TY - GEN
T1 - Family-Based Persuasion in Digital Parenting Tools
T2 - Satellite Events, held together with the 20th International Conference on Persuasive Technology, PERSUASIVE 2025
AU - Moqbel, Shaima
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
PY - 2026/7/17
Y1 - 2026/7/17
N2 - Parental control applications play a crucial role in digital parenting by helping parents manage children's online activities. However, most existing applications emphasize restrictive monitoring and surveillance, often at the expense of trust, transparency, and digital autonomy. This study evaluates current parental control tools through the lens of Social Learning Theory, Attachment Theory, and Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) to identify gaps in fostering collaborative digital parenting. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research involves qualitative interviews, focus groups, surveys, and usability testing with parents and adolescents (ages 10–15). The study examines how digital parenting strategies influence family relationships and child autonomy and explores the effectiveness of collaborative design features such as gamification, shared dashboards, and participatory goal-setting. Findings will contribute to the development of a guidance-based framework for parental control applications, shifting from a surveillance model to one that supports education, trust, and cooperative decision-making. The study’s insights aim to inform developers, policymakers, and educators on best practices for designing ethically responsible and culturally adaptive digital parenting solutions.
AB - Parental control applications play a crucial role in digital parenting by helping parents manage children's online activities. However, most existing applications emphasize restrictive monitoring and surveillance, often at the expense of trust, transparency, and digital autonomy. This study evaluates current parental control tools through the lens of Social Learning Theory, Attachment Theory, and Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) to identify gaps in fostering collaborative digital parenting. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research involves qualitative interviews, focus groups, surveys, and usability testing with parents and adolescents (ages 10–15). The study examines how digital parenting strategies influence family relationships and child autonomy and explores the effectiveness of collaborative design features such as gamification, shared dashboards, and participatory goal-setting. Findings will contribute to the development of a guidance-based framework for parental control applications, shifting from a surveillance model to one that supports education, trust, and cooperative decision-making. The study’s insights aim to inform developers, policymakers, and educators on best practices for designing ethically responsible and culturally adaptive digital parenting solutions.
KW - Attachment Theory
KW - Autonomy
KW - Digital Parenting
KW - Parental Control Applications
KW - Persuasive Systems Design
KW - Social Learning Theory
KW - Trust
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105011984567
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-97177-8_14
DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-97177-8_14
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105011984567
SN - 9783031971761
VL - 2542
T3 - Communications In Computer And Information Science
SP - 148
EP - 159
BT - Persuasive Technology. Persuasive 2025 Satellite Events
A2 - Wiafe, I
A2 - Babiker, A
A2 - Ham, J
A2 - Oyibo, K
A2 - Vlahu-Gjorgievska, E
PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Y2 - 5 May 2025 through 7 May 2025
ER -