Adult Mediation of Internet: A Qualitative Research with Costa Rican Adolescents

This qualitative research article aims at characterizing the mediation of teenagers’ use of Internet by mothers and teachers, as well as the Costa Rican adolescents’ perception of this mediation. Among the types of mediation studied are restrictive mediation, permissive mediation and active mediation (with its subtypes of co-use and negative or prescriptive active mediation). It is also studied its relation with the different uses of Internet, their risks and opportunities. This research followed a phenomenological qualitative design, using semi-structured interviews with 10 pairs of teenagers (14-15 years old), 7 teachers, and 6 mothers from public and private schools in urban areas. The interviews were analyzed using a reductive type of qualitative content analysis. Results show a predominance of restrictive and prescriptive mediation. In addition, there is evidence of a correlation between the digital skills of adults and the type of Internet mediation they resort to.