Digital Parenting Awareness as a Stronger Predictor of Children's Screen Time than Digital Literacy

Lindia Fauziah (Master Program in Family and Child Development, faculty of social sciences and human ecology, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia)
Melly Latifah (Department of Family and Child Development, faculty of social sciences and human ecology, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia)
Lilik Noor Yuliati (Department of Family and Child Development, faculty of social sciences and human ecology, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia)

ARMADA : Jurnal Penelitian Multidisiplin
Vol. 4 No. 9 (2026): ARMADA : Jurnal Penelitian Multidisplin, September 2026

Excessive screen time among school-aged children has become a growing concern due to its potential effects on physical, cognitive, social, and psychological development. This study aimed to examine the effects of maternal digital literacy and digital parenting awareness on children’s screen time. An explanatory study with a cross-sectional design was conducted involving 525 mothers of children aged 7–9 years (grades 1–3 of elementary school) in Indonesia. Data were collected through voluntary online sampling from March to May 2026 and analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression. The regression model explained 30.5% of the variance in children’s screen time (F = 115.814, p < 0.001). Digital parenting awareness had a significant negative effect on children’s screen time (β = −0.469, p < 0.001), while maternal digital literacy showed no significant association (β = −0.090, p = 0.418). These findings indicate that parental awareness in implementing digital parenting practices plays a more important role than digital literacy alone in reducing children’s screen time. Strengthening digital parenting awareness is essential for promoting healthy digital media use among school-aged children.