Parental Knowledge, Recognition of Warning Signs, Perceived Competence and Monitoring Regarding Digital Violence Against Children: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study in the Republic of Croatia

Background: Digital technologies are an integral part of children’s and adolescents’ lives; however, their intensive use increases exposure to various risks, including digital violence, i.e., violence perpetrated or facilitated through digital technologies. Parents play an important role in recognizing these risks and protecting children through appropriate parental mediation and monitoring. Still, evidence on parents’ actual knowledge and monitoring practices in Croatia remains limited. Objectives: The aim of this exploratory study was to examine parents’ knowledge of digital violence, their ability to recognize signs of such experiences among children, their self-perceived competence in recognizing digital violence, and patterns of parental monitoring of children’s use of digital technologies. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted on a convenience sample of 222 parents in the Republic of Croatia between January and February 2026. Eligible participants were parents of children older than two years. The purpose-developed instrument comprised four domains: knowledge of digital violence (6 items), recognition of signs of victimization (13 items), perceived competence in recognizing digital violence (4 items), and parental monitoring (6 items). Domain scores were expressed as percentages of the maximum attainable score. Groups were compared with Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests, with effect sizes (r, ε2) and Holm correction for multiple testing, and associations were assessed with Spearman’s correlation. Results: Median domain scores were high (knowledge 100%, sign recognition 83%, perceived competence 80% and monitoring 77% of the maximum), with a marked ceiling effect for knowledge. Mothers scored higher than fathers on knowledge (p = 0.042, r = 0.14), sign recognition (p = 0.002, r = 0.21) and monitoring (p = 0.014, r = 0.17), but not on perceived competence (p = 0.218); only the difference in sign recognition remained significant after Holm correction. Parents’ age was associated only with monitoring (p < 0.001, ε2 ≥ 0.08), with parents aged 21–40 years scoring higher than older parents. Educational level, marital status and the number of children were not significantly associated with any domain. Knowledge was weakly correlated with sign recognition (ρ = 0.23) and perceived competence (ρ = 0.20), but not with monitoring (ρ = 0.13, p = 0.062), whereas perceived competence showed the strongest, moderate correlation with monitoring (ρ = 0.53, p < 0.001). Conclusions: In this convenience sample, knowledge of digital violence was not by itself associated with self-reported monitoring, whereas perceived competence was. These exploratory, cross-sectional findings suggest that parent education might combine information on digital risks with strengthening parental self-efficacy and practical mediation skills, a hypothesis that should be tested in longitudinal and intervention studies.