Smartphone Ownership, Minors’ Well-being, and Parental Mediation Strategies. An Analysis in the Context of Social Media Influencers

The proportion of minors who are users and owners of smartphones is growing substantially (Rideout & Robb, 2019). According to data from the United States and Europe, early adolescents often get their first smartphone between the ages of 10 and 11 (Moreno et al., 2019). These data are cause for concern, as a significant body of previous research has consistently found a link between heavy smartphone use and lower well-being among children (Busch & McCarthy, 2021). Specifically, studies have shown an association between mobile phone use and a higher rate of depression (Boers et al., 2019), psychological distress (Twenge & Campbell, 2018), sleep disturbances (de Sá et al., 2023), academic underperformance (Lepp et al., 2014), and poorer quality in-person social interactions (George & Odgers, 2015). Even though much of the research has mainly focused on the implications of frequency of use and time spent on smartphones and similar devices, only a small number of studies have looked at the effects of youth smartphone ownership. However, the results have been mixed. Some studies have suggested negative effects stemming from smartphone ownership. For instance, a longitudinal study found children’s mobile phone ownership at age 9 associated with lower math and reading performances at age 13 (Dempsey et al., 2019). Additionally, smartphone ownership was linked to increased electronic media use in bed and later bedtimes in a cross-sectional study of teenagers aged 12 to 17, although it was not substantially correlated with sleep difficulties or depressive symptoms (Lemola et al., 2015). Furthermore, early smartphone ownership seems to have a detrimental effect on respondents’ self-assessed problematic conduct and intellectual capacity, but only for female respondents (Dempsey et al., 2020). Another study found that early smartphone access is negatively associated with adolescents’ math and language performance and creative digital media use. Similarly, owning a smartphone early in life appears to be linked with both greater smartphone pervasiveness in the subsequent years and greater risk of smartphone problematic use (Gerosa et al., 2024). However, other research indicated very little proof of ownership effects. A longitudinal study found that smartphone ownership among 9 to 15-year-olds does not appear to be contextually related with markers of well-being like academic progress or psychological discomfort 1–2 years later (George et al., 2020). Additionally, a recent study using a sample of low-income immigrant children who were overweight did not find statistically significant associations linking smartphone ownership, acquisition, and use, and markers of well-being, including academic performance, depressive symptoms, or sleep disturbances (Sun et al., 2023). Thus, the contradictory nature of these previous findings suggests that while focusing on ownership and usage time is relevant, it may be equally important to consider how children use smartphones and similar electronic devices, as well as the type of content they consume.

Engaging with social media is one of the most common uses of smartphones and electronic devices among children and adolescents (Jeong et al., 2016). Even though there are some alternative interpretations (e.g., Heffer et al., 2019), numerous studies suggest a negative relationship between social media use and adolescent psychological well-being (Barthorpe et al., 2020). It has been shown that social media use can adversely affect various aspects of adolescents’ lives, such as sleep quality (Woods & Scott, 2016), academic performance (Giunchiglia et al., 2018), family relationships, and social bonds (Allcott et al., 2020). However, the term “social media use” encompasses far too many different types of content and behaviors. Thus, given that different contents and uses of social networks (e.g., passive content consumption vs. communication and sharing emotions) have a different impact on children’s well-being (Liu et al., 2019), it is becoming necessary to further specify the type of activity to be studied. Within the context of social networks, influencers are one of the most relevant actors with whom teenagers can interact (Lajnef, 2023). Influencers can be defined as independent actors with the power to shape opinions and behaviors of their followers using social media platforms (Hudders et al., 2021). This ability to be influential lies in some of its characteristic attributes, such as attractiveness and credibility (Lou & Yuan, 2019). Another of the variables identified by previous research that allows explaining the particular influence capacity of these media personalities is the type of relationship that their followers establish with them, which has been named parasocial relationship.

