Designing and Compiling a Special Parenting Package to Use Digital Technology in Iranian Children and Adolescents
,
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to design and validate a culturally tailored educational package for Iranian parents of children and adolescents aged 0 to 18. The package addresses the safe and effective use of a range of digital technologies, including social media, online games, and educational applications. It focuses on enhancing parents’ knowledge, monitoring capabilities, and strategies to mitigate digital risks, with consideration of Iranian cultural values and family dynamics.
Method: The content was developed through a review of literature across multiple English and Persian databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Iran Medex, Magiran, and SID. Relevant keywords and MeSH terms related to parenting, digital technology, and cultural adaptation were used. Cultural appropriateness was ensured through consultations with a panel of experts in psychiatry, child development, and digital education, along with qualitative input from Iranian parents via focus groups and interviews.
Results: The finalized educational package comprises 12 well-structured chapters covering topics such as digital literacy, online safety, parental supervision, balancing screen time, effective family communication, and related legal and ethical issues contextualized for Iranian society. The package achieved high content validity, with all chapters scoring above 0.79 on the Content Validity Index (CVI) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR).
Conclusion: This culturally adapted package offers an evidence-based resource that empowers Iranian parents by increasing their awareness, sharpening their supervisory and communication skills, and supporting the healthy and responsible use of digital technologies among their children. Future steps include pilot testing and evaluating the package’s effectiveness and scalability in real-world settings.
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2. Ngai EW, Tao SS, Moon KK. Social media research: Theories, constructs, and conceptual frameworks. Int J Inf Manage. 2015;35(1):33-44.
3. Zhong B, Hardin M, Sun T. Less effortful thinking leads to more social networking? The associations between the use of social network sites and personality traits. Comput Human Behav. 2011;27(3):1265-71.
4. McCrae N, Gettings S, Purssell E. Social media and depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence: A systematic review. Adolescent Research Review. 2017;2(4):315-30.
5. Reid Chassiakos YL, Radesky J, Christakis D, Moreno MA, Cross C. Children and Adolescents and Digital Media. Pediatrics. 2016;138(5):e20162593.
6. McDool E, Powell P, Roberts J, Taylor K. Social media use and children’s wellbeing. Sheffield Economics Research Papers (SERPS). 2016;201601(2016011).
7. Valkenburg PM, Peter J. Preadolescents' and adolescents' online communication and their closeness to friends. Dev Psychol. 2007;43(2):267-77.
8. Wood MA, Bukowski WM, Lis E. The digital self: How social media serves as a setting that shapes youth’s emotional experiences. Adolescent Research Review. 2016;1(2):163-73.
9. Daniel SJ. Education and the COVID-19 pandemic. Prospects (Paris). 2020;49(1-2):91-6.
10. Boyd DM. Taken out of context: American teen sociality in networked publics: University of California, Berkeley; 2008.
11. Klonsky ED, May AM. The three-step theory (3ST): A new theory of suicide rooted in the “ideation-to-action” framework. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy. 2015;8(2):114-29.
12. Bozzola E, Spina G, Agostiniani R, Barni S, Russo R, Scarpato E, et al. The Use of Social Media in Children and Adolescents: Scoping Review on the Potential Risks. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(16):9960.
13. Brown RC, Fischer T, Goldwich AD, Keller F, Young R, Plener PL. cutting: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) on Instagram. Psychol Med. 2018;48(2):337-46.
14. Lin LY, Sidani JE, Shensa A, Radovic A, Miller E, Colditz JB, et al. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND DEPRESSION AMONG U.S. YOUNG ADULTS. Depress Anxiety. 2016;33(4):323-31.
15. Moreno MA, Jelenchick LA, Koff R, Eickhoff JC, Goniu N, Davis A, et al. Associations between internet use and fitness among college students: an experience sampling approach. Journal of Interaction Science. 2013;1(1):4.
16. Sagioglou C, Greitemeyer T. Facebook’s emotional consequences: Why Facebook causes a decrease in mood and why people still use it. Comput Human Behav. 2014;35:359-63.
17. Grace E, Raghavendra P, Newman L, Wood D, Connell T. Learning to use the Internet and online social media: What is the effectiveness of home-based intervention for youth with complex communication needs? Child Lang Teach Ther. 2014;30(2):141-57.
