The age of information and communication technology (ICT) has witnessed the prevalence of computer-based reading. Previous studies yielded mixed results concerning the relationship between ICT perceived competence, ICT use and digital reading performance, and the underlying mechanism was rarely explored. This study aimed to explore the relationship between ICT perceived competence and adolescents’ digital reading performance and the potential mediating roles of three types of ICT use. Multilevel mediation analyses were conducted for 199,646 15-year-old students from 29 OECD countries/regions in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, in which digital reading performance was assessed by multistage adaptive computer-based testing. The results revealed that a) ICT perceived competence and digital reading performance were positively correlated; b) ICT use significantly mediated the relationship; c) students with higher-level ICT perceived competence tended to use ICT for leisure at home more frequently, which led to better digital reading performance; d) the suppression effects were revealed, indicating the need to consider the interrelationship between ICT perceived competence and ICT use. These findings provided new evidence for the self-determination theory and the ICT engagement model, suggesting that appropriate ICT use driven by high-level ICT perceived competence might help improve adolescents’ digital reading performance.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.