New Media Usage Habits and Emotional Development in Primary School Children
New Media Usage Habits and Emotional Development in Primary School Children

Summary/Abstract: The study, which involved 743 Italian primary school children (47.5% girls; 51.7% boys) with an averageage of 8.85 years (SD = 1.104), explores the representation and habits of use of new media. It probes the presenceof devices in children’s bedrooms, their habits before falling asleep and when they wake up. The data highlight thatthe lifestyle of the subjects is characterized by a regular use of the smartphone that is also used in social spaces(restaurants, streets, parks, sea), and highlight a prevalent absence of active mediation by parents. It is observedthat most children are active daily on their smartphones in a solitary way and that the rules set by their parentsare present only in the minority of the sample. The PCA and Examination of Variance (ANOVA) were also per-formed. The results also showed that the habit of using the devices influences the results on the Scale Emotionaladjustment. It is hypothesized that active mediation by parents and their presence represents a protective factorfor children’s emotional development and acts as a regulatory element of digital behavior. The survey also providesfood for thought for teachers who could support families, stimulating them to reflect on the importance of theiractive presence in the relationship with children through digital activity regulation.

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