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Associations between young adults’ social media addiction, relationship

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Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue
canadienne des sciences du comportement
Associations Between Young Adults’ Social Media Addiction, Relationship
Quality With Parents, and Internalizing Problems: A Path Analysis Model
Charles-Étienne White-Gosselin and François Poulin
Online First Publication, February 28, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000326

CITATION
White-Gosselin, C.-É., & Poulin, F. (2022, February 28). Associations Between Young Adults’ Social Media Addiction,
Relationship Quality With Parents, and Internalizing Problems: A Path Analysis Model. Canadian Journal of Behavioural
Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement. Advance online publication.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000326
 Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science /
Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement
ISSN: 0008-400X
© 2022 Canadian Psychological Association https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000326

Associations Between Young Adults’ Social Media

Addiction, Relationship Quality With Parents, and Internalizing
Problems: A Path Analysis Model
Charles-Étienne White-Gosselin and François Poulin
Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal

The pervasiveness of social media in the lives of young adults raises concerns about the potential of
problematic use. Social media addiction is likely to affect positive and negative aspects of the relationships
quality with mothers and fathers but mechanisms explaining these associations remain unknown.
Participants in this study (N = 435; Mage = 19.17; SD = 0.30) completed the Bergen Social Media
Addiction Scale and reported their symptoms of anxiety, depression, and the quality of the relationship with
mothers and fathers (i.e., conflict, satisfaction, equality). Considering important confounding variables,
results of a path analysis model show that the level of social media addiction is related to high conflict, low
satisfaction and low equality with father, and high conflict and low equality with mother. Moreover, social
media addiction is positively linked to symptoms of anxiety and depression. Finally, anxiety and depression
mediate the links between social media addiction and conflict, satisfaction and equality with the mother, and
conflict and satisfaction with the father. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the potential
mechanisms underlying the associations between social media addiction and the relationship with parents in
young adults. Theoretical explanations and practical implications are proposed in discussion. Future
research should use a longitudinal design to support this mediating effect.

Public Significance Statement

Young adults with social media addiction symptoms are more likely to have poorer relationship quality
with parents and to exhibit symptoms of anxiety and depression. The results of our study should
encourage professionals, schools and families to be attentive to the problematic use of social media as
they can have negative impacts on both the psychological health and interpersonal relationships of
young adults.

Keywords: social network addiction, family relationship, anxiety, depression

The terms “social media” (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) behaviors are similar to those included in substance-related addictions
refer to the set of internet communication channels that facilitate the (Andreassen, 2015). Kuss and Griffiths (2017) refer to social media
perception of visual and verbal interactions between users (Carr & addiction when individuals present six criteria of behavioral addiction
Hayes, 2015). These are an integral part of adolescents and young (i.e., salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict,
adult’s lives today. According to a recent report by the Pew Research relapse). For example, for these individuals, social media use be-
Center (2019), 90% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 use comes one of the most central activities in their lives (salience). When
at least one social media. Moreover, while youths spend about 1:10 they are deprived, they may experience psychological and even
of their day on social media, 63% report using it “every day” physiological difficulties (withdrawal), which may lead them to
(Rideout & Robb, 2019). reinstate these problematic behaviors, sometimes even in an amplified
The pervasiveness of social media raises questions about the way (relapse). Psychometric instruments to measure this potential
potential of problematic use. But what distinguishes problematic addiction have emerged in recent years. Notably, the Bergen Social
use from nonproblematic use? According to some authors, it is not Media Addiction Scale allows to estimate users’ level of addiction
necessarily how long, but rather how one uses social media that (Andreassen et al., 2012). This 6-item instrument is based on addic-
defines problematic use (Boer et al., 2021; Kuss & Griffiths, 2017; tion criteria initially listed by Griffiths (2005) and has been attested by
Shensa et al., 2017). For some individuals, their social media several recent studies as theoretically valid (Andreassen, 2015;

wish to thank the adolescents and their parents who participated in this study.
Charles-Étienne White-Gosselin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2428-4947 The authors have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
François Poulin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6345-8233 Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Charles-
This work was supported by research grants from the Social Sciences and Étienne White-Gosselin, Department of Psychology, Université du Qué-
Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant 410-2005-1195) and the bec à Montréal, 100 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, QC H2X 3P2,
Canadian Institutes for Health Research (Grant 6840-94081). The authors Canada. Email: [email protected]

