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The Use of Facebook by Turkish Mothers: Its Reasons and Outcomes

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Abstract

Objectives

Parents use social network sites for reasons related to bridging and bonding social capital, and entertainment. The aim of the present study was to examine whether the use of Facebook by Turkish mothers and its reasons are related to mothers’ demographic characteristics, anxiety level and perceived social support. It also examined whether mothers’ Facebook use contributes to their perception of their parental role.

Methods

Three hundred thirty-two middle-class Turkish mothers who reported to use Facebook completed the demographic information questionnaire, the use of social media questionnaire, the anxiety inventory, the perceived social support scale and the self-perception of parental role questionnaire.

Results

Results indicated that Turkish mothers use Facebook more for reasons related to bridging social capital than reasons related to bonding social capital and entertainment. The frequency of using Facebook and the length of time having an account predicted the use of Facebook for reasons related to bridging and bonding social capital. Anxiety level predicted the use of Facebook for reasons related to entertainment. Mothers’ Facebook use was found not to be related to their self-perceived parental competence.

Conclusions

The discussion of these findings in terms of Turkish culture implied the need for cross-cultural studies for a better understanding of parents’ use of social network sites.

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Author Contributions

HÖB: designed and executed the study, conducted data analyses and wrote the paper. ŞA: assisted with data collection and collaborated with the writing of the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Bahcesehir University, Ciragan cad. Osman Pasa Mektebi Sokak No: 4-6, 34353, Besiktas, Istanbul, Turkey

    Hale Ögel-Balaban

  2. Department of Psychology, F.M.V. Isik University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Şebnem Altan

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  1. Hale Ögel-Balaban
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  2. Şebnem Altan
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Correspondence to Hale Ögel-Balaban.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical approval was obtained from the F.M.V. Isik University’s Ethics Committee.

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Ögel-Balaban, H., Altan, Ş. The Use of Facebook by Turkish Mothers: Its Reasons and Outcomes. J Child Fam Stud 29, 780–790 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01568-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01568-5

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