Peter Nikken

Parental mediation of children’s videogame playing: a comparison of the reports by parents and children

Through an Internet survey of 536 parent–child dyads, the authors researched which mediation strategies parents used to regulate videogaming by their children (8–18 years). Factor analyses revealed that both parents and children distinguished three types of parental mediation: (1) ‘restrictive mediation’, (2) ‘active mediation’, and (3) ‘co‐playing’. These strategies are comparable with mediation types that were established in research about television. Comparing the parents’ and children’s reports it was found that both groups had highly congruent views about the application of mediation. Parental mediation of videogaming was most strongly predicted by the child’s age and the parents’s game behavior. Furthermore, parents applied more restrictive and active mediation when they feared negative behavioral effects and more often co‐played with their children when they expected positive social‐emotional effects of gaming.

PLAYING RESTRICTED VIDEOGAMES

Videogames have become a matter of course in the everyday life of young people (Roberts, Foehr, & Rideout, 2005). However, the ubiquity of violent games has lead to public expression of worries (Anderson, 2004; American Psychological Association [APA], 2005; Children Now, 2001; Grossman, & DeGaetano, 1999; Smith, Lachlan, & Tamborini, 2003). In many countries measures have been taken to ensure that children are not confronted with controversial media, such as age and content based ratings. However, it is questionable whether parents always succeed in keeping their children away from rated productions since some children watch TV programs and play videogames that are forbidden by their parents, or not meant for their age (Krahé & Möller, 2004; Roberts et al., 2005). Research, therefore, has raised the issue that parental regulation of television and videogames for some children may have the unintended outcome of focusing the child on the aversive content (Nathanson, 2001a, 2002; Nikken & Jansz, 2006). Also, some children are more interested in media productions because of the higher age rating (Bushman & Stack, 1996; Cantor & Harrison, 1997; Foehr, Rideout, & Miller, 2001; Greenberg, RampoldiHnilo, & Hofschire, 2001). The present study maps the extent of playing ‘‘restricted’’ videogames in children and adolescents (8–18 years). The label ‘‘restricted’’ refers to videogames that were implicitly or explicitly forbidden by parents and to games that children know they are not supposed to play because of the age rating. Previous research about playing restricted games has been limited (Krahé & Möller, 2004; Roberts et al., 2005). Therefore, we conducted an exploratory survey among 536 parent–child dyads to provide ‘‘benchmark data’’ about the prevalence of playing restricted videogames and its relation with game ratings, parental mediation, and a number of (demographic) characteristics of both children and parents.

Boys and girls taking risks online: A gendered perspective on social context and adolescents’ risky online behavior

This study explores gender differences in the relationship between adolescents’ risky online behavior and their social context, as in family factors and the prevalence of Internet use in a country. Using the EU Kids Online dataset, including information on 8554, 14- to 16-year-old adolescents in 25 countries, and applying multilevel modeling, this study shows that social context is additionally and differentially related to adolescent boys’ and girls’ risky online behavior. When taking individual characteristics such as sensation seeking and digital skills into account, particularly for male adolescents, growing up in a single-parent household and lacking parental co-use increases the chance of online risk behavior. Adolescents, especially males, however, are less likely to participate in risky online behavior in societies where Internet use is widespread. Overall, this study shows that it is important to take account of individual and social factors when explaining adolescents’ online risk taking and gender differences herein.

Guiding young children’s internet use at home: Problems that parents experience in their parental mediation and the need for parenting support

Using an online questionnaire among 785 parents (children 0-7 years) in the Netherlands we investigated a) whether parents experience problems when guiding children’s digital media usage, b) whether they feel competent in dealing with these problems, c) whether they need parenting support, and d) how these problems, competences and need for support are related to the characteristics of the parents, the family and the child. The analyses reveal that the parents’ experiences of problems is associated with negative views on media effects, the presence of older siblings living at home and occur especially when their child is active on social media. Parents’ feelings of competence are enhanced by positive views on media effects, older children being present in the home, and the involvement of the young child in educational games and media skill level. Parents feel less confident if their child is active on social media. Support is primarily dependent on the level of problems at hand. Moreover, professionals are consulted especially when parents feel less competent, their child is active on social media and no older siblings are present at home. Parents ask family or friends for advice when they have a negative view on media effects.

Guiding Young Children’s Digital Media Use: SES-Differences in Mediation Concerns and Competence

Previous research about parents’ mediation of their young children’s (digital) media use has predominantly focused on the different types, determinants, and effectiveness of parental mediation strategies. Although research on parents’ perceived mediation concerns and competences is scarce, it is known that, compared to mothers and high-educated parents, fathers and low-educated parents experience greater insecurity (i.e., higher concern and lower competence) when applying media mediation. Based on Bourdieu’s theory of social capital it may be expected that—in addition to educational level—marital status and family income predict parents’ perceived mediation concerns and competences: Family demographics may predict parents’ media proficiency and adoption of new media technologies and these media ecological factors may, in turn, affect perceived concerns and competences. To test this assumption, survey data were collected among 1029 parents of children between the ages of 1 to 9 years. We found that parents’ basic media proficiency was lower in low income, low educated, and single-parent families, whereas parents’ advanced media proficiency was only lower in low educated and single-parent families. As expected, parents’ ease of active co-use was positively associated with parents’ basic proficiency, ease of restrictive mediation by basic and advanced proficiency, and ease of imposing technical restrictions by advanced media proficiency. Parents’ perceived mediation concerns were, however, unrelated to parents’ media proficiency. Also, as expected, low educated parents were less inclined to adopt new media technologies. Adoption of new media was negatively related to perceived mediation concerns, yet did not predict parents’ perceived competence.

Implications of low or high media use among parents for young children’s media use

Using an online questionnaire among 1,381 parents (children 0-7 years) in the Netherlands I investigated a) the congruence between the time that parents and children spend on various media; b) how several parent, child and household characteristics vary among four family types: low, moderate, high, and very high media consumers; and c) which characteristics most strongly differentiate these four family types. The analyses reveal that parents vary widely in their media consumption (from about 1 to more than 6½ hours media per day). Since the children’s media use parallels their parent’s, parents seem to provide an important example in the home. Data also show that lower and higher use families differ significantly on income, education level, number of devices at home, views on media for children, ease of applying co-active mediation and children’s proficiency in media use. Finally, the four family types can best be distinguished on the basis of quantity characteristics (education level, number of screens at home, time spent by children on media) and quality characteristics (type of media content used, ease of mediation, views on media for children). Consequences for young children’s development and parenting support are described.