The process of digitalization has become an integral part of the social situation of a child’s growth in the modern world. Child development in the digital environment demands the involvement of adults as mediators. This practice is called parental digital mediation. Previous studies have identified the significant parental and environmental aspects of parental mediation, but there has been little information about the relationships between the children’s characteristics and parental digital mediation. The current study aims to fill this gap by identifying the behavioral (social network and screen time) and emotional (social network addiction and happiness) predictors of the two dimensions of digital mediation: parental support and parental control. The study also examines the differences among children influenced by various parental mediation strategies. A total of 4011 students (42% male and 58% female) ranging in age from 13 to 15 years (M = 14.07; SD = 0.76) took part in the study. The parental mediation of their children’s internet use, social media addiction, social network time, screen time, and happiness were measured. According to the results, both the behavioral and emotional characteristics of the children served as predictors of parental mediation. A small amount of time spent on social networks or screens and low social media addiction and happiness were identified as the predictors of parental support, whereas a large amount of time spent on social networks and screens and low social media addiction were identified as the predictors of parental control. Three groups of children experiencing different parental mediation strategies were determined. The children with parents who enabled mediation were happier than the others. Children under instructive mediation demonstrated the highest tendency to social media addiction. Children under selective mediation spent the most time (of all groups) on gadgets, but they showed a low tendency towards social media addiction.

Digital parental mediation has emerged as a result of the increasing popularity of electronic technologies and their active use in the education of children. Recent research on digital parental mediation highlights the various characteristics that define parental support and control over a child’s digital activity. This study is aimed at determining the relationship between digital parental mediation (parental control and parental support) and the psychological well-being (self-satisfaction and subjective happiness) of adolescents. The characteristics of digital mediation (control and support) are assumed to have opposing effects on the psychological well-being of schoolchildren. The study sample consisted of 4,011 teenagers aged 13 to 15 (M = 14.07, SD = 0.76), 42% of whom were male. In the course of the study, the Digital Parental Mediation Questionnaire, the I myself scale from the questionnaire, the Multidimensional Scale of Student Life Satisfaction, and the Scale of Subjective Happiness were utilized. Statistical processing involved exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, correlation and regression analyses. As a result, it was confirmed that parental control and support of a child’s digital activity are related, but their effects on psychological well-being vary. Thus, parental support increases a teenager’s satisfaction and happiness, whereas parental control decreases them. This effect is more pronounced in younger adolescents.

The article presents the results of a psychometric analysis of the Perceived Stress Scale for Children (PSS-C), developed by B.P. White. The scale was designed to evaluate the degree of perceived stress in children and is similar to perceived stress scales used in adult populations. Psychometric analysis is crucial for diagnosing children's stress experiences and for the frequent use of the scale in research. The study was conducted on a sample of 635 children, aged 6 to 8.3 years (mean=6.73; SD=0.38), who were enrolled in preschool educational institutions. Respondents completed the Perceived Stress Scale and an anxiety test (R. Tamml, M. Dorki, and V. Amen). The research was conducted individually, adhering to ethical guidelines. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess the structure of the PSS-C, resulting in the identification of two distinct factors: Distress and General Well-being. The reliability indices (Cronbach's alpha) for the Distress subscale and the General Well-being subscale were 0.74 and 0.61, respectively. The unique properties of the subscales within the Perceived Stress Scale for Children serve to prevent their amalgamation into a singular factor, while still allowing for the derivation of a general indicator of perceived stress. The General Well-being subscale correlates negatively with the anxiety score, while the general perceived stress score correlates positively. Overall, the psychometric analysis of the Perceived Stress Scale for Children allows its use as a tool for addressing research problems.

Objective. The goal of the study was to look at how different levels of social health (loneliness and social support) show up in different ways in terms of how dependent people are on their social networks.Background. Loneliness and social support are considered as indicators of a teenager's social health, characterizing the inner experience of isolation from others and the breadth of the circle of contacts that a teenager can turn to for help. Previously, the question of their relationship in the context of their dependence on social networks was not considered. Study design. The current study examined the differences in social media addiction, motive, and formal characteristics of social media use among groups of adolescents with different levels of social health (loneliness and social support). Participants. The study sample was made up of 6405 13–18-year-olds (M = 15, SD = 1,46), 42,2% of them male, who went to school in Yakutsk, which is in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Measurements. The following methods were used: the three-point Loneliness Scale, the Social Support Scale, and the Bergen Social Network Addiction Scale. The motives for using social networks and the formal characteristics of their use were identified. Results. Teenagers were put into groups based on how lonely they were and how much social support they had. These groups show that dependence on social networks shows up in various ways. The groups with different levels of loneliness and social support can be identified by the reasons they use social networks and the way they work (how long they use them and how many friends they have). The use of social networks by adolescents with high levels of loneliness and low levels of social support leads to negative results and forms addiction due to the effects of compensation and diminution. Adolescents with low loneliness and high social support, on the other hand, demonstrate positive effects from the use of social networks. Conclusions. Among indicators of social health, low social support for an adolescent may lead to greater dependence on social networks. It was also found that dependence on social networks may be based not on direct communicative motives but on motives aimed at establishing and maintaining ties with a group united by common gaming interests.

Context and relevance. The digital socialization of contemporary adolescents is a subject of considerable study interest owing to the profound integration of Internet technology into daily life. The relevance is due to the insufficient study of the links between preferred content, problems arising from the active use of the Internet and social networks, and the role of social support. Objective. To determine the links between digital content and emerging problems in adolescents, as well as to identify the contribution of social support to reducing problems arising from online activity. Methods and materials. The research involved a sample of 1239 Russian adolescents (42,7% male) aged 15–17 years from various areas of the Russian Federation. Questionnaires on digital parental mediation, peer perception, and social media usage were employed to evaluate favored themes in Internet and social network usage, as well as the severity of issues related to digital activity. Correlation, regression, and comparative analysis were employed. Results. A hierarchy of content choices among teenagers was identified: entertainment content (humor, trends) is predominant, succeeded by instructional resources and sports. Girls show greater interest in educational and infotainment content but report greater severity of problems arising from digital activity. Parental and peer support mitigates the adverse consequences of online engagement, whereas parental control exacerbates issues. Conclusions. The prevalence of entertainment material correlates with the severity of issues. The quality of peer interactions is more significant than parental mediation in mitigating the adverse impacts of internet use. Peer assistance mitigates compensating Internet usage. Parental assistance is more efficacious than control in mitigating issues.

Sports training is one of the most popular extracurricular activities among preschool and elementary school children. The aim of this pilot study was to compare executive function skills in preschool boys who participated in football training and those who undertook martial arts training. The participants were sixty (60) typically developing 5–6-year-old boys from large Russian cities. There were two groups with 30 boys in each group: a football group and a martial arts group. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) male gender; (b) boys did not attend any extracurricular activities other than their football training or martial arts training; (c) the duration of football or martial arts training session was more than 30 min; (d) boys attended these trainings for at least 6 months and no more than 2 years. Caregivers reported on the specifics of child’s attendance at sports training and child’s age, maternal education, and family income, which were used as control variables. The results indicated that boys involved in football training had significantly higher spatial component of visuospatial working memory compared to boys involved in martial arts training. Taken together, these findings suggest that football training compared to martial arts training in 5–6-year-old boys may have more potential in terms of developing spatial component of visuospatial working memory. The results of this pilot study could serve as a basis for further investigation on this topic.