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.
Summary
This paper introduces the Parental Attitudes to Digital Technology Scale (PADTS), a concise, conceptually grounded and psychometrically validated tool designed for parents of children aged 0–3 years.
The study identified four distinct factors underpinning parental attitudes: perceived risks of digital technology, perceived learning benefits, parental digital confidence, and technology-related anxiety.
The study demonstrated strong model fit, internal reliability and measurement invariance across parent gender, ethnicity and UK region, with some age-related variation highlighting the developmental relevance of parental beliefs.
The PADTS can assist early years practitioners, health visitors and family support workers in identifying and addressing both concerns and strengths in parents' digital attitudes.
The scale offers a reliable means of identifying parental support needs, informing the design of tailored, strengths-based resources and messaging that reflect diverse beliefs and family contexts.
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.
Summary
This paper introduces the Parental Attitudes to Digital Technology Scale (PADTS), a concise, conceptually grounded and psychometrically validated tool designed for parents of children aged 0–3 years.
The study identified four distinct factors underpinning parental attitudes: perceived risks of digital technology, perceived learning benefits, parental digital confidence, and technology-related anxiety.
The study demonstrated strong model fit, internal reliability and measurement invariance across parent gender, ethnicity and UK region, with some age-related variation highlighting the developmental relevance of parental beliefs.
The PADTS can assist early years practitioners, health visitors and family support workers in identifying and addressing both concerns and strengths in parents' digital attitudes.
The scale offers a reliable means of identifying parental support needs, informing the design of tailored, strengths-based resources and messaging that reflect diverse beliefs and family contexts.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e70199 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-11 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Child: Care, Health and Development |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 21 Jan 2026 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 30 Jan 2026 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2026 The Author(s). Child: Care, Health and Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Data Access Statement
The data are available on request and have been deposited on the UK Data Service in line with funding requirements from the Economic and Social Research Council.Funding
This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (grant number ES/W001020/1).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Economic and Social Research Council | ES/W001020/1 |
Keywords
- Digital parenting
- young children's technology use
- early years education
- psychometric scale development
- parental attitudes
- young childrens technology use
- Reproducibility of Results
- Humans
- Anxiety - psychology
- Child, Preschool
- Infant
- Male
- Psychometrics
- United Kingdom
- Factor Analysis, Statistical
- Parenting - psychology
- Parents - psychology
- Digital Technology
- Attitude to Computers
- Adult
- Female
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- digital parenting
- Infant, Newborn
- Anxiety/psychology
- Parents/psychology
- Parenting/psychology
