Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Digital media occupy a unique place in the daily lives of children living in separated or divorced families, where such media facilitate contact between children and non-resident parents. Despite growing research interest, few quantitative studies address this phenomenon from children’s perspectives. Based on survey data from 518 children aged 9–17, multinomial regression models examined factors correlating with digital contact frequency, incorporating sociodemographic variables and relationship quality measures. Our results indicate that the majority of children (59,7%) had frequent contact with their non-resident parent via digital media, while 20,5% had no digital contact. Strong correlations were found between digital contact and family socioeconomic status, as well as family climate and the quality of the relationship with the non-resident parent. Digital media were found to successfully facilitate family connections across household boundaries in post-separation contexts, supporting the ‘doing family’ framework, ‘media multiplexity theory’ and ‘media richness theory’. However, socioeconomic disparities and family structural changes were also associated with access and usage patterns. The findings suggest the need for targeted support programmes to enhance digital literacy and ensure equitable access to communication technologies for maintaining parent–child relationships post-separation.
Source: Journal of Family Studies
Institution: Deutsches Jugendinstitut
Language: English
Subfield: Demography
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7125510477