Underpinnings of Internet Parenting Styles: The Development and Validation of the Internet Parenting Scale Using Repeated Cross-Sectional Studies

Abstract

The overwhelming majority of parents tend to mediate their children’s Internet use via different Internet parenting styles. Recent research suggests that Internet parenting is closely related to the Internet use behavior, development, and well-being of young people. However, despite this, little prior research has investigated the different Internet parenting styles exercised by parents in the developing world. Similarly, the recent literature has also pointed out the urgent need to develop new empirical measures of Internet parenting. This open research gap is addressed by developing a 10-item scale measuring 4 types of Internet parenting style, namely parental encouragement, parental permission, parental worry, and parental monitoring, using a 3-stage investigation involving repeated cross-sectional surveys. The prior Internet parenting literature exclusively focused on developed countries in the West and Far East, while developing countries have rarely been studied. The present study has addressed this gap by recruiting adolescent and young-adult Internet users from India. The study results suggest that the Internet parenting scale has a stable factorial structure, and sufficient instrument validity and reliability over time. Furthermore, it is also valid for adolescents attending public schools and young-adult Internet users. This study offers different theoretical and practical implications for researchers engaged in interdisciplinary research on the Internet and youth.