The effect of distance learning on parent–adolescent relationships in Arab society during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

This two-phase cross-sectional study examined distance learning’s impact on parent–adolescent relationships in Arab–Israeli society. Independent samples of 200 parents (2021–2022) and 270 parents (2024) completed a 42-item questionnaire assessing attitudes toward distance learning and relationship quality. The instrument demonstrated strong reliability (α = 0.90), with subscales showing α = 0.87–0.89 (attitudes) and α = 0.91–0.93 (relationships). During the pandemic, a strong positive correlation (r = 0.797, p <.001) emerged between parents’ attitudes toward distance learning and relationship quality. Younger age, higher education, fewer children, and digital literacy significantly predicted positive outcomes. Postpandemic results reversed dramatically (r = −0.596, p <.001): Positive distance learning attitudes then associated with poorer relationships. Demographic predictors shifted—education and digital literacy remained significant, but child number became nonsignificant, and age effects reversed (with older parents reporting better relationships). This reversal reflected families’ return to normal routines and reduced parental involvement necessity. Pandemic conditions uniquely fostered relationship quality through enforced proximity and shared challenges. However, the correlation reversal (positive to negative) suggests that technology adoption and intensive involvement that supported relationships during crisis became counterproductive post pandemic when adolescents’ developmental needs for autonomy and peer connection reasserted themselves. Cross-sectional design with demographically different samples limits causal inference. Measurement invariance is untested. Self-report biases are possible. Nonrandom sampling was used. Findings are specific to the Arab–Israeli context.