JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The expansion of digital technologies has transformed the family environment, demanding new strategies from parents to guide and protect their children’s Internet use. While the literature widely discusses parental mediation, few studies analyze how traditional parenting styles are related online parental mediation (OPM) strategies and how parents’ age moderates these relationships.

Objective:

To examine the effects of three traditional parenting styles—inductive, rigid, and indulgent—on six OPM strategies, considering the moderating role of parents’ age.

Methods:

A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted with 672 parents (83.9% mothers) of children aged 9–14 years from 29 schools in 10 Spanish regions. Participants completed the Scale of Rules and Demands (ENE-P) and the EU-Global Kids Online Parental Mediation Questionnaire. Using 18 moderation models (PROCESS Model 1, bootstrapping with 5000 samples), we analyzed the predictive power of inductive, rigid, and indulgent parenting styles (predictors) on six OPM strategies—active mediation of Internet use (AMIU), active mediation of Internet safety (AMIS), child-initiated.

Results:

The inductive parenting style was positively related to all OPM strategies, and its effects were stronger among younger parents for AMIU (B = –.03, p < .01), AMIS (B = –.02, p = .04), and RM (B = –.01, p = .04). The indulgent style showed negative relationships with five OPM strategies (AMIU, AMIS, PM, TC, RM), while the rigid style showed no significant effects.

Conclusions:

Findings support the concept of global parenting, integrating offline and online parental regulation. Younger parents’ digital skills strengthen the positive effects of inductive parenting on Internet safety and autonomy. Programs should foster inductive strategies and enhance digital competence among older parents.