Associations between parental mediation and adolescents' internet addiction: The role of parent–child relationship and adolescents' grades

Abstract

IntroductionFamily factors, such as parental mediation on Internet use and parent-child relationships, have been shown to play a crucial role in preventing adolescents' internet addiction. Previous studies have shown a change in characteristics of online risk during adolescents' development. However, it is still of great interest whether such differences applied in the relationships among parent-child relationships, different types of parental mediation and adolescents' internet addiction level. In this study, we investigated the associations between different types of parental mediators and adolescents' internet addiction level and how the associations were mediated by father-child and mother-child relationships. We further investigated whether mediating effect differs between primary and secondary school children.MethodsBased on a sample of 3,026 school children aged 9–14 years (M = 11.56, SD = 0.71; 55.25% primary school adolescents, 44.75% secondary school adolescents), a series of Structural Equation Models were applied to investigate the relationships among internet addiction, parental mediation, and parent-child relationship. In addition, a series of multi-group analysis were applied to detect whether there are differences in these relationships between the primary and secondary school group.ResultsThe internet addiction level and intensity of parental mediation was higher among primary school adolescents than secondary school adolescents. Parental active mediation and monitoring on internet use were associated with reduced and increased adolescents' internet addiction. Father-child relationship had stronger partial mediating effects on the relationships between parental mediation and adolescents' internet addiction than the mother-child relationship. The relationships among parental mediation, parent-child relationship and internet addiction were more pronounced among primary school adolescents than secondary school adolescents.DiscussionThe findings suggest that good father-child relationships and adequate parental mediation approach, such as active mediation, may contribute to reduction of internet addiction risk in adolescents, especially in primary school adolescents.

Technology Use and Psychopathology among Early Adolescents in a Rural Context in Chile

“…In contrast, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles result in aggressive and negative behaviors in children (68). On the other hand, several studies have found that active mediation has been linked to a decrease in adolescents' internet addiction (13). Additionally, one recent study showed that restrictive mediation decreased contact with new people by increasing adolescents' risk perception of this activity.…”

The Influence of Mindful Parenting on Children’s Creative Tendencies: The Chain Mediating Effect of Parent–Child Intimacy and Connectedness to Nature

“…The data collected from 841 mothers’ reports in this study confirmed the positive relationship between mindful parenting and preschoolers’ creative tendencies. A recent study of adolescents aged 12–15 years and their parents discovered that the higher the parents’ degree of mindful parenting, the better the development of their children’s creativity and their level of creativity in all its dimensions [ 51 ]. Our findings support previous research, broaden the age range of existing studies, and give additional empirical evidence for shaping children’s creative tendencies.…”

Absolute and relative preferences for mobile phone internet content, mobile phone dependence, and depressive symptoms: a study of Chinese university students in the post-pandemic era

“…These six categories are also organized into three information types: entertainment and lifestyle are the stress-reducing type; learning and work are the stress-producing type; and political news and social are the neutral type (meaning that reading such information does not directly reduce or produce stress). Previous studies have shown that the different types and categories of Internet content preferences have different effects on Internet addiction ( 22 , 23 ). Accordingly, the present study explored the associations of different types and categories of phone Internet contents with mobile phone dependence and depressive symptoms among Chinese university students.…”

“…Prolonged use may produce feelings of exhaustion and loss ( 37 ), and some Internet users experience guilt or even depressive symptoms after flow experiences ( 38 ). Some studies have found that Internet content categories such as entertainment are more likely to cause Internet addiction and dependence in adolescents ( 22 ). Based on this, we propose the following hypothesis:…”

“…AP-NTm refers to university students’ use of various search engines to find and gain insights into political news and social issues. Some studies of adolescent groups have shown that these information categories are similar to the stress-producing type, and are accessed for real-life purposes ( 22 ). As neutral-type information can bring only limited pleasure to adolescents, it is unlikely to lead to mobile phone dependence.…”