Abstract
BackgroundGiven the growing number of adolescents exhibiting problematic internet use (PIU) and experiencing its harmful consequences, it is important to examine the factors associated with PIU. Existing research has identified perceived parental supportiveness and adolescents’ subjective mental well-being as strong predictors of PIU. However, it is unknown how these factors work together in shaping adolescents’ engagement in PIU.ObjectiveThis paper aimed to examine the role played by adolescents’ perception of parental supportiveness in conjunction with their subjective mental well-being in shaping their PIU.MethodsThe study analyzed one of the Technology & Adolescent Mental Wellness (TAM) data sets that were collected from a nationally representative cross-sectional sample. Adolescents self-reported their internet use behavior, perceived parental supportiveness, and subjective mental well-being through an online research panel survey. Hierarchical linear regression analysis with an interaction term was performed.ResultsA total of 4592 adolescents, aged 12 to 17 years, completed the survey. Adolescents reported a mean age of 14.61 (SD 1.68) and were 46.4% (2130/4592) female and 66.9% (3370/4592) White. Findings revealed that, controlling for adolescents’ demographics and social media use, higher levels of perceived parental supportiveness (β=–.285, P<.001) and higher levels of subjective mental well-being (β=–.079, P<.001) were associated with a lower likelihood of adolescent PIU. The moderation analysis showed that the negative association between perceived parental supportiveness and PIU was stronger when adolescents reported high (vs low) levels of mental well-being (β=–.191, P<.001).ConclusionsThis study shows that perceived parental supportiveness was a stronger protective factor than adolescents’ mental well-being against PIU. The protective power of perceived parental supportiveness against PIU was strongest when adolescents had high mental well-being. The highest risk of PIU occurred when adolescents’ mental well-being was high, but parents were perceived as unsupportive. Our findings suggest that parental supportiveness should be targeted as part of PIU prevention efforts.
Highlights
BackgroundInternet use has become a major part of adolescents’ daily life
The goal of this study was to examine the role played by two psychological factors in the development of adolescent problematic internet use (PIU)—perceived parental supportiveness and subjective mental well-being—through a large, nationally representative survey of US adolescents aged 12 to 17 years
Our main findings can be summarized as follows: the more adolescents perceived their parents as supportive, the less PIU they reported, consistent with research that shows adolescents who perceive their parents as supportive internalize rules and values for prosocial behavior and do not need to resort to internet use to compensate for deficits in parental supportiveness
Summary
BackgroundInternet use has become a major part of adolescents’ daily life. A recent survey indicates that 45% of US adolescents aged 13 to 17 years are on the internet almost constantly [1], a figure that has nearly doubled from the 24% who reported being online on a near-constant basis in 2014-2015 [2]. Existing research has identified perceived parental supportiveness and adolescents’ subjective mental well-being as strong predictors of PIU. It is unknown how these factors work together in shaping adolescents’ engagement in PIU. Adolescents self-reported their internet use behavior, perceived parental supportiveness, and subjective mental well-being through an online research panel survey. Findings revealed that, controlling for adolescents’ demographics and social media use, higher levels of perceived parental supportiveness (β=–.285, P
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