Family Attitudes and Beliefs Around Digital Technologies and Young Children’s Screen Use - 46 Families Under 6 Years Old Study

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk

Family attitudes and beliefs about digital technologies are identified as a decisive factor shaping young children’s screen habits at home. The study draws on interviews with 46 families of children under 6 years old to examine how parental perceptions influence screen use in terms of activities, content, and time. The research supports an in-depth reflection on media management and highlights that differences across positive and negative perceptions are limited, while analysis remains complex and regulated by contextual needs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Regulatory factors in screen use by young children

The importance of context

It you beliefs of technologies as a regulator children's screen use It depends on you. Family beliefs of digital technologies as a regulator of children's screen use Mariona Grané [mgrane@ub.edu](mgrane@ub.edu) [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1435-0664](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1435-0664) University of Barcelona, Spain Rafael Suárez [rsuarezg@tecnocampus.cat](rsuarezg@tecnocampus.cat) [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8178-0488](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8178-0488) Tecnocampus, Spain Dorys Sabando [doryssabando@ub.edu](doryssabando@ub.edu) [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9639-7481](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9639-7481) University of Barcelona, Spain Abstract Family attitudes and beliefs around digital technologies are a key factor in young children's digital habits in the home. This study involved conducting interviews with 46 families of children under 6 years of age to understand how parental perceptions determine the screen use of young children in terms of activities, content, and time. The aim is to provide knowledge for an in-depth reflection on media management in the home. A descriptive, quantitative study was designed, based on a questionnaire survey model to interview families. The results show few differences between the most positive and the most negative family perceptions of children's use of ICTs. The complexity of the analysis of parental digital education strategies and support systems is evident. The perceptions of families are based on a balance that avoids extremes, are shrouded in contradictions, and are regulated according to the needs of the context. This requires consideration of all the factors that influence children's digital habits: the socioeconomic context of families, parental digital habits, family perceptions, and the parental digital mediation strategies used. Keywords Family digital perception, Digital parenting, Children's digital habits Digital Education Review ⎮ ISSN 2013-9144 ⎮ [http://revistes.ub.edu/der](http://revistes.ub.edu/der) Number 43, June 2023 ⎮ [http://doi/10.1344/der.2023.43.151-171](http://doi/10.1344/der.2023.43.151-171) 151 I. Introduction Screen use by young children (under 6 years old) has increased worldwide since the introduction of tablets in 2013 and their widespread use at home. To date, the study of the elements influencing the use of screens by young children in the home has been analyzed from three regulating factors. Firstly, the socioeconomic and cultural context is the element that is most often linked to children’suse of screens. It is now necessary to analyze how and in what way the sociocultural status of families influences the digital literacy practices of young children in their homes and their learning opportunities (Kumpulainen et al., 2020) . The second modulator (as shown in figure 1) is related to parents’ use of technology at a personal and professional level. For Nikken (2017), the use of media by parents’ functions as an important predictor of children’s media consumption, as well as the time spent on them, and type of devices used and content accessed. And the least studied third element is the family’s perception and beliefs about digital technologies and their influence on children’s relationship with screens. Some studies suggest how parents’beliefs towards technology directly affect the quality and quantity of digital media available to children and their use of it at home (Papadakis et al., 2019) . This study focuses on this third regulating factor and aims to analyze how and in what way families’ perceptions and beliefs about digital technologies modulate children’s use of screens at home. This is done through observing the positive and negative perceptions of technology in the families of a group of children under 6 years old who have been surveyed in the framework of the App2five project. And, parallelly, comparing them with the type of devices and resources that children have at their dispo

FAQs

What is the main factor examined in young children’s screen use at home?

Parental family attitudes and beliefs about digital technologies, which influence children’s screen habits regarding activities, content, and time.

How was the study conducted?

Interviews were conducted with 46 families of children under 6, using a questionnaire-survey interview model to analyze parental perceptions.

What does the study find about differences between positive and negative family perceptions?

Few differences are observed between the most positive and most negative family perceptions regarding children’s use of ICTs.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk