The Effects of a Technology Addiction Education Program, Implemented for Parents in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Areas, on Children and Parental Outcomes

The primary aim of this study was to provide a technology addiction education program to parents of children aged 9-15 residing in a socioeconomically disadvantaged region and to measure the program's subsequent impact. A mixed-methods approach was employed in the research design. The qualitative phase of the study involved pre-test and post-test interviews, while the quantitative phase utilized the "Parental Attitudes Towards Children's Use of Information and Communication Technologies Scale," the "Internet Addiction Scale," and the "Family-Child Internet Addiction Scale." The study was conducted with parents attending a family life academy located in a socially disadvantaged area within Ankara, the capital of Turkey. The technology addiction training program, developed by the researchers, was administered to the parents over one day in two separate sessions. The results indicated a statistically significant difference in parents' attitudes towards Information and Communication Technologies in favor of the post-test scores. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated an increase in parental knowledge levels regarding technology addiction, and parents frequently utilized the concept of "conscious technology use" in their post-intervention discourse. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the technology addiction education program be offered for longer durations and be more widely disseminated. Keywords: Parents, Disadvantaged families, Addiction.