1
2 WHITE-GOSSELIN AND POULIN

Andreassen et al., 2016). Although the concept of social media Moreover, the quality of the relationship with the mother and the
addiction is not based on any defined clinical criteria, the literature relationship with the father were measured with only one item. Yet,
suggests that some individuals display behaviors related to their use personal relationships with parents are multidimensional and include
that can be best described in terms of addiction (e.g., compulsive and both negative (e.g., conflict) and positive (e.g., equality and satisfac-
uncontrollable behaviors; Andreassen et al., 2012; Andreassen, tion) aspects. In a recent cross-sectional study with 583 adolescents,
2015). Thus, the term “addiction” is used because it has a clear Bilgin et al. (2020) found that overall distress in the family, conflicts
theoretical basis (Andreassen, 2015). with the mother regarding school, and the fact that the adolescent
Among the theoretical frameworks for the pathogenesis of social is in the middle of parental conflicts were linked with social
media addiction, the cyber-developmental framework (CDF) pro- media addiction.
posed by Stavropoulos et al. (2021) attempts to explain why some The results obtained in previous studies showed a link between
individuals use digital technologies in an adaptive way and others do social media use and negative aspects of the parent–adolescent
not. At the individual level, this model proposes three interacting relationship. However, young adulthood differs from adolescence in
cyber layers: (a) virtual presence, which consists of experiencing several ways, such as the exploration of identity, the instability of
digital environments as the real world (a high level of presence this developmental period, and the life opportunities that become
generally results in a feeling of escape from the real world), (b) the completely different (Tanner & Arnett, 2016). Several plausible
online flow, which consists of the emotional engagement an indi- hypotheses suggest that problematic social media use may also be
vidual has with virtual applications, notably observable through the link to the parent–child relationship at this age. First, some authors
consumption of attention and the accelerated perception of time it argue that the increasing normative need for autonomy occurring
can provokes, and (c) the virtual self-presence, which consists of the between adolescence and young adulthood can lead to conflicts with
way people present themselves online, sometimes different from parents and bring young adults to fill their need for social support via
reality. The more pronounced and maladjusted these aspects are, the the internet or, for instance, social media (Boniel-Nissim & Sasson,
more likely the use of social media is to be maladaptive. In addition, 2018). Second, it is possible that parents of young adults perceive
the CDF proposes several environmental cyber systems inspired by excessive social media use as immature, since it is generally known
the work of Bronfenbrenner and Morris (2007), including the that teenagers use social media more than adults (Schimmele et al.,
microsystem, which consists of the effects of immediate contexts 2021). Thus, some parents might expect social media use to decrease
such as friends and family, and the macrosystem, which represents with age. Young adults who abuse social media may therefore be
the influence of the community (e.g., societal trends projected on less close to their parents since they would not meet parental
social media). Thus, this model suggests that these personal and expectations. Third, adolescence is characterized by a quest for
relational components may be more salient in some individuals and independence from the parents accompanied by an increased
may interact with each other in a way that some become more involvement in the peer group, whereas young adulthood generally
vulnerable to exhibiting symptoms of social media addiction and includes the reinsertion of the importance of parents (Fingerman et al.,
experiencing related adjustment difficulties. 2012; Miller-Slough & Dunsmore, 2016). It is therefore possible that
young adults who present social media addiction may maintain this
Social Media Addiction and Quality of the preference for peers due to the social networking nature of these
platforms, which could then affect the relationship with parents.
Relationship With Parents
Similarly, other authors argue that the time spent interacting virtually
Social media has completely transformed the way we interact with peers could simply substitute the need to interact offline with
with each other. While social interactions were totally offline in the parents, thus potentially impacting the relationship with parents
past decades, a significant proportion of these interactions now take (Moawad & Ebrahem, 2016). In addition, there is reasons to expect
place online. This raises some concerns regarding the impact of that the link between problematic social media use and negative aspect
these media on the quality of social relationships. Indeed, overin- of the relationships with parents observed in adolescence also extent to
vestment in online behaviors has the potential to lead to interper- young adulthood, but this remains to be tested.
sonal relationship difficulties (Kilinç et al., 2019). Since the average
level of social media use continues to increase worldwide (Pew
Social Media Addiction and Internalizing Problems
Research Center, 2019), it is therefore crucial to investigate these
links. It is especially important to examine the impact on the quality Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses conclude that
of the relationship with the parents. In young adulthood, a positive problematic use of social media is linked to poorer mental health
relationship with parents is linked to important developmental among adolescents and young adults (Keles et al., 2020; Marino
outcomes, including successful transition to adulthood and life et al., 2018). More specifically, recent studies conducted with young
satisfaction (Fingerman et al., 2012). adults identified links between problematic use of social media and
While the links between social media and the parent–child rela- anxiety and depression (Lin et al., 2016; Mamun & Griffiths, 2019;
tionship have received little attention in young adulthood, some Shensa et al., 2017, 2018; Vannucci et al., 2017). Some authors
studies have investigated these links in adolescence. Sampasa- argue that social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) could explain
Kanyinga et al. (2020) conducted a cross-sectional study with these links. This theory suggests that humans have an innate
9,732 adolescents and observed poorer quality of the mother– tendency to compare themselves with others. Indeed, people
daughter, father–daughter, and father–son relationships in those who overuse social media may tend to compare themselves more
who use social media more than 2 hr per day. However, this study with others and the volume of these comparisons is linked to
does not take into account addiction to social media, whereas this psychological distress regardless of the direction of these compar-
could be harmful regardless of the time invested (Shensa et al., 2017). isons (i.e., whether they are downward or upward comparisons;
 SOCIAL MEDIA, PARENTS, AND INTERNALIZING PROBLEMS 3

