Parenting and Prevention Science in a Digital Age

Introduction: Parenting is one of the most important determinants of youth mental health, but little is known about how parent-child interactions may be impacted by the proliferation of mobile technology or how mobile devices may be used to inform parenting interventions. To address these issues, the present study uses innovative mobile data collection to capture digital connections between parents and youth.

Method: A population representative sample of young adolescents (N=2104, mean age 12.4) reported on technology use and relationships in 2015. A subsample (N=387) completed a 14 day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in 2016-2017, reporting daily on technology use, parent cell phone contact, parent-child relationships, and mental health. Person level associations were tested in the full sample using multiple regression; in the EMA, multilevel modeling was used to discern between person (across the EMA) and within person (same-day) effects.

Results:

Is technology use related to parent-child interactions? Youth who reported more social networking site use were also more likely to report offline problems with a parent, more family chaos, and less parent knowledge, whereas cell phone ownership was related to more parent knowledge. Across the EMA, youths’ average levels of technology usage were not related to parent hassles (e.g. conflict, stress) or parent uplifts (e.g. support, fun experiences), nor was there evidence for same-day associations between technology use and parent-child interactions.

How are phones used in parenting? Youth reported contact with their parents on 29% of days, phone monitoring on 19%, control on 7%, and support on 6% of days. Across the EMA, youth who reported parents enacting more control and support via phone also reported more days with parent hassles. A call or text from a parent was associated with same-day reports of parent hassles (OR=1.5, p=.003), and all types of parent phone contact were related to same-day parent uplifts (OR range 1.8-3.3, p≤.001).

Is “parenting by phone” related to youth mental health? Across the EMA, youth with more frequent symptoms of conduct problems, inattention/hyperactivity, depression, and anxiety reported receiving more parent support via phone, and youth with more frequent conduct and inattention/hyperactivity symptoms also report more frequent parent control via phone. Receiving a parent call/text was associated with a higher likelihood of same-day conduct-problems (OR=1.5, p=.048) and inattention/hyperactivity symptoms (OR=1.5, p=.008) and reports of parental phone monitoring (solicitation and disclosure) were associated with a higher likelihood of same-day inattention/hyperactivity symptoms (OR=1.8, p=001).

Conclusions: Results suggest that youth with existing mental health problems receive more support (and for externalizing symptoms, control) via phone from parents. Youth who reported more parenting by phone also reported more parent uplifts in daily life. These findings suggest parents may be using mobile devices as tools to maintain positive connections, especially when mental health problems are present. Future parenting prevention programs should test how digital interactions can be integrated to promote outcomes for youth.