1. Introduction
Adolescence is a sensitive and particular period, very different from the periods before and after it. Sociologists and psychologists consider this period a very vital one in the life of every human being. Family as the first place in which a person starts living is of great importance. The family environment and the way parents communicate and respond to their children play a major role. Besides, the parent-child interaction, family structure, common parent-child experiences, role division among family members, power relations in the family, coping and problem-solving methods, training and behavior control strategies, family support, and family functioning all affect adolescents (Shahbazi, , Khodabakhshi-Koolaee, Davodi, & Heidari, 2020). 
Challenges between parents and their children are a rapidly growing phenomenon in Iran. Adolescents spend less time with their parents. The adolescent-parent relationship is often associated with significant anxiety at this critical stage of development. Negative parent-adolescent relationships disrupt family functioning and emotional bonds between family members, lead to problematic sibling relationships and increase conflicts between family members (Sanagoei, Etemadi, Sayyed Ahmadi, & Jazayeri, 2016). The emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has transformed all aspects of human life, and all daily affairs have undergone significant qualitative and quantitative changes (Boor Boor, Khodabakhshi-Koolaee, & Falsafinejad, 2021).
In the present era, the world is moving towards invisible horizons under the influence of information explosion, technological achievements, and the breaking of cultural boundaries. Globalization and communication technologies and mass media have turned the world into a small village, and the cultures, values, norms, and customs of societies have undergone dramatic changes. One area that has experienced significant changes under the influence of globalization is the family with its changing functions (Carvalho, Francisco, & Relvas, 2015). Research has shown that ICT has created qualitative changes in family functioning, made new interaction modes, and rearranged family communication patterns (Stafford and Hillyer, 2012). Given the speed of technological advancement, its impact on life experiences has become an interesting topic for research. However, the research on its effects on family dynamics is still in its infancy (Appel, Holtz, Stiglbauer, & Batinic, 2012).
Parents have always had many concerns about Internet use, which has overwhelmed their lives. The growing impact of the Internet on family functioning, especially parent-child interaction, is remarkably uncontrollable (Verkuyl and Hughes, 2019). 
The positive and negative aspects of the virtual world are obvious for everyone. However, one of the concerns of parents and adolescents today is the lack of proper familiarity and media literacy. In general, parents are concerned about the psychological, social, cultural, moral, and economic factors that unintentionally threaten adolescents. In general, people are afraid of unknown things and often show this fear as a threat in their relationships. The differences and conflicts between parents and adolescents are also because of the improper knowledge and understanding of the virtual world. This research seeks to explore the opportunities and threats of the virtual world from the perspective of Iranian parents with a mixed methods approach. Also, we do not know to what extent Iranian parents consider this environment and how the virtual world has fueled the communication challenges of parents and their daughters.
The study aims to identify the parent-child communication challenges in Internet use. It also seeks to develop a parent-child relationship enrichment training program. Implementing this program can promote skills needed to manage Internet use and improve media literacy. Besides, the insights from this study can be used by all institutions, organizations, and ultimately families who seek to prevent harms caused by cyberspace and communication conflicts between parents and children over Internet use.

2. Materials and Methods 
This study was conducted using the exploratory sequential mixed methods design (Corbin and Strauss, 2014). To this aim, the research procedure began by collecting the qualitative data followed by the quantitative data. Furthermore, conventional qualitative content analysis was used to identify the components needed for developing the training program, and a quasi-experimental method with a pretest-posttest design and a control group was employed to assess the effectiveness of the devised program. Figure 1 shows the procedure taken to conduct the study. In the quasi-experimental phase, 32 adolescents were selected through a simple random sampling method and randomly assigned to the control and intervention groups, each with 16 members Caplan (2010). The data were collected using the media literacy questionnaire, the generalized and problematic internet use scale, and the parent-child relationship survey (Fine et al. 1985).
 

