The Covid-19 pandemic is a phenomenon that mental health scholars have not fully understood, which might adversely affect parenting. Previous studies have found that sociodemographic factors influence parenting stress in non-pandemic conditions. However, no study has discussed parenting stress during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, the present study investigates the sociodemographic factors influencing parenting stress during the Covid-19 pandemic. Using a cross-sectional approach, we applied convenience sampling using online platforms to recruit the participants. Seven hundred ninety parents aged 20-57 participated in this study (mothers = 740, fathers = 50). The validated Indonesian version of the Parenting Stress Scale was administered online to measure parenting stress. The results identified that mothers experienced parenting stress more than fathers (t(788) = -2.83; p = 0.005; d = -3.28; 95% CI [-5.55; -1.00]). Furthermore, it revealed that financial condition was the only predictor of the parenting stress experienced by fathers (β = 0.39, p = 0.02). Apart from the financial condition, working status (β = -0.08, p = 0.04), educational background (β =-0.10, p = 0.02), and marital status (β = 0.13, p = 0.00) also predicted the level of parenting stress in mothers. Several sociodemographic variables associated with maternal parenting stress indicate the necessity of interventions to promote mothers' mental health, who are more prone to parenting stress than fathers.

The use of smartphones in adolescents can negatively impact their daily lives. When adolescents’ ability to control smartphone use is low, they could experience problematic smartphone use behavior (PSU). By internalizing control, parents play a crucial role in enhancing adolescents' self-control on smartphone use. Based on the controlling component of parenting, there are two types of parental control: parental structure and parental psychological control. Previous studies have found a relationship between parental psychological control and PSU. However, studies investigating the relationship between parental structure and parental psychological control simultaneously with PSU are limited. This study is important since parents found practicing those two types of parental control simultaneously. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of parental structure and psychological control on adolescents' problematic smartphone use. 219 adolescents aged 12-18 (M = 14.49 years) completed the Indonesian version of the Parental Structure Scale, Parental Psychological Control Scale, and Mobile Phone Problematic Use Scale questionnaires. Stepwise regression analysis shows that only parental psychological control predicts the increase of problematic smartphone use in adolescents. Our finding suggested that the type of parental control that emphasizes authority assertion, love withdrawal, and guilt induction is ineffective in decreasing problematic smartphone use in adolescents.