Latent Profile Analysis of Digital Communication Ability and Mediation on Digital Use Among Families with Elementary School Children

Abstract

Objectives: This study sought to identify families’ digital communication abilities through latent profile analysis (LPA) and examine how such profiles would be associated with parents’ mediation of the internet and smart devices.Methods: The analysis included 284 families with elementary school children (284 fathers, 284 mothers, and 284 children) from the Media Panel Survey by the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) in 2020.Results: A total of three latent classes of digital communication ability among family members were identified(Class 1 = consistently low digital communication abilities within the family; Class 2 = consistently high digital communication abilities within the family; Class 3 = incongruent digital communication abilities within the family). Parents’ mediation of their children’s use of smart devices was associated with being in a class with consistently low digital communication ability, rather than with consistently high digital communication ability and incongruent digital communication abilities. Parents’ mediation of how long they allowed their children to use smart devices was associated with being in a class with consistently high digital communication ability within the family, rather than with consistently low digital communication ability.Conclusion: Findings suggest that families tend to exhibit different patterns of digital communication abilities and that such patterns are significantly linked to different forms of digital mediation. Findings shed light on ways to improve the family environment for digital use and how parents may best support the development of digital communication skills in school-aged children.