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Parental Attitudes and Digital Parenting in the Early Years: Development and Validationof the PADTS Scale

Katrina McLaughlin, Lisa Bunting, Paul Connolly, Karent Winter, Rosie Flewitt, Sandra El Gemayel, Lorna Arnott, Andrew Dalziell, Julia Gillen, Janet Goodall Orcid Logo, Min-Chen Liu, Sabina Savadova, Sarah Timmins

Child: Care, Health and Development

Swansea University Author: Janet Goodall Orcid Logo

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 0-3 year olds use of digital technologies. Method: Deve...

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Published in: Child: Care, Health and Development
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70641
first_indexed 2025-10-13T08:40:59Z
last_indexed 2025-10-14T10:08:20Z
id cronfa70641
recordtype SURis
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spelling 2025-10-13T13:01:17.2922432 v2 70641 2025-10-13 Parental Attitudes and Digital Parenting in the Early Years: Development and Validationof the PADTS Scale ff88a186bd447a1af286d2468fc61688 0000-0002-0172-2035 Janet Goodall Janet Goodall true false 2025-10-13 SOSS 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 0-3 year olds use of digital technologies. Method: Developed as part of (REMOVED) PADTS addresses a gap in existing research by focusing on children from birth to three 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 benefit, 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 Journal Article Child: Care, Health and Development 0 0 0 0001-01-01 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University ESRC ES/W001020/1 2025-10-13T13:01:17.2922432 2025-10-13T09:34:05.2935911 Katrina McLaughlin 1 Lisa Bunting 2 Paul Connolly 3 Karent Winter 4 Rosie Flewitt 5 Sandra El Gemayel 6 Lorna Arnott 7 Andrew Dalziell 8 Julia Gillen 9 Janet Goodall 0000-0002-0172-2035 10 Min-Chen Liu 11 Sabina Savadova 12 Sarah Timmins 13
title Parental Attitudes and Digital Parenting in the Early Years: Development and Validationof the PADTS Scale
spellingShingle Parental Attitudes and Digital Parenting in the Early Years: Development and Validationof the PADTS Scale
Janet Goodall
title_short Parental Attitudes and Digital Parenting in the Early Years: Development and Validationof the PADTS Scale
title_full Parental Attitudes and Digital Parenting in the Early Years: Development and Validationof the PADTS Scale
title_fullStr Parental Attitudes and Digital Parenting in the Early Years: Development and Validationof the PADTS Scale
title_full_unstemmed Parental Attitudes and Digital Parenting in the Early Years: Development and Validationof the PADTS Scale
title_sort Parental Attitudes and Digital Parenting in the Early Years: Development and Validationof the PADTS Scale
author_id_str_mv ff88a186bd447a1af286d2468fc61688
author_id_fullname_str_mv ff88a186bd447a1af286d2468fc61688_***_Janet Goodall
author Janet Goodall
author2 Katrina McLaughlin
Lisa Bunting
Paul Connolly
Karent Winter
Rosie Flewitt
Sandra El Gemayel
Lorna Arnott
Andrew Dalziell
Julia Gillen
Janet Goodall
Min-Chen Liu
Sabina Savadova
Sarah Timmins
format Journal article
container_title Child: Care, Health and Development
institution Swansea University
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description 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 0-3 year olds use of digital technologies. Method: Developed as part of (REMOVED) PADTS addresses a gap in existing research by focusing on children from birth to three 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 benefit, 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
published_date 0001-01-01T05:31:19Z
_version_ 1851098062718500864
score 11.089386

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