Digital media use on school civic engagement: A parallel mediation model

 Camila Contreras, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile)

 Josefina Rivas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile)

 Rosemberg Franco, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile)

 Maryluz Gómez-Plata, Universidad del Magdalena (Colombia)

 B. Paula Luengo Kanacri, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile)

https://doi.org/10.3916/C75-2023-07

Keywords

Digital media, civic school engagement, digital citizenship, digital gender gap, adolescence, mediation model

Abstract

Despite the democratised access to digital media, there are still gaps in uses and opportunities according to age, sex, socioeconomic level, and location. In addition, the study about the use of digital media by children and adolescents has focused more on the risks than on the opportunities. This study analyses the relationship between different uses of digital media (socialisation, socio-political, and learning purposes), with school civic engagement. A sample of 524 students (Mage=12; 43.7% girls) from Santiago de Chile participated. Structural equation modelling with latent variables was used to test a parallel mediation model in which the use of socialisation in digital media is related to school civic engagement, through digital media use for socio political purposes and the digital media use for learning purposes. In addition, multigroup analysis by sex was tested. The main results showed that digital media use for socialisation has a positive effect on school civic engagement through the parallel mediation of digital media use for socio-political purposes and the digital media use for learning purposes. The multigroup analysis showed that mediation is significant in both boys and girls. The results have contributed to the expansion of knowledge about the opportunities of digital media on civic engagement in formal school contexts.

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Fundref

This work was supported by FONDECYT/ANID, Chile (grant number 1191692) and by the Interdisciplinary Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies, FONDAP/ANID 15130009.

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Technical information

Received: 17-08-2022

Revised: 21-09-2022

Accepted: 29-11-2022

OnlineFirst: 30-01-2023

Publication date: 01-04-2023

Article revision time: 35 days | Average time revision issue 75: 32 days

Article acceptance time: 104 days | Average time of acceptance issue 75: 93 days

Preprint editing time: 182 days | Average editing time preprint issue 75: 171 days

Article editing time: 227 days | Average editing time issue 75: 216 days

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