(PS12-24) Exploring How Parent Social Media Use and Communication Impact Teen Social Media Experiences

In contrast to public conversations about the negative impact of social media (SM) use duration or frequency on teens, teens’ experiences on SM may be more relevant to mental health outcomes than time spent on SM. However, little research has investigated what contributes to positive and negative SM experiences. Further, SM use is often described as a problematic issue for adolescents, with less research focusing on how parents may play a role in shaping their teens’ SM experiences and associated mental health outcomes. Better understanding parent SM behaviors, such as their use of SM in front of their teens (parental phubbing) and how they communicate about SM with their teens, may be integral to understanding teens’ SM experiences and subsequent impact on mental health. The current study included 418 adolescents (14-17; M_age = 15.98; 56% White; 45% girls) who completed self-report measures about demographics, SM checking frequency, and positive and negative SM-related emotional experiences (ERSM). Adolescents also reported their perceptions of parents’ SM use frequency, phubbing (i.e., how often parents check SM when talking to them), communication with parents about SM (frequency of discussions with parents about SM experiences), and household SM rules (e.g., “my house has rules about how often I can use SM”). Path analyses were conducted to examine whether perceived parent SM phubbing and parent-teen discussions around SM were associated with teens’ negative and positive ERSM, controlling for age, gender, household technology rules, and both teen and parent SM checking. Results indicate that there were significant direct paths from perceived parent SM phubbing to teens’ negative ERSM (B=.79, p=.002) and parent SM communication to teens’ positive ERSM (B=.51, p=.000), with teen SM checking as a significant covariate in both paths. There were no significant direct paths from perceived parent SM phubbing to teens’ positive ERSM (B=-.11, p=.466) or parent SM communication to teens’ negative ERSM (B=.12, p=.535). Specifically, the more teens perceived their parents to be engaged in phubbing, the more negative experiences teens had on SM. In contrast, higher levels of perceived open communication with parents about SM was associated with having more positive experiences on SM. Findings suggest that teens’ perceptions of their parents’ behaviors around SM (both phubbing and communication patterns) may play an important role in how they experience SM. Parents may consider how their own behaviors can help shape the role of SM in their teens’ lives so that it confers protection, rather than risk, for negative mental health outcomes.