ORCID
0000-0002-9108-6131
Abstract
This study aimed to understand the role of adolescents’ and parents’ social media use in relation to adolescents’ reported at-risk behaviors, as well as the effect of social media on the relationships between at-risk youths and their parents. Semi-structured interviews, based on interpretive phenomenological analysis, were conducted with six pairs of individuals, 12 total participants. Each pair consisted of an adolescent between the ages of 13 and 17 and their parent. Data analysis resulted in three themes: Negativity they encountered on social media did not stop adolescents from using social media. Parental monitoring was problematized by parents’ lack of knowledge regarding social media and technology. Adolescent and parent participants had different perceptions of the quality of time spent together. The study found that even though participant pairs experienced negativity on social media, they all continued to use it, and parents did little to prevent their children from using it. The study also found that parent participants were unaware of the amount of time their adolescents spent on social media. The findings of this research add to the current literature regarding social media and the impact it has on the parent-adolescent relationship among at-risk youth.
