From 5Cs to ABC: operationalizing the AAP guidelines into the MEPA-ABC scale for parental mediation of children's digital media use.

Abstract

Background: Parental regulation of children's digital media use is central to healthy development, yet existing instruments are often lengthy or only loosely aligned with contemporary clinical frameworks. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) formulated the 5Cs of Media Use (Child, Content, Calm, Crowding Out, Communication), which, together with Family Media Plan (FMP), represent six theoretical domains relevant to modern digital parenting. A brief, psychometrically validated measure aligned with these concepts has been lacking. The aim of this study was to validate a theoretically derived measure covering the six AAP domains and to empirically establish a parsimonious three‑factor structure capturing key dimensions of parental digital media regulation.

Methods: A nationally representative sample of parents (N = 2,040) was randomly split into Calibration (n = 1,020) and Validation (n = 1,020) subsamples. We first tested the theoretically specified 6‑factor/18‑item model using the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and the whole sample. Due to poor fit and high inter‑factor correlations, an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted using the Calibration sample to examine the empirical latent structure. EFA suggested a 3‑factor/7‑item solution, which was subsequently evaluated through CFA (WLSMV) in the independent (Validation) sample. Psychometric evaluation included factor loadings, McDonald's ω, AVE, and discriminant validity (Fornell-Larcker, HTMT). Measurement invariance was assessed across gender. K‑means clustering was used to identify empirical parenting profiles.

Results: The theoretical 6‑factor model exhibited inadequate fit, and several domains showed near‑unity correlations. EFA identified a 3‑factor structure, Awareness, Balance, and Content, capturing parental monitoring and rules (3 items), lifestyle balancing (2 items), and active content curation (2 items). This 7‑item scale MEPA‑ABC demonstrated strong fit in CFA (CFI = 0.982, TLI = 0.965, RMSEA = 0.094, SRMR = 0.037). Factor loadings were high (0.677-0.950); AVE exceeded 0.50 for all factors, and internal consistency was acceptable (ω = 0.65-0.81). Metric and scalar invariance was established across gender and parental age. Cluster analysis revealed four distinct parenting profiles that varied systematically with child age.

Conclusions: Empirical analyses supported a more parsimonious 3‑factor/7‑item structure rather than the theoretically proposed 6 domains. The MEPA‑ABC provides an ultra‑brief, psychometrically robust tool capturing key parental strategies in digital media regulation. It is suitable for research, screening, and clinical or preventive applications.