Resumen

MORENO-CARMONA, Norman Darío et al. Parental mediations and internet use by colombian children and adolescents. Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2021, vol.38, n.2, pp.275-290. ISSN 1668-7027.  http://dx.doi.org/10.16888/interd.2021.38.2.18.

Nowadays, parents must develop strategies to accompany their children in the use of digital technologies. The reason for this is that the internet is a social space. Online life offers possibilities for individual and social development, but it also promotes the emergence of new risks such as sexting, cyberbullying, and cyber dependence. There are two ways parents can guide their children: parental mediation and parental control. Parental mediation is the set of actions that parents take to manage the use and consumption of the media by their sons and daughters. There are three types of parental mediation: restrictive mediation, permissive mediation, and active mediation. In this context, this research aims to correlate mediation and parental control strategies with their use of the internet for children and adolescents. The EU Kids Online survey was used to achieve this goal. This questionnaire was adapted for the Colombian population through expert review and cognitive validation to children and adolescents in Medellin, Cali, and Cartagena (Colombia). The adaptation followed the procedures and standards of Kids Online Brasil and Kids Online Chile. The stratified and non-probabilistic sample consisted of 303 children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years from ten cities in Colombia. The results indicate that the more parental control, the shorter the child connection time. Whether it's behavioral or psychological control. While the greater the psychological control of the mother, the greater the presence of addictive behaviors of children and adolescents to the internet and cell phone. Besides, the more psychological control of the mother, the more risky behaviors the children assume. Conversely, if the mother performs greater behavioral control, the presence of risky behaviors in the child is less. Also, restrictive control of internet use has a higher relationship with a lower presence of general risk behaviors and lower risks assumed by children on the internet. This was also related to high rates of restrictive mediation by parents. As conclusions, it is possible to say that any type of control that parents exercise over their children's use of the internet (restrictive, co-visioned or technical) is related to shorter connection time and less cell phone addiction. Besides, a conflicting relationship with the mother increases the addictive behaviors of the internet and the smartphone. Especially when the kind of control the mother exerts is psychological. Whereas, if the mother exerts greater behavioral control, the presence of risky behaviors in the child is less. This research could serve as the basis for the design and implementation of psychoeducational training programs for parents and caregivers aimed at developing effective parental mediation skills and strategies to guide children and adolescents in their use of digital technologies. Also, the findings of this study could lay the scientific basis for the presentation of social projects that impact public policies on the responsible and healthy use of the internet. Moreover, when Colombia has a Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies and media outreach strategies on ICT care. Finally, researches done in psychology about this topic are limited in Latin America. For this reason, the findings of this work are a significant step forward on the explanation of ITC use in the region from a disciplinary point of view. This article seeks to encourage researchers to continue to advance their knowledge of the relationships between parental mediation and the use of the internet by children and adolescents.

Palabras clave : childhood; adolescence; parental mediation; internet use; risky behaviors.

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