Parental Stress Weakly Linked to Digital Parenting Attitudes in Türkiye

Parental stress was weakly but significantly associated with digital parenting attitudes among mothers of children aged 6 to 12 living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas of Şanlıurfa, Türkiye, a cross-sectional study of 374 mothers found. The analysis did not show that parental stress caused particular parenting attitudes or that either factor changed over time.

The study was conducted between May and August 2025 and was described by its authors as descriptive and correlational. It examined an association rather than testing an intervention or following families longitudinally. The sample was restricted to mothers of primary-school-aged children in selected disadvantaged areas of Şanlıurfa, so the findings are most directly applicable to that population rather than to all parents, fathers, families elsewhere or caregivers of children in other age groups.

Participants completed a demographic information form, the Parenting Stress Scale and the Digital Parenting Attitude Scale. The researchers used independent-samples t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, Tukey post-hoc tests, Pearson correlation and linear regression, with statistical significance set at p < .05. These methods were used to compare scores among measured groups and estimate the relationship between parental stress and digital parenting attitudes within the study sample.

The mean Parenting Stress Scale score was 35.31 ± 8.62, while the mean Digital Parenting Attitude Scale score was 50.43 ± 6.97. These values summarize the sample’s average responses on the two instruments. The source abstract does not provide the scales’ full item structures, directional interpretations or clinical cutoffs, so the mean scores should not be treated as thresholds for high stress or particular parenting attitudes.

The principal result was a positive correlation of r = .241 between parental stress and digital parenting attitudes, with p < .001. A simple linear regression produced a corresponding standardized coefficient of β = 0.241 and an R² of 0.058, also with p < .001. In statistical terms, the association was detectable but weak, and parental stress accounted for approximately 5.8% of the observed variation in digital parenting attitude scores in the model.

Scores on the two measures also differed across several participant and household characteristics. Parental stress varied significantly according to mothers’ educational status, children’s daily media use and the method used to control children’s internet use, with all reported comparisons at p < .05. Digital parenting attitude scores differed significantly by mothers’ age, family type, number of children and the method used to control children’s internet use. The abstract does not report the magnitude of every subgroup difference or establish the reasons for them.

The findings do not establish that highly stressed parents are uniformly controlling, permissive or otherwise different in their approach to digital media. The study measured parental stress and digital parenting attitudes at a single point and found only a modest association between them. Because the design was cross-sectional, it cannot determine whether stress influences attitudes, whether attitudes relate to stress, whether other measured or unmeasured factors contribute to both, or how these factors evolve within individual families.

Based on the findings, the authors concluded that public-health interventions combining parental-stress management with digital-parenting education should be strengthened in primary healthcare services. The study did not test such a combined intervention, compare it with another approach, or measure whether changing stress leads to a change in digital parenting attitudes. Its results identify an association relevant to service planning while leaving the effectiveness of the proposed approach for future research to evaluate.

Subject of Research: Association between parental stress and digital parenting attitudes among mothers of children aged 6–12 in Şanlıurfa, Türkiye

Article Title: How parental stress shapes digital parenting: a study in disadvantaged areas

Article References: Ersin, F., Kılıc, M., & Akcayır, D. (2026). How parental stress shapes digital parenting: a study in disadvantaged areas. BMC Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-29988-1

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-026-29988-1

Keywords: parental stress, digital parenting, digital parenting attitudes, children's media use, disadvantaged communities, Şanlıurfa, Türkiye, cross-sectional study, public health, mothers, parental, stress