Does heavy social media use damage your family’s relationship?

Children glued to their phones all day? Parents spending hours scrolling? The positive (and slightly surprising) news is that while social media may not be the most meaningful way to spend your time, it is not necessarily harmful to family life.

Both teenagers and adults spend several hours a day on social media, and many worry that this comes at the expense of family relationships.

“We found no evidence that either adolescents’ or parents’ use of social media is associated with poorer family relationships, reduced family functioning or weaker parent–child attachment over time,” says Habib Niyaraq Nobakht, a postdoctoral researcher at NTNU’s Department of Psychology.

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Earlier studies had limitations

Does spending less time on screens and experiencing fewer digital distractions actually lead to stronger family relationships?

Habib Niyaraq Nobakht. Photo: NTNU SHOW MORE

Several previous studies have attempted to answer this question, but many have had significant methodological limitations.

For example, they have often failed to distinguish between stabile family dynamics and changes that can occur within families over time.

Many studies have also relied on the experience of only one family member, which can produce a skewed picture of the family dynamic. This new research from NTNU, conducted by Nobakht and Professors Lars Wichstrøm and Silje Steinsbekk, took a more comprehensive approach.

Nearly 1,000 participants

The researchers analysed data from the long-running Tidlig Trygg i Trondheim (Trondheim Early Secure) Study, which has followed the development of nearly 1,000 children, all born between 2003 and 2004. Social media use was assessed every second year from the age of 10 until participants turned 20. The sample included a roughly equal number of boys and girls.

“We measured how often the adolescents checked social media, how actively they used it, and how much time they spent on it, using both interviews and objective data collected from their phones,” says Steinsbekk.

Parents were also included in the recent research. Their social media use was assessed through questionnaires, including whether they considered their own use to be problematic.

“The adolescents also reported on the closeness of their relationships with their parents and the level of conflict they experienced. In addition, we assessed attachment and family functioning using both questionnaires and observational methods,” sumerises Wichstrøm, who is also Project Leader of the Trondheim Early Secure Study (Steinsbekk is the project’s Co-leader).

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Little cause for concern

The findings appear to offer some genuinely reassuring news.

“Our results suggest that normal variations in social media use are unlikely to be an important driver of change in the quality of family life,” explains Nobakht.

Even parents who described their own social media use as problematic—for example, saying they felt addicted or struggled to limit the time they spent online—did not report poorer family relationships than other parents.

“The amount of time we spend on social media does not, in itself, appear to weaken relationships between family members. However, our study does not address what happens when phone use interrupts time spent together—for example, during family meals. Those kinds of behaviours may still have negative consequences,” Nobakht.

One more question remains, will you share this piece of good news with your family or on social media first?

Reference: Nobakht HN, Wichstrøm L, Steinsbekk S. Social Media Use and the Quality of Family Relationships: A Six-Wave Longitudinal Study of Within-Family Effects from Age 10 to 20. J Youth Adolesc. 2026 Jun;55(6):1361-1373. doi: 10.1007/s10964-026-02362-5. Epub 2026 Jun 4. PMID: 42240925; PMCID: PMC13263193.