On the edge of the social media landscape: associations with adolescent substance use and moderation by parental rules

Background: Adolescent problematic social media use (PSMU) has been increasing. Digital engagement has been associated with substance use, but little is known about the potential protective role of parents. We investigated whether screen and substance-related parental rules moderated the associations between (problematic) SMU and intake of tobacco, alcohol, hashish/marijuana, and laughing gas.

Methods: We used data from the Amsterdam Born Children and Development study (N = 1787; Mage = 15.86 years; SD = 0.36). Both frequent and problematic SMU in relation to tobacco, alcohol, hashish/marijuana, and laughing gas intake levels; and moderation by perceived parental rules (screen/substances), was tested with ordinal logistic regression models.

Results: PSMU was associated with higher chances of higher substance use levels. Hashish/marijuana use and heavy drinking were less prevalent in adolescents reporting the presence of parental rules on alcohol/drugs, compared to adolescents reporting no rules. Although parental rules on alcohol/drugs, but not screen time, moderated the relationship between PSMU and both hashish/marijuana use and heavy drinking, the moderation effect was modest, especially in mitigating substance use at higher PSMU-scores.

Conclusion: PSMU was positively associated with a wide range of substance use behaviours. The potential significant role of parental rules (alcohol/drugs) mitigating these associations are highlighted.