Digital Well-Being of Parents of Preschoolers: Research Review
Abstract
Due to the active inclusion of preschoolers in the digital environment, there is an urgent need for a systematic study of theoretical and practical data in this area. Digital loads and opportunities affect parents’ competence in managing their children’s digital environment. The purpose of the study is to review empirical and theoretical works published over the past ten years on the digital well-being of parents of preschool children in order to gain more systematic knowledge in this field. The leading research methods were analysis, synthesis, and comparison. As a result, we identified four indicators that define the essence of the phenomenon under study: parental digital literacy, level of digital safety, frequency and nature of digital device use for the child’s education and leisure time, and the impact of screen time on the preschooler’s behavior and development. The scientific novelty of this study lies in its systematization of disparate information on the digital well-being of parents of preschoolers, identification of indicators that define the essence of the phenomenon under study. Future plans include conducting large-scale cross-cultural and cross-regional studies, developing valid tools for assessing parents’ digital well-being, and implementing measures aimed at improving digital literacy, monitoring screen time, and supporting family co-regulation in the digital environment.