552 - Parental Perspectives on Social Media Monitoring for Youth

Poster Number: 552
Publication Number: 552.245

Alyssa Cohen, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Anne Bendelow, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Tracie L. Smith, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Colleen Cicchetti, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Matthew M. Davis, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Marie E. Heffernan, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Background: American youth spend many hours daily in online environments, which 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 may be impacted by a myriad of personal and family factors.

Objective: To examine factors influencing parental attitudes about monitoring youth social media.

Design/Methods: Data were analyzed from the Voices of Child Health in Chicago Parent Panel Survey, administered tri-annually in English and Spanish via web and phone to parents from all 77 Chicago neighborhoods, recruited by NORC at the University of Chicago. Parents with a child ≥11 years old responded to questions about bullying and social media monitoring in May-July 2020. The primary outcome was response to the item: “Do you think parents should monitor their children’s use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram?” with response options “yes, frequently,” “yes, some of the time,” and “no”. 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 including parent race/ethnicity, gender, education, age, and oldest child age and school type. Analyses were weighted to be representative of the parent population of Chicago.

Results: Among 1,642 survey respondents, the analyzed sample included 809 parents with a child ≥11. Overall, 62.9% of parents agreed with frequent parental monitoring of their children’s social media use. Compared with parents ≤35 years old, parents >35 years old 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 short- and long-term effects of bullying were more likely to agree with frequent monitoring of youth social media (aOR 2.15, 95%CI 1.24-3.73).Conclusion(s): Parents’ personal characteristics and concerns about bullying may impact their attitudes toward monitoring youth social media. Pediatricians should consider these factors when counseling on bullying and social media, and can support families in developing a safe media use plan that fits family circumstances.
Table 1Sociodemographic characteristics of survey sample, by parental agreement with frequent social media monitoring for youth
Table 2Adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of parental agreement with frequent social media monitoring for youth, by sociodemographic characteristics and bullying concerns*