The Association Between Media Use for Parenting Information (MUPI) and Parenting Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Among Parents of Children Aged 6-19 Years.
Pornnapasorn Nguansiri, Komsan Kiatrungrit, Sirichai Hongsanguansri and 4 others
PMID 41612861WHAT IT FOUND
Parents who read online or printed materials reported higher parenting knowledge and involvement.
Those who frequently watched short videos reported lower knowledge, poorer monitoring, and more inconsistent discipline. This is a cross-sectional association, not proof that videos cause worse parenting.
Key findings
01Reading online materials was associated with higher parenting knowledge, positive practices, and greater parental involvement, even after adjusting for parent and child characteristics.
02Frequent use of short video clips was associated with lower parenting knowledge and higher levels of poor parental monitoring and inconsistent discipline.
03The study cannot determine whether media use influences parenting or whether parents with certain traits seek out specific media, as the design was cross-sectional.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design prevents causal inference; it is unclear if media use affects parenting or if parenting traits influence media preference. The sample was primarily recruited online and may overrepresent digitally literate, middle-aged, and highly educated parents, limiting generalizability. Reliance on self-report measures introduces risks of recall bias and social desirability. The internal consistency of the media use questionnaire was modest, likely due to low usage of certain media types like apps and online training.
Declared interests
The authors received no specific funding for this work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that watching short videos causes poor parenting. The study is cross-sectional, meaning it only shows an association. It is equally possible that parents who already struggle with consistent discipline are more likely to seek out short, easy-to-digest content.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →