DIGITAL FOOTPRINT EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR PARENTS

YOUR CHILD'S DIGITAL IDENTITY IS SHAPED BY YOUR FINGERSTIPS: EFFECTIVENESS OF A DIGITAL FOOTPRINT EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR PARENTS

In today's digitalized world, children conduct a significant portion of their learning experiences through online environments. However, a lack of digital awareness among parents can adversely affect both children's privacy and their educational development. To address this issue, this study aims to support children's development within a conscious, safe, and ethical digital learning environment by educating parents on digital footprints, online safety, and responsible sharing. Children, who are not yet capable of constructing their own digital identities, have their virtual personas shaped at an early age by their parents' online behavior. This unmonitored digital exposure can compromise a child's sense of privacy and negatively impact their self-development, self-esteem, and social identity formation. Prioritizing the best interests of the child, this project introduces a parent education program designed to empower families in digital literacy and establish an indirect protective framework throughout the educational process.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Parents of Children Aged 3-6
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Digital Footprint Education Program for Parents

Detailed Description

Digital footprints represent the permanent traces that individuals leave behind in online environments, either consciously or unconsciously. Today, social media stands out as one of the platforms where these footprints are most intensively generated. As one of the most active user groups on social media, parents frequently share photos, videos, and personal information about their children, directly impacting their privacy, digital safety, and psychosocial development. Furthermore, this behavior creates a negative role model, leading children to adopt unconscious digital habits from their parents. This unmonitored exposure increases the likelihood of children facing risks such as abuse, cyberbullying, and labeling in digital spaces, thereby threatening their psychosocial safety within school and learning environments.At this juncture, enhancing parents' digital awareness is critically important for both ensuring children's online safety and safeguarding their healthy development throughout the educational process. Designed within this framework, this project introduces a parent education program that prioritizes the best interests of the child, empowers families in digital literacy, and serves as an indirect protective shield in the educational process. In this regard, the study closely aligns with children's academic and psychosocial development goals by both contributing to family education and enhancing the safety of educational environments. The "Digital Footprint Education Program," developed within this scope, aims to raise parents' awareness regarding social media and online sharing practices, while enabling them to cultivate attitudes that protect their children's digital identity and privacy.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 79
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Antalya, Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Antalya, Konyaalti

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Being the parent of a child enrolled in kindergarten,
• The parent uses social media
• The parent uses WhatsApp
• The parent is literate
• The parent can speak and understand Turkish

Exclusion Criteria:

• The parent has a diagnosed psychiatric or mental disorder.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Intervention group; The startup group was given training as part of the digital footprint training program.	Behavioral: Digital Footprint Education Program for Parents; A review of the literature reveals a paucity of research focusing on children aged 3-6, with existing scholarship predominantly centered on primary school students and older cohorts. Implemented with the parents of children aged 3-6 within the intervention group, this educational program aims to favorably modulate the digital footprints of this specific age bracket and safeguard their digital identities. In this regard, the intervention diverges significantly from extant literature.; Other Names: DFEP
No Intervention: control group; No action was taken against this group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sharenting scale	The Sharenting Scale is a 17-item instrument designed to assess parental sharenting behaviors. The scale comprises four subscales: sharing behavior, social comparison behavior, positive feedback effect, and negative feedback effect. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale, and the items in the social comparison behavior and negative feedback effect subscales are reverse scored. Total scores range from 17 to 85, with higher scores indicating greater levels of sharenting behaviors.	Baseline and 15 days after the intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Social Media Addiction Scale	The Social Media Addiction Scale is a 13-item instrument designed to assess the level of social media addiction in adults. The scale includes three subscales: functional impairment, preference for virtual life, and virtual pleasure. Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Total scores range from 13 to 65, with higher scores indicating greater levels of social media addiction.	Baseline and 15 days after the intervention
Brief Self-Control Scale	The Brief Self-Control Scale is a 13-item self-report instrument designed to assess self-control. The scale consists of two subscales: self-discipline and impulsivity. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all like me) to 5 (very much like me). Nine items are reverse scored. Total scores range from 13 to 65, with higher scores indicating greater levels of self-control.	Baseline and 15 days after the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Akdeniz University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Sarkadi A, Dahlberg A, Fangstrom K, Warner G. Children want parents to ask for permission before 'sharenting'. J Paediatr Child Health. 2020 Jun;56(6):981-983. doi: 10.1111/jpc.14945. No abstract available.
• Steinberg, S. (2017). Sharenting: Children's privacy in the age of social media. Emory Law Journal, 66(4), 839-884.
• Talukdar, N. (2020). The adverse effects of family vlogging on children. International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews, 7(1), 749-756.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 15, 2026
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 15, 2026
• Study Completion (Actual): May 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 6, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 10, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): July 16, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 16, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 10, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: child; nurse; digital footprint; sharenting
• Other Study ID Numbers: sesen

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No