---
title: "Social media addiction, maternal mental health, and immigrant children’s oral health behaviours"
id: "plos-one-20-social-media-addiction-maternal-mental-health-and-children-s-oral-health"
canonical_url: "https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/plos-one-20-social-media-addiction-maternal-mental-health-and-children-s-oral-health"
content_type: "clinical_feed_article"
specialty: "Dentistry"
source_name: "PLOS ONE (Medicine)"
source_url: "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0357008"
published_at: "2026-08-27T14:00:00.000Z"
evidence_level: "Journal Feed"
license: "CC-BY-NC-4.0 / Informational Use"
---
# Social media addiction, maternal mental health, and immigrant children’s oral health behaviours
## Provenance & Clinical Metadata
- **Canonical URL:** https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/plos-one-20-social-media-addiction-maternal-mental-health-and-children-s-oral-health
- **Specialty:** [Dentistry](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/dentistry.md)
- **Primary Source:** PLOS ONE (Medicine)
- **Source URL:** [Original Journal Publication](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0357008)
- **Published At:** 2026-08-27T14:00:00.000Z
- **Evidence Rating:** Journal Feed
## Executive GIST (TL;DR)
- This cross-sectional study of 302 immigrant parent–child pairs in Edmonton, Canada, examined associations between **maternal anxiety and depression**, **social media addiction**, and children’s oral health behaviours (OHBs): dental visits, toothbrushing, and diet. - Mothers’ mean age was 37.7 years and children’s mean age was 6.7 years; 49% of children were female and 65% were born in Canada. Parents had lived in Canada a mean of 9.9 years; 68% reported higher education. - Maternal anxiety and depression were measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-14). Social media addiction was assessed with the Bergen-6 scale. - Higher maternal anxiety was associated with reduced odds of child toothbrushing: each unit increase in anxiety corresponded to a 14% reduction in the odds of regular toothbrushing (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74–0.98). - Higher maternal depression was associated with a 21% reduction in the odds of child toothbrushing (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.63–0.93). - Each one-unit increase in maternal anxiety and depression was associated with increases in social media addiction scores (approximately 49% and 51% increases reported; p < .05 for these associations as reported). - Analyses found no evidence that **social media addiction** mediated or moderated the relationship between maternal mental health and children’s oral health behaviours. - The authors conclude that maternal anxiety and depression reduce children’s toothbrushing and recommend integrating mental health screening into dental care for immigrant communities to support better oral health outcomes. - Data collection occurred 2021–2024 with ethical approval from the University of Alberta Health Research Ethics Board; 302 questionnaires were analyzed. Funding was provided by the Oral Health Children, Youth & Families Fund (OHCYFF).
## Clinical Analysis & Structured Key Points
Social media addiction, maternal mental health, and children’s oral health behaviours among immigrants | PLOS One Browse Subject Areas ? Click through the PLOS taxonomy to find articles in your field. For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click here . Article Authors Metrics Comments Media Coverage Reader Comments Figures Figures Abstract Objectives Oral health disparities persist among immigrants. Little is known about how social media shapes the socio-psychological environment in which parenting and health behaviours occur. This study examined the link between immigrant mothers’ anxiety and depression and children’s oral health behaviours (OHBs) and evaluated social media addiction as a mediator or moderator. Methods This cross-sectional study recruited immigrant parents of children aged 2–12 years in Edmonton, Canada. Parents completed a questionnaire assessing demographics, children’s OHBs (dental visits, toothbrushing, diet), anxiety and depression (The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS-14; scored 0–21), and social media addiction (Bergen-6; scored 6–30). Logistic regression, mediation, and moderation analyses were performed. Results 302 questionnaires were analyzed. Mean (SD) ages of mothers and children were 37.7 (6.8) and 6.7 (3.3) years, respectively; 49% of children were female, and 65% born in Canada. On average, parents had lived in Canada for 9.9 years, and 68% had higher education. Higher maternal anxiety reduced the odds of child toothbrushing by 14% (OR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.74 0.98), and higher depression was associated with a 21% reduction (OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.63–0.93). Each one-unit increase in anxiety and depression corresponded to a 49% and 51% increase in social media addiction scores (p 0.05). The alternative pathway, with SMA as the independent variable and maternal mental health as the mediator, was not examined as it was beyond the scope of the pre-registered analysis plan. These findings suggest that while social media addiction and maternal mental health are closely linked within immigrant mothers’ socio-digital environments, their influence on children’s oral health behaviours appears to operate through distinct pathways rather than through reciprocal mediation. Discussion The present study examined the associations between maternal mental health, social media addiction (SMA), and children’s oral health behaviours (OHBs) among immigrant mother–child dyads in Edmonton, Canada. It explored whether SMA mediated or moderated the relationship between maternal psychological distress and children’s OHBs. The findings revealed that hig
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