JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Online environments dominate the daily lives of American youth and pose evolving challenges to their health and well-being. Recent national poll data indicate that social media overuse, internet safety, and online bullying are among parents’ top child health concerns, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. While parents are uniquely positioned to help youth navigate social media, their attitudes on monitoring media use may be impacted by a myriad of personal and family factors.

Objective:

To examine factors associated with parental attitudes about monitoring youth social media.

Methods:

Data were analyzed from the Voices of Child Health in Chicago Parent Panel Survey, administered to parents online and by telephone. Parents with at least one child ≥11 years old responded to questions about bullying and social media monitoring in May-July 2020. The primary outcome was response to: “Do you think parents should monitor their children’s use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram?”. Bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression were used to examine parental agreement with frequent social media monitoring and concerns about bullying, adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics. Analyses were weighted to represent the parent population of Chicago.

Results:

Among 1,613 survey respondents, the analyzed sample included 808 parents with at least one child ≥11 years old. Overall, 62.9% of parents agreed with frequent monitoring of their children’s social media use. Compared with parents ≤35 years old, parents >35 were significantly less likely to agree with frequent social media monitoring (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.45, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 0.25-0.81). Parents expressing a high level of concern regarding the effects of bullying were more likely to agree with frequent monitoring of youth social media (aOR 2.15, 95%CI 1.24-3.73).

Conclusions:

Parents’ personal characteristics and concerns about bullying may influence their attitudes toward monitoring youth social media. Given the potential impact of these attitudes on parental monitoring behaviors and subsequent youth health impact, pediatricians should consider these factors when counseling about bullying and social media. Child health professionals can support families in developing a safe media use plan that fits family circumstances.