The concept of parasocial relationship (Horton & Wohl, 1956) refers to the feeling of friendship and intimacy that a viewer develops toward a media character (i.e., celebrities, media figures or influencers) over the course of his or her continuous interaction. In the context of social networks, parasocial relationships are even more profound, since, unlike traditional mass media, social media makes it easier for users to communicate and interact with their favorite influencer (e.g., sharing, liking, commenting, replying, etc.) leading to more intimacy and improved reciprocity in the follower’s perception (Colliander & Dahlén, 2011; Yuan & Lou, 2020). In this way, the parasocial relationship that these people establish with their followers would facilitate the occurrence of influential processes, both at the cognitive, affective, and behavioral levels. For instance, a positive link between the perceived trustworthiness, expertise of the influencer and the parasocial relationship has been observed, showing that the greater the perceived intimacy with the influencer, the greater the trust the influencer can elicit (Lou & Kim, 2019). In this sense, the stronger the parasocial relationship that the follower experiences towards the influencer, the greater the probability that the former will be influenced by the latter (Hoffner & Bond, 2022). This unique trust and connection that followers experience towards influencers suggests that their content may have a significantly greater impact on their audiences than many other contents present on social media platforms (Su et al., 2021). For this reason, an increasing number of researchers are recognizing the need to pay special attention to the content published by influencers and the possible effect it could have on the well-being of their followers. For example, a recent study found experimentally that a group of women who were exposed to influencer images on Instagram experienced greater negative mood and body dissatisfaction compared to a control group exposed to neutral Instagram images (e.g., starfish in the sand) (Lowe-Calverley & Grieve, 2021). In the same way, another study has recently found that the adolescent girls and middle-aged women who followed fashion influencers were more dissatisfied with their body image and had lower self-esteem compared to those who did not (Panjrath & Tiwari, 2021). These results are consistent with more recent research showing how a high Instagram usage could lead to a decrease in psychological well-being (Garcia et al., 2022; Sherlock & Wagstaff, 2019; Staniewski & Awruk, 2022).

One of the most popular hypotheses that explain these findings argues that this psychological discomfort may be a consequence of followers comparing their bodies and lives with those exhibited by their favorite influencer (Hogue & Mills, 2019). This phenomenon, for which the term facebook envy was initially coined, refers to users that compare themselves with others causing a decrease in life satisfaction, especially among adolescents (Chou & Edge, 2012; Sagioglou & Greitemeyer, 2014; Tandoc et al., 2015). As previous research has shown, using social media to engage in harmful social comparisons was linked more strongly with depression than overall social media usage (Yoon et al., 2019). Moreover, a similar study revealed that Instagram use related to social comparisons with influencers was associated with lower levels of body appreciation (Pedalino & Camerini, 2022). Another reason why adolescents may see their emotional well-being diminished as a consequence of their relationship with the influencer could be related to a phenomenon called fear of missing out (FOMO), which is both a constant apprehension that one could be missing out on wonderful experiences that others are having and a desire to always be connected with what they are doing or sharing (Milyavskaya et al., 2018). This fear seems to be related to more anxiety states, negative emotions, discomfort and even the abandonment of important duties and healthy habits (Oberst et al., 2017). Therefore, it could be expected that the stronger the connection with the influencer, the greater the frustration experienced when followers cannot attain the physical appearance or lifestyle of their role models, as well as when they cannot keep up with all the content they publish (Hoffner & Bond, 2022).

Similarly, the negative effect on the well-being of minors could be related to a problematic use of content generated by influencers. For example, the displacement hypothesis (Kraut et al., 1998) proposes that excessive social media consumption could lead to an emotional well-being impairment because the time that may be spent on in-person social interactions, protective, health-promoting habits like physical activity or educational and extracurricular activities is instead spent doing this sedentary activity. Thus, a high propensity to consume content generated by their favorite influencers could result in children having much less time and motivation to do many of these other desirable and beneficial activities.

Finally, another reason why influencer-generated content could pose a risk to the well-being of their younger followers is that they might want to imitate some dangerous behaviors exhibited by their role models. Some of these risky behaviors are related to the social media challenges. While some challenges possess positive underlying intentions and are relatively safe, many others involve health risk behaviors (e.g., the Cinnamon Challenge: ingesting a tablespoon of cinnamon without liquids; the Tide Pod Challenge: ingesting a Tide Pod, containing chemicals; and the Kiki Challenge: dancing beside a moving vehicle). These challenges, which gain visibility when undertaken by influencers and are subsequently imitated by many of their followers, have resulted in serious health consequences including alcohol abuse (Hendriks et al., 2020), unsafe sexual behaviors (Yusuf, 2021), aspiration, poisoning, motor vehicle accidents, and even death (Ward et al., 2021). In this regard, Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977) predicts that children are more likely to imitate a character’s behavior the more they like that character, and also Social Network Contagion Theory (Scherer & Cho, 2003) explains that minors are more likely to reproduce the behavior of a source who they could identify themselves with better (such as influencer), even if that behavior is undesirable or harmful. Additionally, the Facebook Influence Model (Moreno & Whitehill, 2014) suggests peer influence mechanisms that could make teenagers more likely to engage in dangerous behaviors as a result of using social media.

All these potential negative effects are even more concerning considering the vulnerability of the target population. Children and teenagers at this age have not fully developed their cognitive abilities, rendering them particularly susceptible to the potential virtual risks (Haddon et al., 2020). It has been shown that children and adolescents are more susceptible to persuasion in social media (Van Reijmersdal & Van Dam, 2020) and they will be more affected by digital media than adults (Tesar & Hood, 2019). Specifically, previous research has shown that the relationship between social media use estimates and life satisfaction ratings is more negative in younger adolescents than in adults. Furthermore, longitudinal analyses of 17,409 participants (10–21 years old) suggested specific developmental periods of sensitivity to social media during adolescence (Orben et al., 2022).

