The Influence of Parental Control and Parent-Child Relational Qualities on Adolescent Internet Addiction: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study investigated how parental behavioral control, parental psychological control, and parent-child relational qualities predicted the initial level and rate of change in adolescent internet addiction (IA) across the junior high school years. The study also investigated the concurrent and longitudinal effects of different parenting factors on adolescent IA. Starting from the 2009/2010 academic year, 3,328 Grade 7 students (Mage = 12.59 ± 0.74 years) from 28 randomly selected secondary schools in Hong Kong responded on a yearly basis to a questionnaire measuring multiple constructs including socio-demographic characteristics, perceived parenting characteristics, and IA. Individual growth curve (IGC) analyses showed that adolescent IA slightly decreased during junior high school years. While behavioral control of both parents was negatively related to the initial level of adolescent IA, only paternal behavioral control showed a significant positive relationship with the rate of linear change in IA, suggesting that higher paternal behavioral control predicted a slower decrease in IA. In addition, fathers' and mothers' psychological control was positively associated with the initial level of adolescent IA, but increase in maternal psychological control predicted a faster drop in IA. Finally, parent-child relational qualities negatively and positively predicted the initial level and the rate of change in IA, respectively. When all parenting factors were considered simultaneously, multiple regression analyses revealed that paternal behavioral control and psychological control as well as maternal psychological control and mother-child relational quality were significant concurrent predictors of adolescent IA at Wave 2 and Wave 3. Regarding the longitudinal predicting effects, paternal psychological control and mother-child relational quality at Wave 1 were the two most robust predictors of later adolescent IA at Wave 2 and Wave 3. The above findings underscore the importance of the parent-child subsystem qualities in influencing adolescent IA in the junior high school years. In particular, these findings shed light on the different impacts of fathering and mothering which are neglected in the scientific literature. While the findings based on the levels of IA are consistent with the existing theoretical models, findings on the rate of change are novel.

Linking parental mediation practices to adolescents’ problematic online screen use: A systematic literature review

“…The results of the few prospective studies were generally in line with those of the cross-sectional investigations. More prospective studies are needed, with random sampling and with assessments covering three or more follow-up years, as has been done by the research groups of Chng and Shek (Chng et al, 2015;Shek, Zhu, & Ma, 2018). Reliable and valid questionnaires should be designed to measure parental mediation and family cohesion.…”

Positive Youth Development and Adolescent Depression: A Longitudinal Study Based on Mainland Chinese High School Students

“…Lim et al's meta-analysis, involving 686,672 children and adolescents, revealed that the aggregate lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates of suicide attempts, suicidal plans, suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-injury, and deliberate self-harm were 4.5%, 7.5%, 14.2%, 19.5%, and 14.2% in adolescents, respectively [2]. In addition, internet addiction, gaming problems, pathological gambling, and social media addiction have rapidly increased in recent decades [3][4][5]. UNICEF warned that one-fifth of adolescents in the world have mental health problems, which could hinder adolescent adjustment and create unfavorable consequences in adulthood [6].…”

The Associations between Family-Related Factors and Excessive Internet Use in Adolescents

“…According to existing literature, restriction and control are associated with negative outcomes, while parental monitoring promotes healthy and positive psychological development [38]. With respect to internet use, the adequate monitoring of an adolescent´s whereabouts and the strategies of behavioural control have been linked to lower levels of EIU [39,40], while intrusive parental control and autonomy restriction are likely to manifest as risk factors for EIU [41].The present overview suggests that family environmental factors might play an important role in moderating internet use in adolescence. However, to our knowledge, none of the available studies have comprehensively examined these factors in relation to EIU.…”