Digital parenting and psychosocial well-being in middle childhood: Evidence from urban Indonesia

Abstract

Background: The exposure of children to digital media is growing rapidly in most low- and middle-income countries, yet scarce data are available on the impact of family processes on children’s digital self-regulation (DSR) and psychosocial well-being in these settings.
Aim: This study has examined the interaction between digital parenting and family emotional communication (FEC) on children, mediated by DSR and moderated by authoritative parenting and social media exposure (SME).
Setting: It was carried out in urban Indonesia and based on data collected from 483 parent–child dyads.
Methods: We used partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to estimate the data and test the hypothesised relationships between variables.
Results: Digital parenting practices and FEC were positively correlated with children’s DSR, which, in turn, was positively correlated with children’s psychosocial well-being (CPW). There were positive protective relationships between digital parenting and DSR and negative protective relationships between high SME and parenting styles. Digital self-regulation and psychosocial well-being were explained by the model at 70.5% and 76.7%, respectively.
Conclusion: These findings show the importance of relationships, autonomy-supportive online parenthood and positive, loving communication in establishing CPW.
Contribution: This research contributes to childhood education scholarship by demonstrating how family-mediated DSR and emotional communication underpin children’s socioemotional readiness, peer adjustment and classroom resilience. The findings provide an evidence-based foundation for integrating relational digital guidance into primary school curricula and structured parent-teacher collaboration frameworks in the Global South.