The mediating role of social internet use on the correlation of parental efficacy, peer influence and social functioning of adolescents in the current era

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine the mediating role of social internet use on the correlation of parental efficacy, peer influence and social functioning of adolescents. Methodologically, data was collected from a sample of 496 adolescents (Male = 18.5%; Female = 81.5%, Mage = 15.9), the idea that the relationship between parental efficacy, peer influence and social functioning of adolescents could be influenced by the mediating power of social internet use was tested. Consistent with this hypothesis, the results revealed positive and significant relationships between social functioning, social internet use (r = .373, p < .01), parental efficacy (r = .153, p < .05) and peer influence (r = .170, p < .01). Moreover, when social internet use was introduced as a mediator to determine the strength of the relationships, the prediction of parental efficacy on social functioning increased from 2.33% variance to 13.7%, while that of peer influence improved from 2.88% to 15.23%. Further, the results showed that the indirect effect of parental efficacy was greater than its direct effect on social functioning (IE = .0035> DE = .0033), but that of peer influence was lesser (IE = 0015 < DE = .0033) on the social functioning of adolescents in this current study. In conclusion, findings established that social internet use was a prominent construct in adolescents’ developmental processes for optimal social functioning.