Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AdoDigitFamX (Adolescents, Parents and Digital Media: Looking for the pattern that dis/connects)
Período documentado: 2015-09-01 hasta 2017-08-31
This research adopted a transdisciplinary framework of social/developmental psychology and media and communication studies to examine how ICTs are changing interpersonal relations within the families. This has been done through the development and application of innovative methods based on Digital Ethnography (DE) and First-Person Perspective (FPP). Two research questions guided our project: (1) What is the impact of communication through digital media on family interactions and child development during adolescence? (2) How can we gather and analyse data on the mediating role of digital devices in real life situations? Starting from these questions, we have defined three research goals:
(a) To capture the actual use of digital devices, i.e. all the technologies adolescents use to create, maintain, and transform communication in different situations of their everyday life.
(b) To better understand the role of digital devices in parent-child interaction, by understanding the mutually shaping processes of ICTs, human development and family communication.
(c) To clarify the opportunities and risks of ICTs in family communication and child development, documenting the good/bad practices (strategies, parenting styles) thereby providing parents, practitioners and stakeholders with operational advice.
Our findings showed that:
(a) Adolescents privileged the use of smartphones to accomplish several tasks ranging from entertainment to school duties. A small number of adolescents was able to develop coping strategies that allowed them to self-regulate the use of ICTs (digital coping); the majority showed a ‘bittersweet’ approach to the use of ICTs (mixed positive and negative practices).
(b) Parent-child interactions were analysed through the lenses of domestication theory (appropriation and integration in everyday tasks and routines) and installation theory (how objects, social constraints, and individual representations shape individual practices). Different patterns of domestication were observed (successful, unsuccessful, intermediate) and related to family functioning and values, and effective/ineffective strategies adopted by adolescents (successful domestication pattern implied parental regulations about use and allocation of digital devices in the domestic environment).
(c) Families and schools should build a ‘social contract’ to promote a better use of digital technologies, improve technology-mediated communication and adolescents’ wellbeing. Adolescents and parents that showed good practices could share their experiences and networking with other parents, children, teachers, through meetings/online platforms.
The adoption of a family perspective to examine digital media incorporation allowed us to situate the understanding of adolescents’ use of ICTs in the context family relations and communication, thereby linking individual behaviours and family dynamics. We shed light on new domestication processes, suggesting that domestication theory can benefit from integrating Installation theory principles (i.e. a micro-analytical framework for examining individuals’ actions, goals, motivations and emotions).
Students, researchers and professionals has demonstrated interest in learning and using SEBE in psychosocial research (digital technologies, human-computer interactions, family process, behaviour change). This has prompted us to found a research laboratory at the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at the LSE, the SEBE-Lab, which is having periodic meetings and hosting events for the scientific community.
Beyond researchers, families, practitioners and socio-educational and clinical agencies have been the main audience. The collected video material (good/bad practices) can be used to provide counselling to parents and/or adolescent children having problems in controlling ICTs use as well as to train practitioners working with families and children. Clinical practitioners demonstrated a particular interest in the SEBE protocol; they envisaged the use of SEBE for treating technology-related problems (addiction or anxiety). New connections were built with psychotherapy centres (especially the Tavistock Centre), and a new research project is under preparation with their collaboration.
SEBE promises to become a useful tool for research and intervention with children and families in today’s societies, where ICTs have become integral part of our everyday lives.