Parental Monitoring of the Internet Activity of Young Children and Preadolescents

This study explores the influence of three psychological factors of the parental monitoring of children’s Internet activity: (i) parents’ perception of the Internet as a source of threat and risk, (ii) parents’ perception of the Internet as a source of benefits, and (iii) family closeness. The sample consisted of 161 parents (20 fathers and 141 mothers) of children aged 7 - 12. Results show that family closeness is the most significant predictor for parental monitoring. The second significant predictor is parents’ perception of the Internet as a source of threat or risk. As expected, the predictors for parental monitoring of children’s Internet activity depend on children’s age.