Socioeconomic status and social networking site addiction among children and adolescents: Examining the roles of parents' active mediation and ICT attitudes

Abstract

Social networking sites (SNS) addiction has become a social problem among young adolescents in many areas of the world. The current study examined the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in children and adolescents' SNS addiction, taking into account parents' attitudes and behavior with regard to information communication technology (ICT). Participants were 823 students (ages 9–15; 49.94 % girls) who completed questionnaires in their classrooms. The results showed that: (1) SES was negatively associated with SNS addiction; (2) active parental mediation mediated this association; and (3) parents' ICT attitude moderated this mediating effect; specifically, the association between SES and active parental mediation was weaker for parents with more positive attitudes toward ICT. These findings provide guidance for prevention and intervention related to children and adolescents’ SNS addiction.