Studying the scales measuring adolescent - media relationship: A systematic qualitative review

Media – Child Relationships is at the top of the agenda for research and education today in developing evidence-based policy making to optimally and efficiently regulate this relationship, realistic understanding of its nature, and taking the necessary measures. However, there are few validated research instruments for researchers and educators to examine how parents mediate adolescents relation to media and how adolescents develop and perceive their relations to media. So, a systematic review method was used in this study. Because most social media emerged by 2013, this year was chosen as the starting point for the study. Using keywords, 55 articles were identified, and after screening according to the PRISMA guidelines, 12 articles remained. This review identified 13 scales measuring adolescent-media relationships. The trend of publication of articles has grown significantly since 2023. After reviewing the literature on Media- Child relationships questionnaires, the goals for introducing scales were categorized in two categories: understanding how adolescents use media and the methods and effects of media parenting. The scales assess adolescent - media relationship in four dimensions: the first dimension is cognitive with three sub-dimensions: information about the amount and manner of adolescent media consumption, parental media literacy, and adolescent media literacy. The second dimension is behavioral and includes items that measure parental media parenting. The third dimension is consequence with three sub-dimensions: digital well-being, media addiction, and using media to cope with inappropriate situations. The fourth dimension is intentional, which includes four sub-dimensions: consuming, relating, creating, and sharing.