Children’s Information-Related Internet Use at Home: The Role of the Quantity and Quality of Parental Support and Children’s Motivation

Children’s information-related internet use positively affects their acquisition of computer- and information-related skills. Nevertheless, this use still occurs predominantly in the family context. Parents’ support of their children’s internet use can motivate them to use the internet for information-related purposes. However, while parents’ support seems to be important, the quantity and quality of parental support have been shown to have different associations with children’s motivation. Thus, the goal of the current study was to examine the relationship between parents’ support (quantity and quality), children’s motivation to engage in information-related internet use, and children’s actual information-related internet use (practical and school- or learning-related use) using structural equation modeling. In addition, we examined the mediating effects of children’s motivation. Specifically, 492 12-year-old German children answered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. We found positive associations between the quantity and quality of parents’ support and children’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, while only structure-giving support was found to be related to children’s intrinsic motivation. The quantity of support was directly related to children’s school- or learning-related use, while intrinsic motivation was associated with both forms of information-related internet use. Furthermore, we confirmed that children’s motivation is an important mediator in this context. The implications of these findings for parents and children are considered.