Determinants of internet mediation: a comparison of the reports by Dutch parents and children

This article empirically examines if parents apply new types of mediation for the internet, using data from the Dutch EU Kids Online project. The high internet penetration in the Netherlands makes this study especially relevant because almost all parents and children use the internet. Factor analyses applied to reports by parents and children (aged 9–16) revealed four mediation types that are comparable for both groups: active safety mediation, restrictive content mediation, restrictive technical mediation, and monitoring. Demographics (age, gender, education, family size), measures of internet usage, and parental views towards internet use were analysed as determinants of the parental mediation types. Parents monitored younger children in particular, more often actively mediated girls and more often restricted children's internet use in larger families. The use of virtually all mediation types was related to children's diversity in internet use and the parents' view on the benefits of their involvement.

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