Chinese adolescents’ problematic cellphone use: Exploring the implications of configuration profiles of cellphone-specific parenting behaviors

Abstract

Parenting behaviors play critical roles in the etiology of adolescents' problematic cellphone use (PCU). However, research on the associations between cellphone-specific parenting behaviors and adolescents' PCU still remains sparse. Moreover, the extant few studies have been over-reliant on variable-centered approaches, which fall short of adequately revealing the heterogeneity within the configurations of parenting behaviors and their implications for adolescents' PCU. Utilizing latent profile analyses with survey data from a nationwide representative sample of 8261 Chinese parent–adolescent dyads (Mage = 12.86, SD = 1.75; 42.8% females), this study examined the configuration patterns of various cellphone-specific parenting behaviors and their relations with adolescents' PCU. Seven distinct profiles were identified: the “Ambivalent-Overcontrolling” (AMBO) profile, “Ambivalent-Controlling” (AMBC), “Ambivalent-Knowledgeable” (AMBK), “Acquaintance Monitoring” (AM), “Hands-on-Authoritative” (HAUTHE), “Allround-Authoritative” (AAUTHE), and “Authoritarian” (AUTHN). Adolescents in the “HAUTHE” group reported significantly lower levels of PCU than did those in the “AMBK” and “AAUTHE” groups, followed by the “AMBO,” “AMBC,” “AM,” and “AUTHN” groups. Such results highlighted the utility of person-centered approaches in more fully revealing the underexplored heterogeneity in the configural patterning of cellphone-specific parenting behaviors and its implications for adolescents' PCU. Our findings also have practical insights. It is important to train parents with a variety of cellphone-specific parenting strategies and also educate them about the more adaptive combinations of such strategies in preventing and reducing adolescents' PCU. To tailor interventions to satisfy different families’ unique needs, practitioners should attend to the variability in the configuration patterns of cellphone-specific parenting strategies across families.