Steers et al., 2014). Also, social media use is known to be time investigate internalizing problems as a mechanism by which the
consuming. It is therefore possible that the feeling of having wasted link between social media addiction and quality of the relationship
time in meaningless activity after using social media obsessively can with parents may exist. Hypotheses are that: (a) social media
lead to anxiety or depression (Lin et al., 2016). Additionally, the use addiction is linked with poorer relationship quality with the mother
of social media may contribute to the perception that young adults and the father, (b) social media addiction is linked with higher level
feel overloaded by communication from a variety of sources. This of internalizing problems, and (c) internalizing problems are a
stressful component can make emotional distress more prone (Chen mediator in the association between social media addiction and
& Lee, 2013). However, not all studies found association between the quality of the relationship with parents. Family income, gender,
problematic use of social media and anxiety and depression, and and parental levels of education are also considered as these could be
some studies do not support it (Berryman et al., 2018; Coyne et al., important confounding variables (Fingerman et al., 2012; Hair et al.,
2020). It is therefore necessary to examine different populations 2008; Sampasa-Kanyinga et al., 2020).
worldwide since these associations are not clear.
Several hypotheses allow us to believe that internalizing problems Method
could act as mediator in the association between social media
addiction and quality of the relationship with parents. Some studies Participants
have already shown that the relationship with parents is related to
A total of 435 young adults (62.6% males; Mage = 19.17; SD =
internalizing problems and these, in turn, are related to more online
0.30) participated in this study. The recruitment of participants was
behaviors (Sela et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2018). One possibility
part of a broader project aimed at evaluating the effects of a
raised in these studies is that a poorer relationship with parents
prevention program for elementary school children (Poulin et al.,
increases the risk of experiencing psychological distress and that one
2013). A sample of 1,038 children were initially recruited from 250
way to cope with this distress is to display compulsive online
kindergarten classes in a Canadian city with a population of
behaviors (Sela et al., 2020). However, no study has supported
500,000. They then took part in a follow-up assessment at 19 years
the direction of the link, and none has examined the reverse
of age and the present study data were collected at that time. At the
association. Yet, several hypotheses suggest that internalizing pro-
time of the age 19 data collection, 88.6% of the participants still live
blems may mediate the relationship between social media addiction
with at least one parent. The average annual household income
and the relationship with parents in young adulthood. While it is
before taxes was 97,000 CAD. A total of 19.5% of participants were
well documented that the problematic use of social media strongly
no longer attending school at the time of data collection, 35.8% were
predicts the level of internalizing problems (Keles et al., 2020;
finishing high school or were in a professional education program,
Marino et al., 2018; Shensa et al., 2018), internalizing problems are
and 44.7% were attending Collège d’enseignement général et
also linked to the quality of the relationship with parents (Branje
professionnel (CEGEP; which is a preuniversity program that
et al., 2010; van Eijck et al., 2012; Yap et al., 2014). Those who
precedes university in the province of Quebec). The majority of
present internalizing symptoms may tend to use self-protective
participants are of Canadian origin (85.5%) and all speak French.
strategies (e.g., avoidance behavior), which impair their ability to
Comparison analyses were conducted to examine whether the
maintain close relationships (Tillfors et al., 2012). This aspect could
participants in our sample (N = 435) differed from those who were
particularly affect the relationship with parents, especially during a
initially recruited and did not participate in data collection at the age
stressful period such as the transition from adolescence to adult-
of 19 (N = 603). These analyses show that those who participated in
hood. It is also possible that young adults with addiction symptoms
the study at the age of 19 come from families with higher annual
are more likely to share their distress with peers and romantic
income, t(915) = −4.37, p < .001, d = −.29, and parents with higher
partners rather than parents, since they are important parts of young
levels of education, t(834) = −2.67, p = .008, d = −.19; t(933) =
adult social lives and can possibly better understand their reality
−3.04, p = .002, d = −.20; for father and mother, respectively.
(Markiewicz et al., 2006; Miller-Slough & Dunsmore, 2016). While
the link between social media addiction and the quality of the
relationship with parents may be bidirectional, it is possible that Procedure
social media addiction could affect the relationship with parents in At the age of 19, questionnaires were completed privately by the
young adults partly because of the psychological distress that this participants at their home during a visit by trained research assis-
problematic use can generate. To our knowledge, this is the first tants. Gift certificates were given to the participants to thank them.
study to propose a mechanism by which this link could exist. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the
Université du Québec à Montréal.
The Present Study
The first objective is to examine the link between social media Instruments
addiction and the quality of the relationship with the parents in Social Media Addiction
young adults. Three dimensions of the relationships (conflict,
satisfaction, and equality) with the mother and the father are Young adults completed the Bergen Social Media Addiction
investigated. The second objective is to add weight to the studies Scale, which is an adaptation of the Bergen Facebook Addiction
examining the link between social media addiction and internalizing Scale (Andreassen et al., 2012), where the term “Facebook” is
problems (anxiety and depression) in young adults. The results of replaced by the term “social media.” It consists of six items (e.g., “in
recent studies are contradictory, and more data on the question is the last year, how often have you tried to reduce your use of social
needed, especially in North America. The third objective is to media, without success?”) based on Griffiths’s (2005) six addiction
4 WHITE-GOSSELIN AND POULIN