Phase 1: The qualitative phase
In the qualitative phase, the participants were selected using the purposive sampling method. They were the parents of female adolescent students studying in the junior secondary school in District 11 of Tehran in the 2019-2020 academic year. The qualitative data were collected and saturated using semi-structured interviews with 15 parents. They were asked questions such as: “What difficulties do you have with your child?” or “To what extent do you think your problems with your child relate to internet use?” The questions were developed based on empirical studies in the literature. The validity of the questions was already checked by several subject-matter experts to ensure the absence of bias or directionality, and the questions were revised based on the received feedback. Then, the primary categories and subcategories were extracted using Strauss and Corbin’s (2014) analytical method, as shown in Table 1. 


















The interviews were conducted in the counseling center so that interviewees could speak with confidence. The interviews were conducted in person before the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran. Each interview lasted 45 to 90 minutes and the average interview time was about 48 minutes. In the end, the interviewees appreciated their cooperation. After completing the interviews, they were transcribed verbatim. As a precaution, all transcripts were copied so that the analysis process could be done on the copies. This action ensured that the analysis process could be repeated if there was any problem with data analysis. The qualitative phase of the study was conducted in the 2019-2020 academic year. The validity of the questions asked in the interview was reviewed and confirmed by the experts in the field. However, other questions were asked during the interviews if necessary to enrich the data. To ensure the credibility of the findings, after analyzing each interview, the researcher referred to the participants again and asked them to check the accuracy of the content.
Furthermore, to assess the transferability of the findings to similar situations and groups, the selected participants were the parents of adolescent children of different ages and in various high schools. To ensure the dependability of the research procedure, the findings were peer-checked and confirmed by subject-matter experts. Finally, to ensure the confirmability of the results, the researchers tried not to involve their assumptions in data collection and analysis. Informed consent was obtained from the participants for taking part in and recording the interviews. The participants were told that their participation was voluntary and they could leave the study at any time. They were also ensured that their identity information (names, phone numbers, and addresses) would be confidential. Moreover, after transcribing the interviews, the participants’ voice-recorded files were kept in a safe place. 

Phase 2: The quantitative phase
The research population included all female students studying in the junior secondary school in District 11 of Tehran in the 2019-2020 academic year. In the second sampling stage, 60 persons willing to attend the study were clinically interviewed, and 32 persons who met the inclusion criteria were selected using a simple random sampling method and were assigned to either control or intervention groups (each with 16 members). One additional person was placed in each group due to the possible drop out of some participants. Then, a training program was implemented for the members of the intervention group.
Phase 3: The mixed quantitative-qualitative phase 
This study was conducted using exploratory sequential mixed methods design in two stages: 
Linking: After completing the qualitative phase, analyzing the data using conventional qualitative content analysis, and extracting the categories, the training program was developed to be implemented in the second quantitative phase. Then, 32 participants were selected in the quantitative phase and assigned to the intervention and control groups (the quantitative phase). 
Integration: Upon completing the qualitative and quantitative phases, a meta-inferential strategy was used to show how the qualitative data explained the quantitative data. 
The data in the quantitative phase were collected using Shahin’s media literacy questionnaire. It consists of 29 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale from “very high” to “very low”. The questionnaire targeted the five dimensions of goal-oriented and more selective use of messages (questions 1–4), understanding how the media works (questions 5–11), evaluation of media messages (questions 12–19), the combination of media messages (questions 20–25), and summarizing media messages (questions 26–29). The test validity was confirmed by experts in the field of media, communication, and library. The reliability was calculated using the Cronbach α in the first to fifth dimensions, respectively, as 0.813, 0.899, 0.909, 0.926, 0.773, and totally, 0.971 (Akbarinejad, Soleymani, & Shahrzadi, 2017). The Persian version of the inventory was administered to the participants in this study, and its reliability was reported to be 0.95 using the Cronbach α coefficient.
The Parent-Child Relationship Survey (PCRS) was developed by Fine, Moreland, and Schwebel (1985) to assess the quality of the parent-child relationship. The scale contains 24 items that are scored in a range of 1 to 7. This 24-item tool measures young people’s perceptions of their relationship with their parents. It measures positive affection, irritation/role confusion, identification, and communication. The survey is divided into two subscales, one assessing “relationship with mother” and the other measuring “relationship with father”. Both scales are the same, except that the words “mother” and “father” are exchanged. However, different factor loads have been reported for the two scales. 
The father-child relationship scale had an α coefficient values of 0.89 to 0.94 for the subscales, and the mother-child relationship scale had an α coefficient values of 0.61 to 0.94 for the subscales. The α coefficient for the whole instrument was equal to 0.96, showing its excellent internal consistency. The items in PCRS can be easily scored. Negatively worded items (9, 13, 14) are scored reversely. Then, the sum of scores of individual items is calculated and divided by the number of items for each factor to obtain the mean score of the subscale. The total score of the survey is the sum of the mean scores of the subscales (Fine et al. 1985). The content validity of the scale was assessed and confirmed for use in Iran, and its reliability was assessed through the Cronbach coefficient as 0.91 for the Persian version of the scale (Koolaee, Lor, H. S., Soleimani, & Rahmatizadeh, 2014).
The third instrument used in the study was the generalized and problematic internet use scale. It was developed by Caplan (2002) and then revised in 2010. It is a valuable tool to assess the psychological harm caused by excessive Internet use from various angles. This scale has been translated into German, Italian, Portuguese, and Persian. The scale measures 5 areas related to different aspects of the psychological harm: the preference for online social interactions, regulating negative mood states, preoccupation, compulsive Internet use, and negative consequences. Each area is measured using 3 items. Thus, the scale has a total of 15 items scored on a 7-point Likert scale. Therefore, the lowest and highest scores obtained for each item are 1 and 7, and the lowest and highest scores on the whole scale are 51 and 105, respectively.
The severity of the harm caused by the problematic use of the Internet is directly related to the score obtained. Therefore, the higher the score, the more severe the harm. A score of 15 to 45 is normal, a score of 46 to 65 shows mild harm, a score of 66 to 85 indicates moderate harm, and a score of 86 to 105 shows severe harm. The reliability of the scale was measured using the Cronbach α coefficient, and the corresponding values for each of the five areas and also the whole scale were estimated and reported. The Cronbach α coefficients equal to 0.7 or higher were considered the minimum score to confirm the reliability of the scale. The validity of the scale was assessed based on the content validity ratio. The validity of 10 items was 100%, the validity of 3 items was 08%, the validity of one item was 40%, and the validity of one item was 0. The total validity of the scale was 85.3%. The reliability values for preference for online social interactions, regulating negative mood states, preoccupation, compulsive Internet use, and negative consequences were 87.6%, 91.1%, 89.8%, 90.8%, and 86.2%, respectively. The overall reliability of the scale was estimated at 92.5% (Caplan, 2002; 2010). This scale was assessed and confirmed for use in Iran, and the present study and its reliability were assessed through the Cronbach coefficient as equal to 0.88.
Finally, a 12-session training program to enrich the parent-child relationship was developed following the findings of the qualitative phase of the study and the parents and children’s needs. The developed model was reviewed by several university professors in the fields of psychology, counseling, psychiatry, and psychometrics and was implemented after their confirmation. For the quantitative phase of the study, two informed consent forms were signed by the students and their parents, one copy was delivered to the parents, and the researcher kept the other copy. 
As with the qualitative phase, the researcher talked to the principals of the target schools and provided some information about the study’s objectives and its contributions to attract their cooperation. To ensure that the training program did not interfere with the student’s weekly schedule, the day and time of the training sessions were chosen upon the principals’ agreement so that no student would be absent from important classes. Given the COVID-19 outbreak and the closure of the schools, the training course was held online and in the BigBlueButton space during non-school hours. The same training sessions were held for the students in the control group at the end of the study and following the completion of the questionnaires after the intervention. 
To comply with ethical considerations, the participants were assured that their data would be kept confidential. Besides, this research project was registered under the code of ethics ID IR.IAU.SRB.REC.1399.058. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to check the normality of the data and the results showed the normal distribution of the data for the auxiliary variables. Moreover, the value of Levene’s test was not significant for the variables of harmful Internet use, media literacy, the father-child relationship, and the mother-child relationship (P>0.05). To assess the effectiveness of the training program, the questionnaires were re-administered to the participants in the intervention and control groups after the intervention. Finally, the collected data were analyzed using multivariate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) with SPSS v. 21. 

