A parental perspective on apps for young children

Touchscreen applications (apps) for young children have seen increasingly high rates of growth with more than a hundred thousand now available apps. As with other media, parents play a key role in young children’s app selection and use. However, to date, we know very little about how parents select apps for their children. Guided by uses and gratification theory, a survey was conducted with 600 Dutch parents who had at least one child between three and seven years old. Across two studies, we identified parents’ most important needs that drive their selection of children’s apps as well as the extent to which these needs differ by parenting style. Results indicate five overarching parental needs when it comes to children’s apps, and confirm that these needs vary by parenting style. Findings offer important insight into how parents select apps for their children.