18. Dyer T. The effects of social media on children. Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management. 2018;14.
19. Newell CHHLD, Olsen SF. Parenting Skills and Social--Communicative Competence in Childhood. Handbook of communication and social interaction skills: Routledge; 2003. p. 771-816.
20. Yardi S, Bruckman A, editors. Social and technical challenges in parenting teens' social media use. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems; 2011.
21. Beech R, Philp F, Pandyan A, McCluskey M. Evaluation of parental attitudes on the use and effect of technology on physical activity levels in children aged 7 to 11-a knowledge elicitation study. Social Sciences & Humanities Open. 2021;4(1):100155.
22. Kind T, Greysen SR, Chretien KC. Advantages and challenges of social media in pediatrics. Pediatr Ann. 2011;40(9):430-4.
23. Ahn J. The effect of social network sites on adolescents' social and academic development: Current theories and controversies. J Am Soc Inf Sci Technol. 2011;62(8):1435-45.
24. Konca AS. Digital technology usage of young children: Screen time and families. Early Childhood Education Journal. 2022;50(7):1097-108.
25. Brito R, Ramos A, editors. Digital technology in family environment: A case of children from 0 to 6. 2017 International Symposium on Computers in Education (SIIE); 2017: IEEE.
26. Hacker ED. Technology and quality of life outcomes. Semin Oncol Nurs. 2010;26(1):47-58.
27. Everri M, Messena M, Nearchou F, Fruggeri L. Parent-Child Relationships, Digital Media Use and Parents' Well-Being during COVID-19 Home Confinement: The Role of Family Resilience. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(23):15687.
28. Plowman L, Stephen C, McPake J. Growing up with technology: Young children learning in a digital world: Routledge; 2010.
29. Wu CS, Fowler C, Lam WY, Wong HT, Wong CH, Yuen Loke A. Parenting approaches and digital technology use of preschool age children in a Chinese community. Ital J Pediatr. 2014;40:44.
30. Highfield K, Paciga KA, Donohue C. Supporting whole child development in the digital age. Digital childhoods: Technologies and children’s everyday lives: Springer; 2018. p. 165-82.
31. O'Keeffe GS. Social Media: Challenges and Concerns for Families. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2016;63(5):841-9.
32. Anderson DR, Subrahmanyam K. Digital Screen Media and Cognitive Development. Pediatrics. 2017;140(Suppl 2):S57-s61.
33. Bavar F, Ebrahimi AM, Mafakheri A. Psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire of harmful use of digital device in children. Rooyesh-e-Ravanshenasi Journal (RRJ). 2023;12(2):129-40.
34. Lane R, Radesky J. Digital Media and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Review of Evidence, Theoretical Concerns, and Opportunities for Intervention. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2019;40(5):364-8.
35. Hoehe MR, Thibaut F. Going digital: how technology use may influence human brains and behavior Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2020;22(2):93-7.
36. Hoge E, Bickham D, Cantor J. Digital Media, Anxiety, and Depression in Children. Pediatrics. 2017;140(Suppl 2):S76-s80.
37. Kumar PC, Chetty M, Clegg TL, Vitak J, editors. Privacy and security considerations for digital technology use in elementary schools. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems; 2019.
38. Livingstone S, Stoilova M, Nandagiri R. Children's data and privacy online: growing up in a digital age: an evidence review. 2019.
39. Arnetta LD, Fathyasani GA, Suryawijaya T. Children’s privacy in the digital world: A review of the law on the use of technology child. 2023.
40. Collins RL, Strasburger VC, Brown JD, Donnerstein E, Lenhart A, Ward LM. Sexual Media and Childhood Well-being and Health. Pediatrics. 2017;140(Suppl 2):S162-s6.
41. Pacheco E, Melhuish N. Children's exposure to sexually explicit content: Parents’ awareness, attitudes and actions. Children’s Exposure to Sexually Explicit Content: Parents’ Awareness, Attitudes and Actions, Wellington, New Zealand. 2018.
42. Buchanan R, Southgate E, Smith SP, Murray T, Noble B. Post no photos, leave no trace: Children’s digital footprint management strategies. E-learning and Digital Media. 2017;14(5):275-90.
43. Hobbs R. Measuring the digital and media literacy competencies of children and teens. Cognitive development in digital contexts: Elsevier; 2017. p. 253-74.
