Pathological Use of Social Networking Sites in Mothers (A Quantitative and Qualitative Study)

The present article seeks to investigate how pathological use of social networking sites (SNS) in mothers is related to their marital satisfaction,  mother-child relationship, and children’s behavioral problems. This study had a mixed methods research design with quantitative and qualitative components. In the quantitative part with correlational design, 323 mothers who had preschool children were chosen through convenience sampling method and were administered the research instruments including a demographic questionnaire, the researcher-made Pathological Use of Social Networking Sites Questionnaire, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997), Relationship Assessment Scale (Hendrick, 1988), and Child-Parent Relationship Scale (Pianta, 1992). In order to analyze the data, Pearson correlation coefficient, simple linear regression, and structural equation modeling were utilized. The method in the qualitative part was phenomenological and the instrument was semi-structured interview. The sample in this part was comprised of 17 mothers who were addicted to using social networks. These individuals were chosen via purposive and extreme case sampling. During data analysis, open, axial and selective coding was used. The results of the quantitative part demonstrated that marital satisfaction and mother-child relationship played a mediating role in the link between pathological use of social networking sites in mothers and their children’s behavioral problems. The results of the qualitative part were in line with the findings of the quantitative section and showed that the relationship between spouses and children suffers as a result of social networking sites addiction and this leads to behavioral problems in children.