Children’s and Parents’ Perspectives on the Effects of Children’s Digital Technology Use

Abstract

AbstractWith the rapid development of digital technology, examining the effects of digital technology use on children becomes more critical every day. This paper explores the effects of digital technology use on children from children’s and parents’ perspectives. Focus groups with children aged 9 to 15 and their parents were conducted from 30 March to 5 May 2021, via the Zoom platform. Using the thematic analysis approach, we found that both children and parents perceive different positive and negative effects of digital technology use on emotional, behavioral, physical, social and cognitive development and functioning in children, and problematic digital technology use as a general effect of excessive digital technology use in children. These results give insight into different perspectives of digital technology use and allow for encouraging positive effects and intervening in negative ones.