Context and relevance. Mobile device use in school-aged children is understudied, especially in relation to family factors, despite Vygotskian perspectives emphasizing social and cultural mediation in development. Objective. To examine how parental demographics, attitudes, and behaviors are associated with children’s mobile device use during middle childhood. Hypothesis. Parents’ own device use, beliefs about mobile apps, parental norms, and household structure were hypothesized to be associated with children’s mobile use. Methods and Materials. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 969 Italian parents of children aged 6–10. Measures included sociodemographics, parents’ and children’s device use, and parental screen norms. Multiple regression analyses were applied. Results. Children’s use was significantly associated with parents’ own device use, parent gender, the presence of older siblings, and parental norms. Parents’ positive attitudes were associated specifically with children’s smartphone use, whereas parental concerns were weakly negatively associated with smartphone use. Parental norms emerged as the strongest and most consistent correlate across all device types. Lower parental education was associated with greater use of smartphones, tablets, and video game consoles, and lower subjective socioeconomic status was linked to higher tablet use. At the child level, older age was associated with greater smartphone, tablet, and laptop use, whereas boys reported higher use of laptops and video game consoles, and girls higher use of tablets. Conclusions. Consistent with Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, children’s digital routines appear closely intertwined with individual characteristics, parental beliefs and modeling, and household structures.
From beliefs to behaviors: parental correlates of mobile device use among children
Bozzato, P.
Primo
;Leanza, N.Secondo
;Croce, L.Ultimo
2026-01-01
Abstract
Context and relevance. Mobile device use in school-aged children is understudied, especially in relation to family factors, despite Vygotskian perspectives emphasizing social and cultural mediation in development. Objective. To examine how parental demographics, attitudes, and behaviors are associated with children’s mobile device use during middle childhood. Hypothesis. Parents’ own device use, beliefs about mobile apps, parental norms, and household structure were hypothesized to be associated with children’s mobile use. Methods and Materials. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 969 Italian parents of children aged 6–10. Measures included sociodemographics, parents’ and children’s device use, and parental screen norms. Multiple regression analyses were applied. Results. Children’s use was significantly associated with parents’ own device use, parent gender, the presence of older siblings, and parental norms. Parents’ positive attitudes were associated specifically with children’s smartphone use, whereas parental concerns were weakly negatively associated with smartphone use. Parental norms emerged as the strongest and most consistent correlate across all device types. Lower parental education was associated with greater use of smartphones, tablets, and video game consoles, and lower subjective socioeconomic status was linked to higher tablet use. At the child level, older age was associated with greater smartphone, tablet, and laptop use, whereas boys reported higher use of laptops and video game consoles, and girls higher use of tablets. Conclusions. Consistent with Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, children’s digital routines appear closely intertwined with individual characteristics, parental beliefs and modeling, and household structures.
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