Parenting Styles Influence on Preschoolers’ Gadget Use

Abstract

The usage of gadgets in a daily life is a very common thing within the society today especially for the children. This study aims to explore three different types of parenting styles that influence the usage of gadget among the preschooler in Telupid, Sabah. This quantitative study was carried out based on two theories namely Baumrind's Parenting Style Theory and Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model. The instrument used to collect research data is a questionnaire by using google form software. Data analysis through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) using Croanbach Alpha was used to ensure the validity and reliability of the instruments used. The results of the actual study were analyzed using Spearman's Rho. The results of the analysis found that the three parenting styles namely authoritative, authoritarian and permissive have a weak correlation value with the usage of gadgets among the preschool students. Therefore, a conclusion can be drawn that there is no significant relationship between parenting style practices and the frequency of gadget use.