ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Human Developmental Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicBalancing the Scales: Family Strategies in Managing Youth Digital EngagementView all articles
From Stress to Screen: Family Factors on the Path to Problematic Media Use in Children Aged 4–11
Provisionally accepted
- 1Bayburt Universitesi, Bayburt, Türkiye
- 2Sakarya University, Sakarya, Türkiye
- 3Turkiye Cumhuriyeti Milli Egitim Bakanligi, Ankara, Türkiye
- 4Sakarya Universitesi, Sakarya, Türkiye
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Objective: Today, the rapid development of digital technologies fundamentally transforms how children interact with media. This research examines the mediating roles of parenting stress and problematic media use in children on the relationship between digital parenting awareness and family harmony. Methods: The data for this study were obtained from 502 parents with children aged 4-11 years. Participants' daily screen time was 1-2 hours (55.8%), 2-3 hours (26.9%), 3-4 hours (12%), 4+ hours (5.4%). Convenience sampling was the method employed for the present study. Correlation analysis and structural equation modeling were performed to analyze the data. Results: The correlation analysis concluded that all variables were interrelated. Furthermore, the structural equation model demonstrated that parenting stress and problematic media use mediated the relationship between digital parenting awareness and family harmony. Conclusion: This study has contributed to understanding the relationship between parenting stress and problematic media use in childhood, as well as the variables that mediate this relationship. It has provided a new perspective on the variables that should be focused on in preventing and intervening in children's problematic media use behaviors. Practically, the research results provide a valuable reference for university educators, assist school counselors in reducing students' problematic media use behaviors through education, and help parents improve their skills in raising their digital awareness.
Keywords: Parental stress, Problematic media use, digital parenting awareness, Family harmony, Children
Received: 05 Sep 2025; Accepted: 29 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yayla, MAKAS, Yıldırım, Dombak and Çelik. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: SAMET MAKAS
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