The specific vulnerability of children and adolescents as well as the presence of risks on the Internet in general and on Social Network Sites in particular have led parents to seek strategies to protect their children from such threats (Geržičáková et al., 2023). Within this context, parental mediation refers to a set of strategies used to mitigate children’s negative uses of the media and its negative consequences (Sasson & Mesch, 2019). These different strategies can be interpreted as a reflection of different ideologies and beliefs about children´s media use (Modecki et al., 2022). Current classifications of mediation strategies related to the use of the Internet (Livingstone et al., 2017) are an evolution of the first classifications that were made in the context of traditional media (Valkenburg et al., 1999). Initially, these strategies could be summarized into three main categories: active mediation, restrictive mediation, and co-viewing. Active (or instructive) mediation includes discussing, evaluating, and interpreting the media content with the child. Restrictive strategies consist in setting rules, timetables, and regulations about what, when and how much media content can be accessed. Thus, restrictive mediation could be split into access restriction (how much and when a particular media can be used) and content restriction (which content can be seen). Finally, co-viewing implies that parents use the media together with the child, although parents might not necessarily discuss the content (Nikken & Jansz, 2014). Recently, expanded classifications for mediation strategies have been suggested, including technical mediation (installation of software to control, filter or block certain online content) and monitoring (checking on the child’s online activities after use) (Livingstone et al., 2011; Mitchell et al., 2005; Symons et al., 2017a).

Due to a growing interest among parents, educators and researchers about the effectiveness of each of these strategies in reducing the risks associated with children’s Internet use, an increasing amount of research is being conducted (Chen & Shi, 2019; Meeus et al., 2018; Young & Tully, 2022). With respect to active mediation, previous research has shown that encouraging, sharing, or discussing the child’s online activities is effective in decreasing the length of Internet use (Sasson & Mesch, 2014) and the likelihood of being engaged in online risks (Young & Tully, 2022), such as contact risks (Shin & Ismail, 2014), privacy disclosure (Kang et al., 2022; Lwin et al., 2008), and cyberbullying (Chang et al., 2015). In addition, active parental mediation tends to prevent children’s exposure to online risks without reducing their positive online opportunities (Duerager & Livingstone, 2012). Regarding restrictive strategies, some studies have suggested that restrictive mediation can be an effective way to protect children from harmful media influences (Lee, 2012; Lwin et al., 2008; Marcum et al., 2010). For example, parental restrictions could prevent children’s exposure to online risks, because it reduces general Internet activity (Kalmus et al., 2015). However, other research has found that there are fewer promising results and even results that go in the opposite direction. For example, it has been shown that restrictive mediation strategies could be associated with a greater number of risky behaviors (Sasson & Mesch, 2014). Similarly, adolescents who reported more cybervictimization were among those who were more likely to report higher levels of parental restrictions (Baldry et al., 2019; Wright, 2016). Moreover, although these restrictive strategies can be effective reducing the time children spend on media, they may also foster parent-child conflicts (Beyens & Beullens, 2017), hinder the acquisition of digital skills (López-de-Ayala et al., 2021) and could even increase the likelihood of children being addicted to media (Chen & Shi, 2019). Regarding co-viewing, monitoring and technical mediation, the evidence is also conflicting. Some studies have shown that co-using may reduce children’s exposure to online content risks (Kirwil, 2009; Wright, 2016) and has been associated with enhanced feelings of closeness between parents and children (Courtois & Nelissen, 2018). In a similar vein, monitoring the websites visited by youngsters and installing monitoring software reduce the likelihood of online victimization (Mesch, 2016; Navarro et al., 2013). However, other researchers have found that methods such as co-usage, technological restrictions, and monitoring are ineffective in protecting children from Internet risks (Livingstone & Helsper, 2008).

The conflicting nature of these previous findings suggests that more research is needed to better understand when, in what circumstances and for whom each strategy is most effective. One of the possible reasons for this disparity in results is that the concept of social media use is too broad and includes a wide range of different content and behaviors (e.g., self-presentation management, information-sharing, emotion-sharing, passive content usage). For this reason, this research aims to further explore the effectiveness of parental mediation strategies with respect to a specific type of content and activity that has not been studied to date. Also, providing a smartphone or similar device for a minor’s personal use is an important parental decision that can have relevant consequences for children regarding their use and access to the Internet and social media. On the one hand, the possession of smartphones by children could increase the time and intensity of Internet and social network use due to greater accessibility. On the other hand, it could affect the effectiveness of parental mediation strategies, making parental control more difficult (Hwang et al., 2017; Nikken & Jansz, 2014). However, previous research has not studied the role that the ownership of an electronic device by children and adolescents might play on other variables such as the time spent consuming influencer-generated content, or its moderator role between the parental mediation strategies and possible negative consequences.