Family Socioeconomic Status and Personal Media Technology Use

Abstract

This study presents a survey on whether teenage children's family socioeconomic status is related to the children's mobile phone ownership, tablet ownership, and app use. This study conducts a secondary data analysis which analyzed the total responses of 802 teens and parents survey in 2012. The results suggest that children's family socioeconomic status is related to mobile phone and smart phone ownership, as well as app use. Specifically, teenage children in higher socioeconomic status families are more likely to have a mobile phone, smart phone or a tablet, and are more likely to have downloaded apps than teenage children of lower income parents. Implications of these findings are discussed.