Abstract

PICCINI, Cristian Fátima; COSTA, Cristofer Batista da  and  CENCI, Cláudia Mara Bosseto. Relationship between parents and adolescent children regarding the use of digital media. Contextos Clínic [online]. 2020, vol.13, n.3, pp. 849-872. ISSN 1983-3482.

The digital media (DM) have triggered changes in family relationships and has concerned parents due to overuse and difficulties in the supervision of their children. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate how DM affects the relationship between parents and adolescent children. It is a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research with 12 triads (N=36), formed by the couple and the adolescent son. The participants were selected by convenience, answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The interview data were submitted to thematic analysis through which two themes emerged: (1) relational dynamics of parents and children about DM: benefits and risks and (2) strategies used by the parental subsystem in the management of DM. The results reveal DM are important communicational mediators in the relationship between parents and children. The strategies used by parents involve attempts to control and supervise their children's use of technologies. These strategies are mainly associated with the relational dynamics of restrictive and poorly reflective behaviors among members of the family system. Therefore, difficulties, benefits and risks in the use of DM can be indicative of how family relationships occur.

Keywords : parent-child relations; adolescent; information technology.

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