I’m Jacqueline Nesi, a clinical psychologist, professor, and mom of three whose idea of a spooky Halloween post is one about fear-based digital parenting. Please enjoy this excerpt from Techno Sapiens.
…Today we’re talking about a new study published in Technology, Mind, & Behavior called Parents’ views about teens and tech: parents have more to gain from a trust-based digital mindset versus one driven by fear.
The study looks at parents’ “mindsets,” or beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions about technology, and how those mindsets relate to their behaviors and their teens’ experiences.
Could there be a more perfect fit for Techno Sapiens?
What did the researchers do?
First, they developed surveys to assess “fear-based” versus “trust-based” digital parenting mindsets among parents of adolescents (roughly ages 10 to 16).
Here are the scales they landed on, with all items rated on a scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree:
Fear-based digital parenting mindset
- Screen time is one of the biggest threats to children today
- Screen time is leading to a decline in children’s well-being
- Screen use is dangerously addictive for children
- Spending time on screens is harmful to a child’s developing brain
- Screen time is destroying childhood
- Screens are dangerous for my child
Trust-based digital parenting mindset
- I trust that my child will learn to balance screen time with other activities
- I believe my child will ultimately be capable of managing screen time responsibly
- My child can make good decisions about screen time as they gain more experience with technology
- My child can ultimately learn to manage screen time responsibly from making good and bad decisions now
The researchers then looked at how these mindsets were related to parenting behaviors, parenting styles, and adolescent functioning across two samples (both cross-sectional): 298 parents and 2,000 adolescent-parent pairs….
Continue reading the full article here.