44. Yankovych OI, Chaika VM, Ivanova TV, Binytska KM, Kuzma II, Pysarchuk OT, et al., editors. Technology of forming media literacy of children of the senior preschool age of Ukraine. CTE Workshop Proceedings; 2019.
45. Parvar ER, Qavam SE, Delavare A, Saadipour I, Dortajj F. investigate the Effectiveness of Critical Thinking Training Package in Adolescents' Attitudes and Harmful Use of Virtual Social Networks Among High School Students. 2022.
2. Ngai EW, Tao SS, Moon KK. Social media research: Theories, constructs, and conceptual frameworks. Int J Inf Manage. 2015;35(1):33-44.
3. Zhong B, Hardin M, Sun T. Less effortful thinking leads to more social networking? The associations between the use of social network sites and personality traits. Comput Human Behav. 2011;27(3):1265-71.
4. McCrae N, Gettings S, Purssell E. Social media and depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence: A systematic review. Adolescent Research Review. 2017;2(4):315-30.
5. Reid Chassiakos YL, Radesky J, Christakis D, Moreno MA, Cross C. Children and Adolescents and Digital Media. Pediatrics. 2016;138(5):e20162593.
6. McDool E, Powell P, Roberts J, Taylor K. Social media use and children’s wellbeing. Sheffield Economics Research Papers (SERPS). 2016;201601(2016011).
7. Valkenburg PM, Peter J. Preadolescents' and adolescents' online communication and their closeness to friends. Dev Psychol. 2007;43(2):267-77.
8. Wood MA, Bukowski WM, Lis E. The digital self: How social media serves as a setting that shapes youth’s emotional experiences. Adolescent Research Review. 2016;1(2):163-73.
9. Daniel SJ. Education and the COVID-19 pandemic. Prospects (Paris). 2020;49(1-2):91-6.
10. Boyd DM. Taken out of context: American teen sociality in networked publics: University of California, Berkeley; 2008.
11. Klonsky ED, May AM. The three-step theory (3ST): A new theory of suicide rooted in the “ideation-to-action” framework. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy. 2015;8(2):114-29.
12. Bozzola E, Spina G, Agostiniani R, Barni S, Russo R, Scarpato E, et al. The Use of Social Media in Children and Adolescents: Scoping Review on the Potential Risks. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(16):9960.
13. Brown RC, Fischer T, Goldwich AD, Keller F, Young R, Plener PL. cutting: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) on Instagram. Psychol Med. 2018;48(2):337-46.
14. Lin LY, Sidani JE, Shensa A, Radovic A, Miller E, Colditz JB, et al. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND DEPRESSION AMONG U.S. YOUNG ADULTS. Depress Anxiety. 2016;33(4):323-31.
15. Moreno MA, Jelenchick LA, Koff R, Eickhoff JC, Goniu N, Davis A, et al. Associations between internet use and fitness among college students: an experience sampling approach. Journal of Interaction Science. 2013;1(1):4.
16. Sagioglou C, Greitemeyer T. Facebook’s emotional consequences: Why Facebook causes a decrease in mood and why people still use it. Comput Human Behav. 2014;35:359-63.
17. Grace E, Raghavendra P, Newman L, Wood D, Connell T. Learning to use the Internet and online social media: What is the effectiveness of home-based intervention for youth with complex communication needs? Child Lang Teach Ther. 2014;30(2):141-57.
18. Dyer T. The effects of social media on children. Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management. 2018;14.
19. Newell CHHLD, Olsen SF. Parenting Skills and Social--Communicative Competence in Childhood. Handbook of communication and social interaction skills: Routledge; 2003. p. 771-816.
20. Yardi S, Bruckman A, editors. Social and technical challenges in parenting teens' social media use. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems; 2011.
21. Beech R, Philp F, Pandyan A, McCluskey M. Evaluation of parental attitudes on the use and effect of technology on physical activity levels in children aged 7 to 11-a knowledge elicitation study. Social Sciences & Humanities Open. 2021;4(1):100155.
22. Kind T, Greysen SR, Chretien KC. Advantages and challenges of social media in pediatrics. Pediatr Ann. 2011;40(9):430-4.
