Overparenting and social media addiction in emerging adults: The roles of autonomy control and self-efficacy

This study examines the mediating roles of perceived parental autonomy control and self-efficacy in the association between overparenting and emerging adults’ social media addiction. Emerging adults (ages 18–29) are particularly vulnerable to social media addiction. Theories suggest that overparenting may be a risk factor for social media addiction, but studies examining underlying mechanisms explaining the association are scarce. College students (N = 240) from a large university in the southeastern U.S. participated in a longitudinal study, completing three surveys over 12 weeks. Path models were used to examine the proposed hypotheses. Results revealed a significant positive association between overparenting and social media addiction, with perceived parental autonomy control and self-efficacy serially mediating this association. These findings support the potential role of parental autonomy control and self-efficacy as mechanisms linking overparenting to social media addiction. The study also underscores the importance of addressing overparenting and promoting self-efficacy in emerging adults through targeted interventions by practitioners, educators, and parents to mitigate the risk of social media addiction.