Social Media Use and Parent–Child Relationships: An Exploratory Study in Western Algeria in Light of Media Ecology and Interactivity

Abstract

This exploratory study aimed to examine the perceived implications of children's use of social networks for their relationships with their fathers and mothers separately, drawing on Media Ecology and the Theory of Interactivity as theoretical frameworks for interpreting the results. The researchers adopted a descriptive survey design and, in June 2025, administered an adapted version of Totaoui Saliha's scale, retaining only the father–child and mother–child relationship dimensions, to a sample of 54 respondents, including children, adolescents, and young adults aged over 20, from the Algerian provinces of Oran, Aïn Témouchent, and Mostaganem. Content validity was assessed through evaluation by a panel of four experts, while internal consistency was estimated using Cronbach's alpha, yielding coefficients of 0.532 for the father–child dimension, 0.645 for the mother–child dimension, and 0.754 for the overall scale. The results showed that 64% of the sample members believe that these networks do not contribute to improving their relationship with their fathers, and that their opinions are divided about the decrease in daily interaction with the father due to them (35% yes vs. 37% no), while 58.8% of them were not bothered by their fathers' interruption of them while using them. Regarding the mother, 46% of the respondents believed that their time on the networks exceeds their time with her, and 47% stated that their mothers describe them as prisoners of these networks, while 49% of them were not bothered by the intervention of their mothers to determine the duration of use. The two hypotheses were only partially realized, and the results were interpreted in the light of Media Ecology and the theory of interactivity, and the study ended with a set of recommendations addressed to the family and counselors.