JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

While youth report many positive experiences to social media (SM) use in their daily lives, adolescents with depression are more vulnerable to the risks of SM use than adolescents without depression. Parents protect adolescents with depression from the risks of SM use through monitoring of their child’s SM activity; however, this comes into conflict with the adolescent’s need for autonomy in their online communication. The implications of SM use and monitoring for depressed adolescents and their parents is of particular relevance to the COVID-19 pandemic as rates of SM have increased in response to physical distancing measures.

Objective:

We aimed to examine the interplay between parental monitoring and use of SM among adolescents with depression.

Methods:

We conducted qualitative interviews with depressed adolescents (n = 23) and their parents (n = 23). Data analysis included qualitative description of individual parent interviews, as well as dyadic analysis of adolescent and parent perspectives, to explore their experiences toward SM use and monitoring.

Results:

Dyadic analyses showed that parents and their children disagree on the use and function of SM use for depressed adolescents in their daily lives. Furthermore, parents reported using a wide range of strategies to gain knowledge of their child’s SM use to monitor their online safety.

Conclusions:

Clinicians should support depressed adolescents and their parents in finding common ground toward an effective and acceptable monitoring approach. Resources are provided for clinicians navigating conversations about SM use and monitoring with depressed adolescents and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic.