When parents share too much: Sharenting, social appearance anxiety, and internalizing symptoms in adolescence

Abstract Objective This study investigated sharenting, social appearance anxiety, and internalizing symptoms among adolescents, examining the moderating role of social media use intensity. Background Sharenting, the practice of parents sharing detailed information about their children's lives on social media, has become increasingly common in contemporary parenting. Previous research suggests that this phenomenon might negatively impact adolescents' psychological well‐being by heightening concerns related to social appearance and increasing vulnerability to internalizing problems. Methods A sample of 610 Italian adolescents (57.70% female; mean age = 14.28, SD = 2.29) completed measures assessing their perception of their parents' sharenting, social media use intensity, social appearance anxiety, and internalizing symptoms. Results Results from moderated mediation analyses revealed that sharenting was directly associated with both social appearance anxiety and internalizing symptoms. Notably, social media use intensity moderated these relationships, with stronger effects observed at lower levels of social media use. The relationship between sharenting and internalizing symptoms was partially mediated by social appearance anxiety, but this indirect effect was also contingent on social media use intensity, being significant only at low to moderate levels of use. Female gender emerged as a significant risk factor for both social appearance anxiety and internalizing symptoms. Conclusions These findings suggest that sharenting may have unintended negative consequences for adolescent psychological well‐being, particularly among those less engaged with social media. Implications The results have important implications for parenting practices in the digital age and highlight the need for increased awareness of how parental social media behavior affects adolescent development.