The impact of parental behaviour in the digital age on awareness of cyberbullying prevention: the role of technological literacy and parental stress

In the age of digital technology, it is important to consider how parents’ level of digital literacy affects their knowledge regarding the prevention of cyberbullying. This study examines specific mediating functions of digital parenting awareness and parental stress in relation to this link between parents’ technological literacy and the prevention of cyberbullying. This research examines how parents’ technological literacy indirectly affects their awareness of cyberbullying prevention through several mediating variables, such as digital parenting awareness and parental stress. The study included a sample of n = 438 parents (M = 40.5, SD = 0.82; 69% female) aged 25 to 55 with children in pre-school, primary school, secondary school and high school. Survey instruments measuring technological literacy, digital parenting awareness, parental concerns, and cyberbullying prevention were administered to participants. Accordingly, we tested serial mediating effects using the PROCESS macro Model 6. The findings revealed that technological literacy significantly predicted awareness of cyberbullying prevention both directly and through various indirect pathways. Specifically, in addition to the pathway mediated solely by parental stress, the following pathways were found to be significant: the pathway starting with negative role modelling and extending to parental stress; the pathway where digital neglect affects risk perception and subsequently increases stress; and the pathway where effective use affects stress through risk awareness. These results demonstrate that psychological and behavioural factors play a critical role in transforming parents’ digital literacy into awareness of cyberbullying prevention. The results show that technological literacy is effective in increasing cyberbullying awareness and that this relationship is shaped primarily through indirect factors such as parental stress and risk protection.