 20-minute educational session after post-test completion.

The statistical method to be used to calculate the significance value of the difference between the knowledge and attitude score averages of the experimental group to which training was applied and the knowledge and attitude score averages of the control group will be determined. If the groups are normally distributed, paired t test will be used, if the groups are not normally distributed, Wilcoxon test will be used. In addition, two-way mixed design variance analysis test (repeated measures ANOVA) will be performed to evaluate the changes between the score averages within the experimental and control groups. In addition, Pearson correlation and regression analyses will be performed to examine the relationship between the scales applied to the experimental and control groups.

Interventions

• Behavioral Digital parenting education
  Description: The digital parenting training to be given to mothers consists of 8 sessions of 20 minutes each. In the first week of the training process, a meeting will be held with the mothers in the experimental group and a brief introduction will be made to the subject. In the second week, information will be provided on the following topics: "Definition and Roles of Digital Parenting", "How Does the Use of Information Technologies Affect the Parent-Child Relationship?", "How Does the Use of I

Primary outcome measures

• Parental Knowledge Change on Technology Use Post-Intervention [Time frame: 12 weeks]
• Parental Attitude Change on Technology Use Post-Intervention [Time frame: 12 weeks]
• Social Media Addiction Level Change Post-Intervention [Time frame: 12 weeks]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Having at least a primary school degree
• Being a mother with a 3-6 year old child
• Using at least one of the digital devices such as a smart phone/tablet/computer
• Having a social media account (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp etc.)

Exclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of acute/chronic disease by the child or mother during the data collection period
• Wanting to leave the study

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Single blind

Primary purpose

Health services research

Study locations

Turkey (Türkiye) · 1 center

• Family Health Center No. 1 affiliated to Artvin Provincial Health Directorate — Artvin

Publications

• Beal JA. Screen Time and Toddlers: New Evidence on Potentially Negative Effects. MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs. 2020 Jul/Aug;45(4):241. doi: 10.1097/NMC.0000000000000632. No abstract available. PMID 32604184
• Hutton JS, Dudley J, Horowitz-Kraus T, DeWitt T, Holland SK. Associations Between Screen-Based Media Use and Brain White Matter Integrity in Preschool-Aged Children. JAMA Pediatr. 2020 Jan 1;174(1):e193869. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3869. Epub 2020 Jan 6. PMID 31682712
• Kimball HG, Fernandez F, Moskowitz KA, Kang M, Alexander LM, Conway KP, Merikangas KR, Salum GA, Milham MP. Parent-Perceived Benefits and Harms Associated With Internet Use by Adolescent Offspring. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Oct 2;6(10):e2339851. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.39851. PMID 37883086
• Madigan S, Browne D, Racine N, Mori C, Tough S. Association Between Screen Time and Children's Performance on a Developmental Screening Test. JAMA Pediatr. 2019 Mar 1;173(3):244-250. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.5056. PMID 30688984
• Eilert N, Wogan R, Leen A, Richards D. Internet-Delivered Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Children and Young People: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JMIR Pediatr Parent. 2022 May 12;5(2):e33551. doi: 10.2196/33551. PMID 35551071
• Ponti M. Screen time and preschool children: Promoting health and development in a digital world. Paediatr Child Health. 2023 May 16;28(3):184-202. doi: 10.1093/pch/pxac125. eCollection 2023 Jun. PMID 37205134
• Bozzola E, Spina G, Agostiniani R, Barni S, Russo R, Scarpato E, Di Mauro A, Di Stefano AV, Caruso C, Corsello G, Staiano A. The Use of Social Media in Children and Adolescents: Scoping Review on the Potential Risks. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 12;19(16):9960. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19169960. PMID 36011593

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07008651 · ArtvinÇoruhU-SHMYO-ET-01

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