Parenting in a Digital Void: Parental Emotion-Focused Coping With Children's Screen Use

Digital platforms have grown in popularity among children, leading to increased screen time and new challenges for parents. Parents are often left in a void of overwhelming pressure and responsibility, tasked with managing children's screen use while navigating the complexities of balancing digital activities with other aspects of their children's well-being. This study examines how children's screen use functions as both a daily and persistent stressor for some parents and investigates the ways in which emotion-focused coping strategies are employed to manage the emotional strain arising from screen-related parenting practices. Between October and December 2021, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 parents of 10-11-year-old children. The interviews were analyzed using abductive analysis, iteratively moving between empirical data and theory. The findings illustrate how parents employed emotion-focused coping strategies both in relation to the general presence of screens in their child's everyday life and in response to specific content the child engaged with. Strategies such as positive reappraisal were used to reframe the presence and content of digital activities as beneficial or valuable, helping parents manage emotional distress and maintain family harmony. This study highlights how some parents perceive children's screen use as an unchangeable reality, leading them to rely on emotion-focused coping strategies rather than pursuing change. Supporting parents in developing self-efficacy may help foster more constructive, mutually beneficial family dialogue, ultimately ensuring the health and well-being of children, parents and the family unit.