Introduction: This two-wave prospective study investigated the bidirectional relation between Internet-specific parenting (reactive restrictions, Internet-specific rules, and frequency and quality of communication about Internet) and adolescents’ symptoms of social media disorder (SMD) and Internet gaming disorder (IGD). In addition, we investigated whether this relation was different for boys and girls.Methods: A sample of 352 adolescents (48.9% boys,M_age = 13.9,SD_age = 0.74, range: 11–15) completed questionnaires at two waves. Zero-inflated cross-lagged analyses in Mplus were performed to predict the level of IGD and SMD symptoms by Internet-specific parenting practices and vice versa, while controlling for age, level of education, and outcome at T₁.Results: More frequent parent–adolescent communication about Internet predicted more IGD (β = 0.26,p = .03) and SMD symptoms among boys, and more restrictive rules predicted fewer SMD symptoms among girls (β = −0.23,p = .08). More IGD symptoms predicted more reactive rules (β = 0.20,p = .08) among boys and girls and a higher frequency (β = 0.16,p = .02) and lower quality of communication (β = −0.24,p < .001) among boys and girls, respectively.Conclusions: This study demonstrates bidirectional relations between Internet-specific parenting and IGD symptoms, but not SMD symptoms. Displaying IGD symptoms seems to elicit ineffective parental responses, which may further exacerbate problematic involvement in gaming. With respect to problematic social use media among girls, this study suggests that parents should set strict rules regarding Internet use, prior to problematic use of social media. Longitudinal studies on the role of parenting in development of Internet-related disorders would be promising in enhancing our understanding of how parents can effectively prevent problematic involvement in online behaviors among their children.

The popularity of social media use among adolescents has raised concerns about the potentially harmful effects of social media use on adolescents’ sleep. Since longitudinal research considering this relationship is scarce, the present two-wave longitudinal study of 2021 secondary school students (M_age = 13.86, SD = 1.25) examined whether frequency of social media use and problematic social media use predicted adolescents’ bedtime and quality of sleep. Moreover, the protective role of parental rules regarding Internet and smartphone use one hour before sleep was examined. The findings indicated that strict parental rules about Internet and smartphone use before sleep might prevent negative consequences of social media use on bedtime and sleep quality, but only among less engaged social media users. Once adolescents are highly engaged social media users, strict parental rules do not seem to prevent negative media influences on sleep. This implies that limiting Internet accessibility before bedtime can help prevent adolescents’ sleep problems, but that regulation is less effective for adolescents who are already highly involved in social media use.

This study aimed to enhance knowledge on which aspects of the family context are most relevant in identifying at-risk/problematic social media users among adolescents. Therefore, we examined the relative contribution to adolescents' at-risk/problematic social media use (SMU) of general and Internet-specific family factors related to three different family (sub)systems: parent-child (Internet-specific rule-setting, reactive restrictions towards Internet use, co-use, adolescents' involvement in rule-setting and positive parenting), parent (parental screen time, phubbing, stress, anxiety and depression) and family (family functioning, family intactness and SES) (sub)system. Questionnaire data came from 403 adolescents (M = 13.51, SD = 2.15) and 396 parents (M = 46.59, SD = 5.29) who participated in wave 1 of the Dutch 'Digital Family project'. Logistic regression analyses showed that only factors related to the parent-child subsystem remained significant in predicting being an at-risk/problematic social media user when examining predictors related to the parent-child, parent and family (sub)system simultaneously. Specifically, general and Internet-specific parenting practices contributed to the prediction above and beyond each other. Positive parenting and Internet-specific rule-setting seem protective, while parental reactive restrictions towards Internet use could be a risk factor. Positive parenting showed the largest effect size. The results suggest that parental behaviors directed towards the child should be a focus of attention in prevention of adolescents' problematic SMU. In addition, our findings highlight the importance of untangling restrictive mediation (impulsive, in the moment, attempts to limit SMU versus communicating clear rules in advance) when examining its effects.