23. Ahn J. The effect of social network sites on adolescents' social and academic development: Current theories and controversies. J Am Soc Inf Sci Technol. 2011;62(8):1435-45.
24. Konca AS. Digital technology usage of young children: Screen time and families. Early Childhood Education Journal. 2022;50(7):1097-108.
25. Brito R, Ramos A, editors. Digital technology in family environment: A case of children from 0 to 6. 2017 International Symposium on Computers in Education (SIIE); 2017: IEEE.
26. Hacker ED. Technology and quality of life outcomes. Semin Oncol Nurs. 2010;26(1):47-58.
27. Everri M, Messena M, Nearchou F, Fruggeri L. Parent-Child Relationships, Digital Media Use and Parents' Well-Being during COVID-19 Home Confinement: The Role of Family Resilience. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(23):15687.
28. Plowman L, Stephen C, McPake J. Growing up with technology: Young children learning in a digital world: Routledge; 2010.
29. Wu CS, Fowler C, Lam WY, Wong HT, Wong CH, Yuen Loke A. Parenting approaches and digital technology use of preschool age children in a Chinese community. Ital J Pediatr. 2014;40:44.
30. Highfield K, Paciga KA, Donohue C. Supporting whole child development in the digital age. Digital childhoods: Technologies and children’s everyday lives: Springer; 2018. p. 165-82.
31. O'Keeffe GS. Social Media: Challenges and Concerns for Families. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2016;63(5):841-9.
32. Anderson DR, Subrahmanyam K. Digital Screen Media and Cognitive Development. Pediatrics. 2017;140(Suppl 2):S57-s61.
33. Bavar F, Ebrahimi AM, Mafakheri A. Psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire of harmful use of digital device in children. Rooyesh-e-Ravanshenasi Journal (RRJ). 2023;12(2):129-40.
34. Lane R, Radesky J. Digital Media and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Review of Evidence, Theoretical Concerns, and Opportunities for Intervention. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2019;40(5):364-8.
35. Hoehe MR, Thibaut F. Going digital: how technology use may influence human brains and behavior Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2020;22(2):93-7.
36. Hoge E, Bickham D, Cantor J. Digital Media, Anxiety, and Depression in Children. Pediatrics. 2017;140(Suppl 2):S76-s80.
37. Kumar PC, Chetty M, Clegg TL, Vitak J, editors. Privacy and security considerations for digital technology use in elementary schools. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems; 2019.
38. Livingstone S, Stoilova M, Nandagiri R. Children's data and privacy online: growing up in a digital age: an evidence review. 2019.
39. Arnetta LD, Fathyasani GA, Suryawijaya T. Children’s privacy in the digital world: A review of the law on the use of technology child. 2023.
40. Collins RL, Strasburger VC, Brown JD, Donnerstein E, Lenhart A, Ward LM. Sexual Media and Childhood Well-being and Health. Pediatrics. 2017;140(Suppl 2):S162-s6.
41. Pacheco E, Melhuish N. Children's exposure to sexually explicit content: Parents’ awareness, attitudes and actions. Children’s Exposure to Sexually Explicit Content: Parents’ Awareness, Attitudes and Actions, Wellington, New Zealand. 2018.
42. Buchanan R, Southgate E, Smith SP, Murray T, Noble B. Post no photos, leave no trace: Children’s digital footprint management strategies. E-learning and Digital Media. 2017;14(5):275-90.
43. Hobbs R. Measuring the digital and media literacy competencies of children and teens. Cognitive development in digital contexts: Elsevier; 2017. p. 253-74.
44. Yankovych OI, Chaika VM, Ivanova TV, Binytska KM, Kuzma II, Pysarchuk OT, et al., editors. Technology of forming media literacy of children of the senior preschool age of Ukraine. CTE Workshop Proceedings; 2019.
45. Parvar ER, Qavam SE, Delavare A, Saadipour I, Dortajj F. investigate the Effectiveness of Critical Thinking Training Package in Adolescents' Attitudes and Harmful Use of Virtual Social Networks Among High School Students. 2022.
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How to Cite
1.
Alaghband Rad J, Karamooz A, Sharifi V, Raaii F. Designing and Compiling a Special Parenting Package to Use Digital Technology in Iranian Children and Adolescents. Iran J Psychiatry. 2025;:1-11.
