The Impact of Parental Monitoring on Adolescent Social Media Usage: A Randomized Controlled Trial in China

Last registered on March 26, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Impact of Parental Monitoring on Adolescent Social Media Usage: A Randomized Controlled Trial in China
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015628
Initial registration date
March 23, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 26, 2025, 9:44 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Matthew Chan
Affiliation
Northwestern University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-03-20
End date
2025-07-10
Keywords
Behavior, Education
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study explores how giving parents tools to monitor their children’s phone app usage affects teenagers’ social media habits. We’re working with around 2,381 students in grades 7-11 from 30 schools in City C, Hunan Province, China. These are kids whose parents agreed to join the study, and all the students have their own phones. We’ll split them into two groups randomly. For one group (the treatment group), we’ll install an app on the kids’ phones that tracks how much time they spend on apps. Their parents can check this info on their own phones and will get a daily text message showing their child’s total social media time plus the three apps they used most that day. Parents can’t block apps, just watch the usage. The other group (the control group) won’t get any monitoring or messages. The study will run for 15 weeks. We’ll explain everything to the parents and kids in the treatment group so they know what’s happening. Our goal is to see if this kind of monitoring changes how much time teens spend on social media.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chan, Matthew. 2025. "The Impact of Parental Monitoring on Adolescent Social Media Usage: A Randomized Controlled Trial in China." AEA RCT Registry. March 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15628-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2025-03-24
Intervention End Date
2025-07-06

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Academic Performance: Measured through students’ school grades or standardized test scores (collected from school records with parental consent) to assess whether the intervention influences academic outcomes.
Parental Involvement and Awareness: Assessed via surveys or questionnaires completed by parents before and after the intervention, focusing on their perceived level of engagement with their child’s digital habits and their awareness of their child’s app usage patterns.
Child Mental Health: Evaluated using validated self-report scales (e.g., a depression or anxiety screening tool suitable for adolescents) completed by the students, to determine if the intervention impacts their psychological well-being.
Child Social Media Usage Time: Quantified through data collected from the monitoring app (for the treatment group) and self-reported estimates or phone logs (for the control group), measuring the total daily time spent on social media platforms before, during, and after the 15-week intervention period.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to explore the effects of parental monitoring of mobile app usage on teenagers. We’re working with approximately 2,381 students in grades 7-11 from 30 schools in City C, Hunan Province, China. All participants are students whose parents agreed to join, and each student has a mobile phone. The students will be randomly divided into two groups: a treatment group and a control group. In the treatment group, a monitoring program will be installed on the students’ phones, allowing parents to see how much time their children spend on apps. Parents will also receive a daily text message summarizing their child’s social media use. The control group will not receive any monitoring or messages. The trial will last 15 weeks. We’ll make sure parents and students in the treatment group understand the process at the start. Our focus is on understanding how this setup might affect the students and their families.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
no clusters
Sample size: planned number of observations
2381 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1190 students in treatment group, 1191 students in control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Wuhan University
IRB Approval Date
2025-03-20
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan