Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, Vol 57(2), Apr 2025, 87-97; doi:10.1037/cbs0000428
Low parental monitoring and a high level of conflict with parents in adolescence may trigger a developmental sequence that promotes the emergence of social media addiction in adulthood. This 15-year longitudinal study investigates the mediating role of chat site use in adolescence and social media involvement at age 25 that links two parental relationship characteristics at age 15 and social media addiction at age 30. A sample of 322 participants (61.2% female) completed questionnaires at ages 15, 25, and 30. A mediation analysis using structural equations modelling with serial mediators was performed to examine the direct and indirect associations between the variables. Adolescents’ reports of parental monitoring at age 15 predicted social media addiction at age 30 via chat site use at age 15 and social media involvement at age 25. The level of conflict predicted social media addiction at age 30, but we observed no serial mediation effects. Parents appear to have a role to play in preventing social media addiction, but more longitudinal studies are needed to fully understand the complexity of the development of social media addiction later in adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)