Exploring Parents' Intentions to Monitor and Mediate Adolescent Social Media Use and Implications for School Nurses

Social media may promote health and social connectedness, but its misuse and frequency of use may pose risks. Social media use during adolescence requires parental monitoring and mediation to mitigate potentially harmful effects such as depression, anxiety, and risk-taking behaviors. While parents and health care professionals convey concern surrounding exposure to inappropriate content, prolonged screen time, and cyberbullying, appropriate social media monitoring remains challenging. The purpose of this study was to explore parental monitoring and mediation of social media use in adolescents. Online recruitment yielded a nationwide sample (n = 836) of parents of adolescents. The results of the online survey indicated that parents are concerned about adolescent social media use and endorse positive attitudes toward monitoring. Yet parents perceived little control over monitoring. Findings from this study support the school nurse in promoting healthy social media use, media literacy among parents and adolescents, and the use of screening tools.