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Updated: Jan 10, 2026
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Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
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Parenting in a Digital Void: Parental Emotion-Focused Coping With Children's Screen Use
T V Høy1, D Danielsen1, A K Gejl2
1Faculty of Health Sciences, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
|November 28, 2025
Summary
Parents use emotion-focused coping strategies to manage stress from children's screen time, reframing digital activities to maintain family harmony. This approach helps cope with screen-related parenting challenges.
Area of Science:
- Parenting studies
- Child psychology
- Digital wellness
Background:
- Digital platforms are increasingly popular among children, leading to extended screen time.
- This presents significant challenges for parents managing digital activities and overall child well-being.
- Parenting around children's screen use is a source of stress and pressure for many caregivers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine children's screen use as a parental stressor.
- To investigate the use of emotion-focused coping strategies in managing screen-related parenting.
- To understand how parents navigate the emotional strain of digital parenting.
Main Methods:
- Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 parents of 10-11-year-old children.
- Data was collected between October and December 2021.
- Abductive analysis was used to iteratively analyze interview data against theory.
Main Results:
- Parents employed emotion-focused coping strategies for both general screen presence and specific content.
- Positive reappraisal was used to reframe digital activities as beneficial, reducing parental distress.
- Some parents view children's screen use as unchangeable, leading to reliance on coping rather than change.
Conclusions:
- Emotion-focused coping is a key strategy for parents managing children's screen time.
- Reframing digital activities can help maintain family harmony amidst screen-related stress.
- Supporting parental self-efficacy may improve family communication and well-being regarding digital use.
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