Relationship Between Parents and Adolescent Children Regarding the Use of Digital Media

Authors

  • Cristian Fátima Piccini Faculdade Meridional, IMED
  • Cristofer Batista da Costa Faculdades Integradas de Taquara, FACCAT
  • Cláudia Mara Boseto Cenci Faculdade Meridional, IMED

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/ctc.2020.133.07

Abstract

The digital media (DM) have triggered changes in family relationships and has concerned parents due to overuse and difficulties in the supervision of their children. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate how DM affects the relationship between parents and adolescent children. It is a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research with 12 triads (N=36), formed by the couple and the adolescent son. The participants were selected by convenience, answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The interview data were submitted to thematic analysis through which two themes emerged: (1) relational dynamics of parents and children about DM: benefits and risks and (2) strategies used by the parental subsystem in the management of DM. The results reveal DM are important communicational mediators in the relationship between parents and children. The strategies used by parents involve attempts to control and supervise their children's use of technologies. These strategies are mainly associated with the relational dynamics of restrictive and poorly reflective behaviors among members of the family system. Therefore, difficulties, benefits and risks in the use of DM can be indicative of how family relationships occur.

Author Biographies

Cristian Fátima Piccini, Faculdade Meridional, IMED

Psicóloga, Mestre em Psicologia (IMED).

Cristofer Batista da Costa, Faculdades Integradas de Taquara, FACCAT

Psicólogo (IMED, 2011), Especialista em Dinâmica das Relações Conjugais e Familiares (IMED, 2013) Mestre (UNISINOS, 2014) e Doutor em Psicologia Clínica (UNISNOS, 2018).

Cláudia Mara Boseto Cenci, Faculdade Meridional, IMED

Psicóloga, Mestre e Doutora em Psicologia

Downloads

Published

2021-03-15

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 3 (2020): Set-Dez

Section

Articles

License

I grant the journal Contextos Clínicos the first publication of my article, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (which allows sharing of work, recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal).

I confirm that my article is not being submitted to another publication and has not been published in its entirely on another journal. I take full responsibility for its originality and I will also claim responsibility for charges from claims by third parties concerning the authorship of the article.

I also agree that the manuscript will be submitted according to the journal’s publication rules described above.