Measuring Parental Behavior towards Children’s Use of Media and Screen-Devices: The Development and Psychometrical Properties of a Media Parenting Scale for Parents of School-Aged Children

Kateřina Lukavská, Jaroslav Vacek, Ondřej Hrabec, Michal Božík, Michaela Slussareff, Martina Píšová, David Kocourek, Lucie Svobodová and Roman Gabrhelík
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Kateřina Lukavská: Department of Addictology, General University Hospital in Prague, 12000 Prague, Czech Republic
Jaroslav Vacek: Department of Addictology, General University Hospital in Prague, 12000 Prague, Czech Republic
Ondřej Hrabec: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Charles University, 11000 Prague, Czech Republic
Michal Božík: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Charles University, 11000 Prague, Czech Republic
Michaela Slussareff: Institute of Information Studies and Librarianship, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 11000 Prague, Czech Republic
Martina Píšová: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Charles University, 11000 Prague, Czech Republic
David Kocourek: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Charles University, 11000 Prague, Czech Republic
Lucie Svobodová: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Charles University, 11000 Prague, Czech Republic
Roman Gabrhelík: Department of Addictology, General University Hospital in Prague, 12000 Prague, Czech Republic

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-23

Abstract: Children’s excessive screen use is associated with health risks such as obesity, sleep problems, attention problems, and others. The effect of parental regulative efforts focused on screen/media use (media parenting) is currently unclear and difficult to examine given the heterogeneity of measuring tools used for its assessment. We aimed to develop an inventory that would enable reliable and valid measurement of media parenting practices (especially active and restrictive mediation) in parents of primary school children. The inventory builds on existing tools, it is comprehensive, yet easy to use in research setting. The original MEPA-36 (36 items) and revised MEPA-20 (20 items) inventories were examined using data from 341 Czech and Slovak parents of children aged between 6 and 10 years. Psychometrical properties were estimated using confirmatory factor and reliability analyses. Model fit was better for MEPA-20 and similar to other currently available tools. Both active and restrictive mediation subscales demonstrated high internal consistency. The internal consistency of newly constructed risky mediation subscales (risky active, risky restrictive, and over-protective mediation) was low. MEPA-20, especially active and restrictive mediation subscales, can be recommended for research on media parenting in context of screen/media use of school-aged children.

Keywords: media parenting; parental mediation; active mediation; restrictive mediation; media use; screens; psychometrics; self-report; inventory; measurement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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