Parenting behaviors in the digital age: A mixed-methods study of the relationship between FoMo and digital parenting practices

Aim: This study aimed to examine the relationship between parents' FoMO levels and their digital parenting practices among parents with children aged 5–12, and to explore how this relationship was interpreted through parents' lived experiences. Material and method: The study was conducted using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. In the quantitative phase, 421 parents from Türkiye participated in the study. Quantitative data were collected using the Fear of Missing Out Scale and the Social Media Parenting Scale and were analyzed through descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation analysis, and simple linear regression analyses. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 parents selected to explain the quantitative findings, and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The quantitative findings showed significant positive relationships between FoMO levels and parents' social media use, learning-oriented parenting, role modeling, and sharenting behaviors, whereas no significant relationship was found with the digital safety dimension. Simple linear regression analyses indicated that FoMO significantly predicted parental mediation, learning-oriented parenting, sharenting, parents' social media use, and role modeling; however, it did not significantly predict digital safety. The qualitative findings further revealed that parents' digital media experiences were intertwined with emotional and social processes such as guilt, inadequacy, social comparison, loss of control, privacy concerns, and the need for visibility. Conclusion: Taken together, the findings suggest that FoMO is not merely an individual form of digital anxiety among parents, but also functions as an emotional and relational dynamic associated with digital parenting practices. Accordingly, digital parenting education should address not only children's screen time, online safety, and technical supervision, but also parents' social media use, social comparison tendencies, and digital anxieties. Keywords: digital parenting, FoMO, mixed methods, sharenting, social media parenting