Parental attitudes and digital parenting in the early years : development and validation of the PADTS scale

Tools

McLaughlin, Katrina and Bunting, Lisa and Connolly, Paul and Winter, Karen and Flewitt, Rosie and El Gemayel, Sandra and Arnott, Lorna and Dalziell, Andrea and Gillen, Julia and Goodall, Janet and Liu, Min-Chen and Savadova, Sabina and Timmins, Sarah (2026) Parental attitudes and digital parenting in the early years : development and validation of the PADTS scale. Child: Care, Health and Development, 52 (1). e70199. (https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.70199)

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Abstract

Background This paper reports on the development and validation of the 15-item Parental Attitudes to Digital Technology Scale (PADTS), a brief, psychometrically validated measure assessing parents' beliefs confidence, and concerns about their very young children's use of digital technologies. Method Developed as part of the UK-wide Toddlers, Tech and Talk (TTT) study, PADTS addresses a gap in existing research by focusing on children from birth to 3 years, a stage often overlooked in digital parenting literature. Co-developed with parents and early years experts, the scale was tested with a nationally balanced UK sample (N = 934). Results Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure: perceived risks, perceived learning benefits, parental confidence and technology-related anxiety. The PADTS showed strong model fit and measurement invariance across parent gender, ethnicity and region, with some variation by child age. Correlational analyses indicated that benefits, perceptions and confidence were associated with supportive digital parenting, while anxiety was more weakly linked. Conclusion PADTS shows potential as a practical tool for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers and may support a more nuanced understanding of how parental attitudes shape early digital experiences.

ORCID iDs

McLaughlin, Katrina, Bunting, Lisa, Connolly, Paul, Winter, Karen, Flewitt, Rosie, El Gemayel, Sandra, Arnott, Lorna ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0304-778X, Dalziell, Andrea, Gillen, Julia, Goodall, Janet, Liu, Min-Chen, Savadova, Sabina and Timmins, Sarah;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)