The relationship between childhood rules about technology use and later-life academic achievement among young adults

Although research has examined demographic predictors of the presence of technology rules during childhood, results are mixed, and no known research has considered whether the presence of and reasons for technology rules might relate to individuals' future academic achievement. We used survey data collected from a diverse sample of 1,115 college students. Although the total number of reasons for childhood technology rules did not relate to college grades, results suggested that having at least one reason for having a technology rule, as well as having a rule restricting technology use because it cut into homework time, related negatively to young adults' college grades. Thus, reasons for parent rules about technology use do not positively relate to their children's academic achievement, and in some cases are negatively related. These findings have theoretical importance for understanding how perceptions of childhood rules, and the reasons for those rules, relate to individuals' academic performance during college.