criteria (i.e., salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, for father and α = .61, ω = .65 for mother). The mean of the scores
conflict, relapse), rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = on the items for each subscale was calculated as the total score.
very rarely to 5 = very often. The total score is the mean of the results
obtained for each item (current reliability: α = .8, ω = .80). Covariate
Parents were asked to report total gross annual family income
Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression before taxes on a 13-point scale, ranging from “less than $9,999” to
“$130,000 and over.” Furthermore, mothers and fathers were asked
Participants completed the Mental Health and Social Inadaptation
to report their level of education by stating the highest level of
Assessment for Adolescents (Côté et al., 2017). This self-reported
education completed on a 12-point scale ranging from secondary
questionnaire is based on the symptoms listed in the Diagnostic and
one (the equivalent of 7th grade in the U.S. school system) to
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) and allows
postdoctoral diploma. We have then substituted the level of educa-
to compute a score for anxiety (9 items; e.g., “in the last 12 months, I
tion by the number of school years required to reach it, to facilitate
worried about my past behavior,” current reliability: α = .80, ω =
comparison with the international school systems.
80) and depression (8 items; e.g., “in the last 12 months, I lost
interest in things I usually like,” current reliability: α = .82, ω = .82).
Participants were asked to report on a 3-point Likert scale (“never Data Analysis
true,” “sometimes true,” “always true”) their level of anxiety and Path analyses were conducted using Mplus Version 7.4 (Muthén &
depression. The total scores are represented by the mean of the items Muthén, 1998–2015). Figure 1 illustrates the tested model. Latent
of the subscale. variable was created from the scores of anxiety and depression in
order to attest internalizing problems. We conducted the analyses with
Quality of the Relationship With Father/Mother the weighted least squares (WLS) estimator in order to address the
moderate nonnormality of certain variable distributions. For the
Participants reported three aspects of their relationship with the examination of the indirect effects, we used a 5,000 bootstrap
father and their relationship with the mother by completing items resamples in order to have nonbiased 95% confidence intervals
from the Network Relationships Inventory (Furman & Buhrmester, (Hayes, 2018). In addition, to examine the model fit, several fit
1985). Relationship satisfaction (3 items; e.g., “Are you satisfied indices were considered: the chi-square test of model fit (nonsignifi-
with your relationship with your father/mother,” current reliability: cant chi-square value indicates good fit), the root mean square error of
α = .90, ω = .90 for father and mother) and conflict (3 items; e.g., approximation (RMSEA: ≤.05 represents good fit; Browne &
“how often are you and your father/mother angry with each other,” Cudeck, 1992), the comparative fit index and the Tucker–Lewis
current reliability: α = .83, ω = .84 for father and α = .85, ω = .86 for index (CFI/TLI: ≥.95 represent good fit; Hu & Bentler, 1999). Since
mother) were measured on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = the interaction between social media addiction and gender was not
never to 5 = always. An additional scale to measure equality in the significant in any relationship (β ranging from −.28 to .15, all p ≥ .13),
relationship inspired by Adler and Furman (1988) was also com- we included gender as a covariate in the analyses. Family income and
pleted by participants (3 items; e.g., “does your father/mother parental levels of education were also included as covariates in these
consider you as an adult?,” current reliability: α = .61, ω = .66 analyses.

