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Parental Attitudes and Digital Parenting in the Early Years: Development and Validation of the PADTS Scale
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Lisa Bunting ,
Paul Connolly ,
Karen Winter ,
Rosie Flewitt ,
Sandra El Gemayel ,
Lorna Arnott ,
Andrea Dalziell ,
Julia Gillen ,
Janet Goodall ,
Min‐Chen Liu,
Sabina Savadova ,
Sarah Timmins
Child: Care, Health and Development, Volume: 52, Issue: 1, Start page: e70199
Swansea University Authors:
Janet Goodall , Sarah Timmins
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© 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1111/cch.70199
Abstract
Background: This paper reports on the development and validation of the 15-item Parental Attitudes to Digital Technology Scale (PADTS), a brief, psychometrically validated measure assessing parents' beliefs confidence, and concerns about their very young children's use of digital technolog...
| Published in: | Child: Care, Health and Development |
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| ISSN: | 0305-1862 1365-2214 |
| Published: |
Wiley
2026
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70641 |
| Abstract: |
Background: This paper reports on the development and validation of the 15-item Parental Attitudes to Digital Technology Scale (PADTS), a brief, psychometrically validated measure assessing parents' beliefs confidence, and concerns about their very young children's use of digital technologies. Method: Developed as part of the UK-wide Toddlers, Tech and Talk (TTT) study, PADTS addresses a gap in existing research by focusing on children from birth to 3 years, a stage often overlooked in digital parenting literature. Co-developed with parents and early years experts, the scale was tested with a nationally balanced UK sample (N = 934). Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure: perceived risks, perceived learning benefits, parental confidence and technology-related anxiety. The PADTS showed strong model fit and measurement invariance across parent gender, ethnicity and region, with some variation by child age. Correlational analyses indicated that benefits, perceptions and confidence were associated with supportive digital parenting, while anxiety was more weakly linked. Conclusion: PADTS shows potential as a practical tool for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers and may support a more nuanced understanding of how parental attitudes shape early digital experiences. |
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| Keywords: |
digital parenting, early years education, parental attitudes, psychometric scale development, young childrens technology use |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Funders: |
This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (grant number ES/W001020/1). |
| Issue: |
1 |
| Start Page: |
e70199 |