Parenting stress against symptoms of gadget addiction in elementary school age during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic creates parenting stress for parents. When parents experience parenting stress, the solution that can be done is to give the gadgets to make children calm at home so they don’t interfere with their parents’ daily activities. This study aims to analyze the effect of parenting stress on symptoms of gadget addiction in elementary school-aged children. Methods: The research design used the quantitative correlation method. The research was carried out in July-August 2021. The subjects of this study were parents whose children were in elementary school in Surabaya involving 130 respondents who were taken by random sampling technique. Determination of the parenting stress scale and gadget addiction symptoms using the Parental Stress Scale (PSS) and Internet Addiction Test (IAT) questionnaires. Data analysis used a simple linear regression test with a significance value of p <0.05. Result: The results of the analysis show that parental stress has an effect on symptoms of gadget addiction in elementary school-aged children (F=6,821, sig.=0,000, R2= 0,554) with the regression equation Y=-17,198 + 1,360 X. Conclusion: The higher the stress level of parenting, the higher the symptoms of gadget addiction in elementary school-age children. The need to overcome the stress of parenting to prevent early symptoms of gadget addiction in children. Family and professional support is needed to overcome the stress of parenting and how to prevent gadget addiction in elementary school-aged children.