The Impact of Parents 'Friending' Their Young Adult Child on Facebook on Perceptions of Parental Privacy Invasions and Parent-Child Relationship Quality

摘要

This study examined whether a parent "friending" his/her child on Facebook.com influenced the parent-child relationship and perceptions of parental privacy invasions. One hundred and eighteen parent-young adult child dyads were randomly assigned to an experimental group where the parent was asked to create a Facebook account, "friend" his/her child, and use the account over 2 months or a control group where the parent did not have a Facebook account. Having a parent on Facebook did not result in perceptions of greater privacy invasions, but was associated with decreased conflict in the parent-child relationship. When the parent and child had a more conflicted relationship prior to the parent joining Facebook, the parent's presence on Facebook also enhanced the child's closeness with the parent.