Figure 1
Illustration of the Structural Equation Model

Anxiety Depression

Satisfaction
(father)

Internalizing Conflict
problems (father)

Equality
(father)

Satisfaction
(mother)
Social media
addiction Conflict
(mother)

Equality
(mother)
 SOCIAL MEDIA, PARENTS, AND INTERNALIZING PROBLEMS 5

Results Table 2
Path Analysis Results
Descriptive Statistics
Variable β SE p 95% CI (β)
Table 1 reports the descriptive statistics as well as the bivariate
correlations between the variables under study. Examination of this On social media addiction
table indicates that participants generally report moderate levels of Internalizing problems .36* .05 .00 [.27, .44]
social media addiction, anxiety, and depression. In addition, social Conflict (father) .15* .05 .01 [.04, .25]
Satisfaction (father) −.14* .05 .01 [−.25, −.04]
media addiction is significantly related to the level of anxiety, Equality (father) −.17* .05 .00 [−.27, −.07]
depression, and all of the components of the relationship quality Conflict (mother) .10 .05 .04 [.00, .20]
with both parents. These correlations are low to moderate. For the Satisfaction (mother) −.03 .05 .51 [−.14, .07]
control variable, family income and mothers’ level of education are Equality (mother) −.15* .05 .00 [−.25, −.05]
On internalizing problems
not significantly correlated with the majority of the variables under Conflict (father) .18* .06 .00 [.06, .30]
study. Fathers’ level of education is related to anxiety and depres- Satisfaction (father) −.18* .06 .00 [−.29, −.06]
sion, but this correlation is low. Finally, gender is significantly Equality (father) −.14* .06 .02 [−.26, −.02]
related to the level of anxiety, depression, and social media addic- Conflict (mother) .32* .06 .00 [.21, .43]
Satisfaction (mother) −.28* .06 .00 [−.40, −.17]
tion, suggesting that females present more symptoms than males. Equality (mother) −.23* .06 .00 [−.34, −.11]
β 95% BootCI (β)
Result of Structural Equation Modeling Indirect effect of social media addiction via internalizing problems
Conflict (father) .06* — — [.01, .12]
The results of the path analyses are presented in Table 2. The Satisfaction (father) −.06* — — [−.11, −.01]
model fits the data well, χ2(22) = 26.54, p = .23, CFI/TLI = .99/.99, Equality (father) −.05 — — [−.10, .00]
RMSEA = .02, 90% CI [.00, .05]. For the latent variable, both the Conflict (mother) .11* — — [.06, .16]
Satisfaction (mother) −.10* — — [−.15, −.05]
anxiety and depression scores significantly contribute to the inter-
Equality (mother) −.08* — — [−.13, −.03]
nalizing problem latent factor, β = .85, SE = .03, 95% CI [.79, .92];
β = .88, SE = .03, 95% CI [.81, .94]; for anxiety and depression, Note. Italic characters indicate predictors. Covariates are family incomes,
respectively. The model explains 25% of the variance in internaliz- gender, and parents’ level of education.
* p < .05.
ing problems, and between 7% and 14% of the variance in the
outcomes representing relationship quality with parents (conflit with
mother being the highest). The upper part of Table 2 shows that, The lower part of Table 2 shows the indirect effects of social
after controlling for family income, gender, and parental education, media addiction and the relationship quality with parents, via
social media addiction score significantly predicts the level of internalizing problems. The results show that internalizing problems
internalizing problems, conflict, satisfaction, and equality with partially mediate the association between social media addiction and
the father, and conflict and equality with the mother. No significant conflict and satisfaction with the father, as well as conflict and
direct association is observed for the level of satisfaction with the equality with the mother. Results show a full mediation for the
mother. satisfaction with the mother. Indeed, social media addiction predicts