3. Results 
Phase 1: The qualitative phase
In the qualitative phase and after extracting the categories, the related themes were identified using the conventional qualitative content analysis method (Table 1). Afterward, the research model (Table 2) was developed based on the content presented in Table 1, literature review, and the instructions provided in the training sessions for enriching the relationship between parents and children.



Phase 2: The quantitative phase
Table 3 presents the mean and standard deviation of media literacy, parent-child relationship, and the Internet problematic use. 



Phase 3: The mixed quantitative-qualitative phase
The multivariate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was run to investigate the effectiveness of the training program on media literacy, parent-child relationship, and the Internet problematic use (Table 4).




The results showed a significant difference between the intervention and control groups in improving media literacy (F=310.972; P<0.05), improving the mother-child relationship (F=57.76; P<0.05), improving the father-child relationship (F=1503.863; P<0.05), and reducing the Internet problematic use (F=402.084; P<0.05). It was also shown that the training intervention improved media literacy, the mother-child relationship, the father-child relationship, and reduced the Internet problematic use by 91%, 66%, 83%, and 93%, showing the effectiveness of the training program to improve the parent-child relationship.

4. Discussion
The present study results showed that the training intervention was effective in improving media literacy, enhancing the parent-child relationship, and reducing the Internet problematic use among the female adolescents in the intervention group compared to the participants in the control group after the intervention. Thus, parent-adolescent relationship improvement training was effective. The study findings on the effectiveness of the training program in promoting media literacy were consistent with the results of the previous studies (Salehi and Kermani Bradaran, 2016). The parent-child relationship enrichment training program has focused on the communication challenges of using the Internet and helped the participants raise their awareness and media literacy. This action improved their knowledge to produce and interpret messages with insight and knowledge and ultimately helped reduce their communication challenges. Furthermore, the parent-child relationship enrichment training intervention significantly improved this relationship in the participants in the intervention group compared to the control group, as indicated in the literature (Cacioppo et al., 2019). 
Teaching effective communication between parents and children can significantly manage communication challenges between parents and adolescents and prevent the emergence of newer issues. The parent-child communication improvement model that focused on communication challenges in the proper use of the Internet helped the female adolescents and their parents improve their communication patterns and enhance parent-child interactions. 
The results also indicated a significant difference between the intervention and control groups in terms of the Internet problematic use as a control variable, implying a reduction in the Internet problematic use of the adolescents who attended the intervention program. Danet showed that the use of digital devices by children is a source of concern for 53.1% of parents, while 62.6% of parents consider that the use of information and communication technology in the home affects (positively or negatively) their relationship with their children (Danet, 2020). Kaur Hansaram indicated that Malaysian parents had concerns about using the Internet among their children. They reported the fear that the influence of foreign culture could impact their culture (Kaur Hansaram, 2019).
It seems that the development and implementation of the parent-child relationship enrichment training package that focused on improving the communication challenges in terms of Internet use and incorporated the necessary interventions for each component of the mother-daughter and father-daughter relationship and media literacy had a positive effect on reducing the problematic Internet use among the participants. In other words, when the intervention can simultaneously improve the parent-child relationship and enhance media literacy, it can reduce the harms associated with Internet use. 
One of the most critical limitations of this study was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the training sessions were held online, which led to newer challenges such as Internet disconnection, software problems, and the participants’ concerns about the effectiveness of online training due to the lack of facilities (lack of up-to-date systems, high-speed Internet connection, etc.). Given the findings and limitations of this study, and since Iran has several subcultures, similar qualitative and quantitative studies can be conducted in these fields and other subcultures in Iran. Furthermore, as the participants in the present study were female adolescents, future studies can focus on other groups such as male adolescents.
 
5. Conclusion
The results showed that the parent-child relationship enrichment program was effective in improving media literacy, enhancing the parent-child relationship, and reducing the Internet problematic use among female adolescents. Therefore, this training program can be used to reduce the communication challenges between parents and female adolescents.

Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch approved this research (Code: IR.IAU.SRB.REC.1399.058.

Funding
This article reports the results of a doctoral dissertation by the first author in counseling at the Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch.

Authors' contributions
All authors equally contributed to preparing this article.

Conflict of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to appreciate the officials in the Education Department of District 11 of Tehran and the parents who cooperated closely and their children. 


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