Parental mediation of young children’s internet use: Adaptation of parental mediation scale and review of parental mediation based on the demographic variables and digital data security awareness

Abstract

Aim of the study is reviewing parental mediation based on some variables by adapting “Parental Mediation of Young Children’s Internet Use Scale”- which was developed by Nikken and Jansz (Learning, Media and Technology, 39(2), 250–266, 2014) - into Turkish. The study was conducted in two steps. At the first step, data was collected for the scale adaptation process, and validity and reliability of the scale were calculated. 170 parents participated into the study at the first step. At the second step, scanning was done through adaptive scale. 341 parents participated at the second step. This study was conducted through purposive and convenience sampling method by selection of the parents with different socio-demographic features and having children at 5th and 6th grades in middle school. Self-description form and two different scales were utilized in the study. At the end of the study, to detect parental mediation of young children’s internet use level, a scale which is competent, valid and reliable in terms of content was contributed to the related Turkish literature. Within frame of this study, parental mediation of their young children’s internet use levels were found to differentiate based on levels of age, education and internet usage experience through the scanning done by utilizing the scale created as a result of the scale adaptation. Additionally, a positive and meaningful relation between parental mediation scores and digital data security was found in the study.