Table 1
Descriptive Statistics and Bivariate Correlations

Correlations
Variable M (SD) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

1. Social media addiction 1.95 (0.74) .22** −.18** −.22** .23** −.13** −.21** .35** .36** −.24** −.02 −.01 .01
2. Conflict (father) 1.82 (0.87) −.43** −.40** −.32** −.05 −.10* .21** .20* −.16* .02 −.01 −.02
3. Satisfaction (father) 3.49 (1.21) .58** −.16** .47** .28** −.18** −.20** .02 .24** .08 .08
4. Equality (father) 3.74 (0.90) −.09 .20** .55** −.17** −.18** .07 .10* −.01 .01
5. Conflict (mother) 1.82 (0.83) −.48** −.38** .30* .32* −.11* −.07 −.06 .02
6. Satisfaction (mother) 3.87 (1.02) .50** −.20** −.26** .01 .07 −.01 −.07
7. Equality (mother) 3.76 (0.87) −.16** −.25** −.03 −.01 −.04 −.09
8. Anxiety 1.80 (0.44) .75** −.33** −.10* −.08 −.11*
9. Depression 1.73 (0.43) −.27** −.08 −.04 −.11*
10. Gender — .03 .02 .05
11. Family incomes 9.20 (3.50) .52** .40*
12. Mother’s level of education 15.55 (3.90) .52**
13. Father’s level of education 15.15 (4.08)
Note. Gender is coded as 1 (females) and 2 (males).
* p < .05 (two-tailed). ** p < .01 (two-tailed).
6 WHITE-GOSSELIN AND POULIN

a high score of internalizing problems which, in turn, predicts a life (Hawi & Samaha, 2017), it is possible that young adults with
poorer quality of relationship with parents. No indirect effect was addiction symptoms tend to generalize their thoughts and behaviors
found for the equality with the father, but the 95% confidence in several areas of their lives, including their relationship with the
interval shows that this association is very close to a significant least close relative, namely the father (Markiewicz et al., 2006).
value so this result must be interpreted with caution. Moreover, young adults are gaining in autonomy following the end
For the control variables, the results show that gender predicts the of their mandatory school age. They are in a period of their lives
level of internalizing problems, β = −.25, SE = .05, 95% CI [−.34, where they can make more choices and depend less on their parents.
−.16], as well as equality with the mother, β = −.13, SE = .05, 95% This distance may sometimes create a feeling of lack of support from
CI [−.25, −.05], indicating that females have more internalizing parents and makes the child compensate for this lack via social
problems and more equality with their mothers than males. Also, a media (Boniel-Nissim & Sasson, 2018). This would be especially
high father’s education level predicts a high level of satisfaction with applicable for fathers since they generally have a more instrumental
the latter, β = .12, SE = .05, 95% CI [.03, .21]. The other covariates role in their young adult’s life (Finley et al., 2008).
have no significant effect in our analyses. Our results therefore support the importance of examining the
relationship with the father and mother separately. In line with
Discussion Bilgin et al.’s (2020) study, we found different direct effects of
social media addiction for the relationship with the father and the
As reported by Andreassen (2015), social media can likely lead to mother. No associations were found between social media addiction
symptoms of addiction similar than substance-related addiction. To and satisfaction of the relationship with the mother. Since mothers
date, no study has examined simultaneously the links between social generally have a more expressive role with their child (i.e., fulfill
media addiction, anxiety, depression and the relationship quality caregiving and companionship functions; Finley et al., 2008), it is
with the father and the mother in young adults in order to have a possible that the mother is more likely to understand the reality of
more general picture of this phenomenon. As expected, social media their young adult. For example, mothers may be more likely not to
addiction predicts the level of internalizing problems and several judge their children’s problematic use despite not necessarily agree-
aspects of the relationship quality with parents. Moreover, we found ing with it. Also, young adults report more frequent contact with
that internalizing problems mediate most of these associations, their mother than their father (Fingerman et al., 2012). It is therefore
which suggest that they act as a possible mechanism by which possible that the problematic use of social media does not directly
social media addiction is linked to the quality of the relationship affect the relationship with mother because of a solid communica-
with parents. tion basis.

