Online parenting resources: Perception by parents with young children and its impact on their utilization

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Technology, Media & Child Development

Abstract

Since the development of public internet, it has become popular for parents to seek parenting resources online (Devolin et al., 2013; Thorslund et al., 2014). Research has shown that especially parents who have younger children use social media and online technology to seek social support (Baker et al., 2016), and parenting information (Porter & Ispa, 2012) in the turbulent early years of their children’s lives. However, empirical research has overlooked how parents perceive online parenting resources and adapt their use based on their perceptions although it can be useful to find effective ways to guide parents. Thus, the current study examined how parents with young children perceive online parenting resources and explored how this impacts their interaction with online resources.
Interview data were part of a larger study conducted in 2017 examining parent participation and learning in a parenting education program system located in a midwestern state in the US. Parents of young children (birth to 5 years) were asked about their utilization of online parenting resources. The sample included 21 women and 6 men. Parent ages were between 20 to 57 (mean = 34.6, SD = 7.8). The average number of children was 2.6 (SD = 1.4). There were 6 parents whose first language is Spanish and 7 nonwhite adults. Coding and analysis were conducted by three trained coders using thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) and guided by the Belsky’s Multiple Determinants of Parenting Model (1984). Triangulation and member checking to enhance trustworthiness was obtained (Denzin & Lincoln, 2018) in each of the five phases of analysis by having at least two or more coders.
Results (Table 1) show that parents use online parenting resources to find parenting information, feel validated, engage their children, and seek social connections. Most importantly, our findings suggest that parents’ perceptions of online resources do influence how they utilize parenting resources. Although parents appreciated the ease of accessibility for medical and parenting information through online resources, they also perceived the vast amount of information online as overwhelming and not always credible. Additionally, parents cited feelings of stress due to worries about privacy and competition among parents online, especially in social media. As a result, some parents in the study proactively adapted their online resource use by being critical consumers which included filtering information and regulating their usage of social media to maximize the benefit of online resources.
Parents of young children in the study described many internal conflicts regarding the pros and cons of using online parenting resources and the effort to adapt their use. However, it is not guaranteed that all parents would behave similarly. Without any guidance to be cautious, online parenting resources may backfire and create confusion or unnecessary competition among parents. As such, parent educators and professionals should consider teaching parents strategies to navigate the online resources available to them. Future research could further look into how parents actually use parenting information gathered online to improve their parenting practices and influence child outcomes.

Authors

• Seonghee Hong, Ohio University
  Presenting Author

• Malina Her, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Susan Walker, Univ of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author