Restrictive Mediation and Unintended Effects: Serial Multiple Mediation Analysis Explaining the Role of Reactance in US Adolescents

Abstract

Extant research indicates that restrictive parental mediation, parents enforcing rules limiting children’s media use, produces unintended effects in adolescents. Speculation exists that these suboptimal effects are due to psychological reactance following a restrictive mediation interaction leading the adolescent toward defiant behavior. A survey of undergraduate students (N = 483) was conducted to investigate the process of psychological reactance as a mediating factor in the relationship between restrictive parental mediation and three unintended effects: negative attitude toward parents, positive attitude toward restricted content, and increased viewing of restricted content with friends. Results revealed a direct effect of restrictive mediation on attitude toward parent, but not attitude toward restricted content or viewing restricted content with friends. Moreover, the reactance process fully mediated restrictive mediation’s effect on attitude toward restricted content and viewing restricted content with friends, and partially mediated the effect on attitude toward parents.