The relationship between parental digital parenting self‐efficacy and children's prosocial behavior: A moderated chain‐mediated model

Abstract Objective This study aimed to examine the relationship between parental self‐efficacy in digital parenting and children's prosocial behavior, with a particular focus on the chain mediating roles of active parental digital intervention and children's digital literacy, as well as the moderating role of children's problematic media use. Background In the digital age, parents face growing challenges in guiding children's online experiences. Parental self‐efficacy in digital parenting may shape children's prosocial behavior via sequential mediators (active intervention and digital literacy), with problematic media use moderating the final path. Clarifying these processes aids targeted interventions. Method A cross‐sectional questionnaire study grounded in family systems theory and parental mediation theory for the digital age was conducted using stratified sampling with 471 parents of preschoolers in central China. Results The findings revealed that (a) parental self‐efficacy in digital parenting was positively associated with children's prosocial behavior, (b) active parental digital intervention and children's digital literacy together played a significant chain mediating role in this relationship, and (c) in the chain mediation model, children's level of problematic media use moderated the pathway from “children's digital literacy → children's prosocial behavior.” Conclusion Parents should take a dialectical view of the influence of digital media on the development of children's prosocial behavior, innovate digital parenting concepts, enhance digital parenting self‐efficacy, and scientifically and reasonably control the use of digital media by children in terms of time, content, and methods to improve children's digital literacy, prevent children from becoming digitally obsessed, and enhance children's prosocial behavior.