Social Media Addiction and Relationship

Quality With Parents Social Media Addiction, Anxiety, and Depression

Our results support those of Bilgin et al.’s (2020) study and After controlling for important confounding variables, we found
suggest that social media addiction is associated with higher levels that social media addiction is associated with more symptoms of
of conflict with parents. Moreover, our results go further by anxiety and depression in young adults. Recent systematic reviews
specifying that social media addiction is also negatively linked to observe a lack of consistency in the results of different studies, and
positive aspects (satisfaction, equality) of the relationship with our findings contribute to compensate for this lack (Keles et al.,
parents, especially with father. First, after controlling for important 2020). As previously stated, social comparison theory could explain
confounding variables, social media addiction predicts a low sense these links (Festinger, 1954). Steers et al. (2014) found that the
of equality with both parents. This may be due to the fact that young social comparison on Facebook predicts the level of depression in
adults who engage heavily in social media may substitute time young adults. This suggests that comparing oneself with others
offline with parents in favor of online interactions with peers while surfing Facebook may be the origin of the increase in
(Moawad & Ebrahem, 2016). As a result, they may have fewer internalizing symptoms, and that the direction of these comparisons
deep conversations with their parents, whereas these may be op- (i.e., whether they are downward or upward comparisons) does not
portunities to demonstrate their maturity and be seen as equals to influence these links. Thus, symptoms of social media addiction
their parent’s perspective. It is also possible that parents expect may in fact be about the compulsive and uncontrollable need to
social media use to decrease with age, as it is known that teenagers compare oneself with others. In addition, young adults who feel
use more social medias than adults (Schimmele et al., 2021). Thus, emotionally connected to social media are generally people for
in the parents’ view, it is possible that compulsive behaviors on whom their interpersonal relationships greatly define their self-
social media, such as frequently scrolling during a dinner, for esteem (Pettijohn et al., 2012). The slightest negative perception
example, are seen as a sign of immaturity. This would therefore of a relationship could therefore have a great impact on well-being.
go against the perception that their child is equal to them. Further- Furthermore, another possible explanation is that young adults with
more, young adults with a high social media addiction score report social media addiction may be more likely to engage in attention-
more conflict with both parents and less satisfaction of the relation- seeking behaviors (e.g., posting pictures of oneself), and if the
ship with the father. As seen in Markiewicz et al.’s (2006) study, expected feedback does not occur (e.g., get likes on pictures), it may
fathers do not play a predominant role regarding the attachment of create anxiety and depression (Shensa et al., 2018). Finally, our
young adults. The relationship with the latter could therefore be the results support the idea that it is not how much time but rather how
first to suffer when the young adult presents symptoms of behavioral social media are used that leads to the link with mental health
addiction. Also, as social media addiction predicts satisfaction with (Shensa et al., 2017). Examining the links between social media use
 SOCIAL MEDIA, PARENTS, AND INTERNALIZING PROBLEMS 7

