ArticleJournal of adolescence2026
Parental Digital Tracking of Adolescents' School Performance, Location, and Finances: Widespread, Often Accepted, and Linked to Overprotection.
Article in Journal of adolescence, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
introductionDigital tracking tools are now at parents' fingertips, raising concerns about infringement on adolescents' autonomy, privacy, and well-being. Despite growing concerns about parental digital surveillance, empirical research beyond location tracking remains limited. This study examined parental digital tracking across three key domains: school performance, location, and finances.
methodsThis is a multi-informant, cross-sectional survey study (2024) including 525 Dutch parent-adolescent dyads (adolescents: M
resultsIn 2024, nearly all parents (99.6%) tracked at least one domain. Most adolescents accepted tracking, though location tracking was accepted less. Younger, less educated parents and mothers were tracked more frequently, particularly in school performance. Adolescents following a lower secondary educational track were tracked more frequently. Younger adolescents and boys experienced more frequent school tracking, whereas older adolescents were tracked more frequently in location. Digital tracking was unrelated to adolescent well-being (e.g., anxiety symptoms) but positively associated with parental control- and fear-related factors (e.g., overprotection, dangerous worldviews). School and location tracking increased over the past 5 years, as did adolescents' acceptance of tracking.
conclusionsParental digital tracking appears a common tool for many parents today, and its frequent use may reflect parental insecurities, with no clear link to adolescent maladjustment. Longitudinal research is needed to examine whether digital tracking reassures parents or reinforces fears, which might undermine parents' - and potentially also adolescents' - well-being.
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