Parenting styles, types of parental mediation, and parenting practices related to digital media use among Polish adolescents aged 12–14

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a qualitative study of family practices used to regulate digital media use among adolescents aged 12–14 in Poland. The study examined: (1) the parenting styles, types of parental mediation, and parenting practices preferred by parents in relation to digital media use; (2) the establishment, negotiation, maintenance, and enforcement of household rules; and (3) the role of app and device features in supporting or disrupting family agreements. The qualitative study involved 47 purposively selected parents in Poland. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically. The analysis was supplemented with theory-driven coding based on established categories of parenting styles and types of parental mediation. An authoritative parenting style was identified most frequently in the accounts analysed (n = 24), often in combination with instructive or restrictive mediation. Parents’ accounts suggested that the durability and effectiveness of household rules depended not only on the existence of restrictions, but also on how those restrictions were explained, consistently applied, modelled by parents, made open to renegotiation, and followed by relational repair after conflict. The findings also revealed tensions between parental protection and control, on the one hand, and adolescents’ needs for autonomy, privacy, and peer involvement, on the other. App and device features—such as autoplay, infinite scrolling, streaks, time-limited rewards, and notifications—were described as making disengagement more difficult and undermining compliance with previously negotiated rules.