and internalizing problems by considering the addiction construct is social media addiction could negatively influence academic success
therefore clearly appropriate. (Giunchiglia et al., 2018) which, in turn, may influence the feeling of
equality with the father by more consideration from the latter. More
research on this topic is needed to clarify this association.
Mediating Effect of Internalizing Problems
We found evidence of a mediating effect of internalizing pro-
Limitations, Strengths, and Practical Implications
blems in the association between social media addiction and com-
ponents of the relationship quality with both parents, although this Our study has some limitations. First, our results should be
effect may be tempered by the use of a single measurement time. On considered with caution since they are based on correlational
the one hand, we observed both direct and indirect effects (via data collected at one single point in time. Although the proposed
internalizing problems) of social media addiction on conflict and links have strong theoretical support, it is possible that the direction
satisfaction with the father, and conflict and equality with the of the mediational links may be reversed, as seen in other studies
mother. This may be due to the fact that those with addiction with problematic internet use (i.e., the quality of the relationship
symptoms, and therefore internalizing symptoms, tend to use with parents predicts internalizing problems which, in turn, predict
self-protective strategies (e.g., avoidance behavior), which impairs social media addiction; Sela et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2018). While
their ability to maintain close relationships (Tillfors et al., 2012). some studies support the validity of our single-time-point mediation
These avoidance behaviors may be more salient with the father since analysis (Cain et al., 2018), others question it due to the absence of
the latter generally play instrumental functions with his children the temporality criterion to infer a causal link. Thus, we cannot
(e.g., provide financial support and discipline; Finley et al., 2008). conclude on the direction of the link, but these findings open the
Furthermore, it seems that there is a bidirectional association door for other researchers to test these links longitudinally as they
between internalizing symptoms and quality of the relationship appear highly plausible as a result of this study. Second, all the
with parents (Branje et al., 2010; van Eijck et al., 2012). Young assessments were exclusively based on young adults self-reports. In
adults who present symptoms of internalizing problems may induce order to limit shared-method variance bias, it would be important to
a negative mood in the other person, and this could affect the reproduce these results with various methods, notably for the
relationship (Branje et al., 2010). Also, as peers and romantic relationship with parents where the parent’s point of view could
partners play an increasing role in young adults’ well-being, it is be considered. Third, young adult cohabitation with their parents
possible that young adults with addiction symptoms are more likely should also be considered in future studies. Since almost all of the
to share their distress with them rather than parents (Markiewicz participants in our study were still living with at least one of their
et al., 2006; Miller-Slough & Dunsmore, 2016). Same-age peers, parents, a much larger sample size is needed to detect a significant
including romantic partners, may be more likely to understand the effect, which prevented us from testing it.
implications of problematic social media use, and young adults may Our study also has several strengths. First, to our knowledge, this
therefore feel more understood with them rather than their parents. is the first study to examine the link between social media addiction
The distress could then increase the importance of peers and and the parent–child relationship in a sample of young adult. In
romantic partners and decrease the importance of parents in young doing so, we included negative and positive aspects of the quality of
adults’ perception. the relationship between young adults and their mother and father
On the other hand, we observed a full mediation for satisfaction separately. The majority of similar studies are conducted in adoles-
with the mother, meaning that social media addiction did not affect cence or observe the quality of the relationship as a single construct,
directly this component of the relationship with the mother, but only which prevent a more detailed picture of these associations. Second,
via the presence of internalizing problems. Although mothers we took into account gender, parental education, and family income
typically provide emotional support to their children (Finley in order to limit alternative explanations and maximize internal
et al., 2008), for those with high level of internalizing problems validity (Hair et al., 2008). Third, our study proposes a mechanism
that is related to social media addiction symptoms, the mother may by which social media addiction can be linked to the quality of the
not be able to understand these issues since social media is a fairly relationship with parents. This therefore contributes to the under-
recent phenomenon. These platforms emerged at the end of the first standing of the link. Fourth, our study is one of the first to consider
decade of the 2000s, having since then a significant impact in young the notion of social media addiction in a population of Canadian
adults’ lives. Mothers in our study did not have such platforms when young adults.
they were this age, so they may be less aware of their importance in In conclusion, the current results should encourage professionals,
the lives of their offspring and less attentive to the internalizing schools, and families to be concerned about the problematic use of
symptoms that their problematic use may cause. While mothers social media in young adults in order to prevent psychological and
generally assume a greater role in the lives of young adults than family problems. By being informed of the risks involved in
fathers (Fingerman et al., 2012; Markiewicz et al., 2006), the lack of problematic use, parents should offer support to their children
support from mothers among those with social media addiction may and be attentive to the internalizing problems that this can poten-
affect the relationship in a problematic way. tially cause. Indeed, the symptoms of social media addiction seem to
We found no indirect effect of social media addiction on the sense have a significant effect on the relationship between parent and
of equality with the father. It is possible that internalizing problems child, especially with father, possibly through the undesirable
is not a mechanism by which social media addiction is linked to effects of internalizing problems. While the literature on the link
equality with the father. Other mechanisms related to the child’s between problematic use of social media and the parent–child
success (e.g., perception of future success; Fingerman et al., 2012) relationship mainly concerns adolescence, our study highlights
may better explain the feeling of equality with the father. Indeed, the importance of considering the problem in young adulthood as
8 WHITE-GOSSELIN AND POULIN

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