Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Oct 23:7:e55372.
doi: 10.2196/55372.

Parenting Information on Social Media: Systematic Literature Review

Ellen Mertens #  1 , Guoquan Ye #  2 , Emma Beuckels #  1 , Liselot Hudders #  1
Affiliations
Review

Parenting Information on Social Media: Systematic Literature Review

Ellen Mertens et al. JMIR Pediatr Parent. .

Abstract

Background: Social media has become extremely popular among parents to seek parenting information. Despite the increasing academic attention to the topic, studies are scattered across various disciplines. Therefore, this study broadens the scope of the existing reviews by transcending narrow academic subdomains and including all relevant research insights related to parents' information seeking on social media and its consequent effects.

Objective: The aims of this systematic literature review were to (1) identify influential journals and scholars in the field; (2) examine the thematic evolution of research on parenting and social media; and (3) pinpoint research gaps, providing recommendations for future exploration.

Methods: On the basis of a criteria for identifying scholarly publications, we selected 338 studies for this systematic literature review. We adopted a bibliometric analysis combined with a content thematic analysis to obtain data-driven insights with a profound understanding of the predominant themes in the realm of parenting and social media.

Results: The analysis revealed a significant increase in research on parenting and social media since 2015, especially in the medical domain. The studies in our review spanned 232 different research fields, and the most prolific journal was JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting. The thematic analysis identified 4 emerging research themes in the studies: parenting motivations to seek information, nature of parenting content on social media, impact of parenting content, and interventions for parents on social media.

Conclusions: This study provides critical insights into the current research landscape of parenting and social media. The identified themes, research gaps, and future research recommendations provide a foundation for future studies, guiding researchers toward valuable areas for exploration.

Keywords: bibliometric literature review; parenting; parenting information; social media; systematic literature review; thematic analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Literature search and refinement criteria for the bibliometric analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Visualization of the co-word analysis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results of the thematic evolution analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Nyström K, Ohrling K. Parenthood experiences during the child's first year: literature review. J Adv Nurs. 2004 May;46(3):319–30. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2004.02991.x.JAN2991 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Laney EK, Hall ME, Anderson TL, Willingham MM. Becoming a mother: the influence of motherhood on women's identity development. Identity. 2015 May 15;15(2):126–45. doi: 10.1080/15283488.2015.1023440. - DOI
    1. Lévesque S, Bisson V, Charton L, Fernet M. Parenting and relational well-being during the transition to parenthood: challenges for first-time parents. J Child Fam Stud. 2020 May 20;29(7):1938–56. doi: 10.1007/S10826-020-01727-Z. - DOI
    1. Jang J, Dworkin J, Hessel H. Mothers' use of information and communication technologies for information seeking. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2015 Apr;18(4):221–7. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0533. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Moon RY, Mathews A, Oden R, Carlin R. Mothers' perceptions of the internet and social media as sources of parenting and health information: qualitative study. J Med Internet Res. 2019 Jul 09;21(7):e14289. doi: 10.2196/14289. https://www.jmir.org/2019/7/e14289/ v21i7e14289 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources