Today’s adolescents are faced with so many choices on how to spend their free time. One of those choices that is becoming more and more popular is that of social networking sites. These internet sites have become a haven for not only adolescents but people of other ages as well. One of the decisions that has to be made is what and how much information a person discloses on these internet sites. Research done by Cong Liu, Rebecca Ang, and May Lwin shows the relationship between personality factors (narcissism, social anxiety), a cognitive factor(privacy concern), and social factor (parental active mediation or restrictive mediation) and how these three effect an adolescent’s disclosure of personal identifying information. Their study shows that factors of social anxiety and parental mediation reduce one’s online disclosure, and privacy concern can be “regarded as a very crucial and central factor to target in prevention and intervention work with adolescents who engage in risky internet behaviors.” (p. 636)

There are many dangers of having personal information out on social networking sites such as cyberstalking, cyberbullying, physical stalking, or even murder. I think it is important for adolescents to learn the risks of putting personal identifying information on social networking sites. This article briefly mentions that active mediation is more successful than restrictive mediation. I think this would be true, because in my experiences it seems like the more a person is restrictive of an activity or substance, the more that they would want to at least try that substance if most of their peers are involved in it. I think if parents take a more active mediation, it would help the development of their child.

Liu, Cong, Ang, Rebecca P., Lwin, May O. (2013). Cognitive, personality, and social factors associated with adolescents’ online personal information disclosure. Journal of Adolescence, 36. 629-638.

There can be several different ways an adolescent reacts to psychological control from their mother. Research has shown that they can internalize their feelings which can lead to greater parent conflict or they can externalize their feelings in aggressive behaviors. The relationship between parent and child is bidirectional, meaning that the parent can affect the child and the same way the child can affect the parent. Research has shown that this conflict between adolescent and parent leads to negative outcomes including depression. It has also been hypothesized that the greater the conflict the more psychological control the mother will attempt on the child. The thought is that the more the parent can control the child the less conflict the parent and child will have.

Christine Steeger and Dawn Gondoli’s research shows that an adolescent may have depressive symptoms in one year and those symptoms lead to a mother-adolescent conflict and that leads to mother psychological control the following year. The mother and adolescent also may have conflict and mother psychological control int he same year. I have seen this personally in my own experiences with my mother and my sisters growing up. My sisters would have behaviors that would lead to conflict and that conflict would lead to my mother’s control over my sisters even though they were searching for autonomy as they entered into the adolescent stage in their development.

Steeger, Christine, Gondola, Dawn M. (2013). Mother-Adolescent conflict as a mediator between adolescent problem behaviors and maternal