The mediating role of parental involvement in the relationship between social media exposure and socio-emotional development of children

The study aimed to investigate the effect of parental involvement on social media exposure and socio-emotional development of children in the Awi administrative zone, Ethiopia. Data were collected in 2026 using a quantitative cross-sectional research design. Three hundred parent-child dyads (240 mother-child dyads and 60 father-child dyads) selected from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds participated in the study. The children's ages ranged from 4 to 6 years. A survey questionnaire was employed to collect data from the parents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression, and the Process Procedure for Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis macro (model 4) for mediation analysis. The results indicated that social media exposure was significantly and negatively associated with socio-emotional development (β = -0.225, P < .001), while parental involvement showed a strong positive association with socio-emotional development (β = 0.666, P < .001), and social media exposure was negatively associated with parental involvement (β = -0.268, P < .001). The regression model showed that independent variables explained 53.3% of the variance in children's socio-emotional development (R2 = 0.533, P < .001), indicating strong explanatory power. Mediation analysis using bootstrapping confirmed that parental involvement partially mediated the relationship between social media exposure and socio-emotional development. The indirect effect was statistically significant (β = -0.178, 95% confidence interval [-0.274, -0.078]), revealing that social media exposure influences socio-emotional outcomes both directly and indirectly through reduced parental involvement. The finding highlights parental involvement as a mediating factor in the relationship between social media exposure and children's socio-emotional development, through which social media exposure influences the level of parental involvement, ultimately affecting socio-emotional outcomes. Strengthening active parental involvement is essential in promoting healthy developmental outcomes in early childhood within an increasingly digital environment.