ArticleBMC psychology2026
A dyadic perspective on parent and adolescent social media use: the roles of communication, joint technology use, and validation motives in problematic social media use.
Article in BMC psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundParents significantly influence adolescent behavior, yet research often overlooks dyadic interactions in shaping media use. Understanding how family members’ technology habits and communication relate to problematic media use (PMU) is critical for developing effective interventions.
objectiveThis study used actor–partner interdependence modeling (APIM) to examine associations among time on social media, PMU, and three mediators (open communication, joint technology use, and validation motives) within parent–adolescent dyads.
methodsParticipants were 85 parent–adolescent dyads (N = 170) from Ontario, Canada. The parent sample consisted primarily of mothers (54.1%) and fathers (35.3%). Adolescents (M age = 13.44, SD = 1.60) identified mainly as male (58.8%) or female (37.6%). In 2023, parents and adolescents completed online surveys assessing time spent online, social media motivations and behaviors, problematic media use, and parent–child communication.
resultsAdolescents’ social media use, validation motives, and joint technology use (reported by both adolescents and parents) were associated with higher adolescent PMU, whereas adolescents’ perceptions of open communication were associated with lower PMU. Parents’ social media use was linked to higher adolescent validation motives and greater adolescent-reported joint technology use. Mediation analyses showed that adolescents’ joint technology use partially explained the association between parents’ social media use and adolescents’ PMU.
conclusionsFamily digital habits are interconnected. Parents’ social media use relates to adolescents’ media behaviors, with validation motives and joint technology use linked to higher PMU, while open communication may serve as a potential protective factor.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.