Abstract
Internet addiction in adolescence is a social issue which is being increasingly discussed worldwide. Hence, deepening the knowledge of its development is necessary to prevent short- and long-term negative outcomes. This study involving 266 adolescents (mean age = 16.1 years, SD = 1.4) aimed at analyzing the relationship between quality of parental care, Internet addiction and adolescents’ mental health, by means of the following self-report tools: the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Internet Addiction Test, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The findings, collected through structural equation model analyses, showed that perceived care from both father and mother had significant indirect effects on Internet addiction problems through adolescents’ mental health problems. Furthermore, Internet addiction problems were demonstrated to be negatively associated with maternal care but not with paternal care. The study provides empirical support to the need of family-based prevention and intervention programs to take care of Internet addiction.
Highlights
The Internet plays an important role, as it gives youths the possibility to have experience of and explore critical issues, such as autonomy, identity, and sexuality [1,2]
No significant gender difference was found in the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and Internet Addiction Test (IAT) scales
In consideration of the complex interactions among different individual and family variables, the current study aimed at analyzing the relationship between quality of parental care, Internet addiction (IA) and adolescents’ psychological mental health
Summary
The Internet plays an important role, as it gives youths the possibility to have experience of and explore critical issues, such as autonomy, identity, and sexuality [1,2]. Adolescents and young adults are the main users of these instruments [4,5], with the primary purpose of social interaction and interpersonal communication [6]. These new technologies are used by teenagers to address their developmental duties, existing research has shown that they could hinder their growth. The Internet may be used excessively by adolescents or in a maladaptive manner, in particular to manage psychological hardship [7] and negative emotions linked with difficult parental and peer relationships [8]. Internet addiction (IA) can be defined as the inability to control
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