Restrictive Family Relationships as a Mediator of Adolescent Social Media Use Disorder (Preprint)

OpenAlex · English

UNSTRUCTURED We investigated the relationships between academic stress, family relationships, and social media use disorder (SMUD) among middle school students through the ecological systems perspective. We used mixed-methods sequential explanatory. In addition, structural equation modeling showed that academic stress had a significant direct impact on SMUD. Restrictive family relationships significantly mediated this relationship. The proposed model explained 42.6% of the variance in SMUD. Qualitative findings highlighted family patterns and coping and revealed how rigid parental control and limited emotional support reinforced restrictive family dynamics, which in turn further linked academic stress to SMUD. Present research extends Ecological Systems Theory to online behavior and establishes restrictive family relationships as key mediating mechanisms in SMUD development. These findings underscore the importance of family-based interventions that promote open communication and adaptive stress management strategies to mitigate the risk of SMUD.