Parenting-Related Social Networking Site Use and Psychological Distress in Parents of Infants: Cross-sectional Study Exploring the Moderating Effects of Loneliness and Parenting Anxiety
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Background: In the digital age, social networking sites (SNSs) have revolutionized the approach to parenting. These platforms, widely used to access parenting information and support, affect parents both positively and negatively, with negative effects potentially increasing for those experiencing loneliness or anxiety. Objective: This study examined the relationship between SNS use and psychological distress among parents of young children, controlling for the moderating effects of loneliness and parenting anxiety. We hypothesized that higher SNS use correlates to greater psychological distress, particularly among parents with elevated levels of loneliness or parenting anxiety. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design using a closed web-based questionnaire was employed. Participants included 429 parents (205 mothers and 224 fathers) of children aged 0-3 years recruited through a web-based survey company in Japan. The majority of the participants were couples, with some living with extended family members. The sample also encompassed individuals in cohabiting partnerships and single parents. The survey included measures of psychological distress, loneliness, parenting anxiety, frequency of SNS use for parenting, and covariates. Analytical models to explain psychological distress included interactions between loneliness or parenting anxiety and SNS use, individually for both fathers and mothers. Results: For mothers, a significant interaction effect was determined only between parenting anxiety and SNS use (b=0.247, SE 0.091; P=.008). Meanwhile, for fathers, significant interaction effects were observed for both loneliness (b=0.324, SE 0.127; P=.012) and parenting anxiety (b=0.144, SE 0.069; P=.038) with SNS use. A simple slope analysis for mothers indicated that SNS use was related to psychological distress only at higher levels of parenting anxiety (b=0.304, SE 0.090, β=.317; P<.001). Among fathers, SNS use was associated with psychological distress at higher levels of either parenting anxiety (b=0.330, SE 0.069, β=.346; P<.001) or loneliness (b=0.390, SE 0.098, β=.409; P<.001). Conclusions: The study concluded that the relationship between SNS use and psychological distress among parents of young children is moderated by loneliness and parenting anxiety. The findings highlight the need for tailored approaches to help parents manage SNS use, particularly focusing on those with higher levels of loneliness and parenting anxiety. It is imperative that health professionals provide nuanced guidance to parents on SNS use, considering individual psychological factors and potential gender differences in the impact of SNSs on mental well-being.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".