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Given 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.
This 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.
The 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.
A 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,
This 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.
Internet 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 [
A growing literature has conceptualized excessive internet use that leads to negative consequences in users’ lives as problematic internet use (PIU) [
Adolescence is a particularly vulnerable period for the onset of PIU [
Adolescents are embedded into a family system that exercises tremendous influence over their lives. Thus, an extensive literature has examined adolescent PIU in the context of family interactions, especially parental supportiveness. Parental supportiveness is defined as “the extent to which parents intentionally foster individuality, self-regulation, and self-assertion by being attuned, supportive, and acquiescent to children’s special needs and demands” ([
In the context of PIU, studies with US, European, and Asian samples show that supportive parenting practices, as indicated by high parent-child cohesion [
An important note is that it is possible that unsupportive parents perceive themselves as supportive regardless of how the adolescents actually feel [
Hypothesis 1: Higher perceived parental supportiveness will be associated with lower PIU among adolescents.
Mental health can be conceptualized along two dimensions: psychopathology and subjective well-being [
While the two perspectives of mental health (ie, psychopathology and mental well-being) are related to each other, they are nonetheless distinct [
An extensive literature has investigated the connections between adolescents’ mental health and their PIU, focusing primarily on psychopathology indicators such as depression and anxiety, and finding that they are significant risk factors for the development of adolescent PIU [
High subjective mental well-being is theorized to act as a protective factor against the development of adolescent PIU because high-functioning individuals have more adaptive coping skills when faced with the stressors of daily life and are therefore less likely to turn to the internet to alleviate negative affective states [
Hypothesis 2: Higher subjective mental well-being will be associated with lower PIU among adolescents.
While parental supportiveness contributes to high mental well-being among adolescents [
Both parental supportiveness and mental well-being are expected to be protective factors against adolescent PIU, yet little is known about whether and how these factors work jointly in shaping PIU. We expect that the protective role of perceived parental supportiveness should be stronger for those adolescents with higher subjective mental well-being, since highly functioning adolescents more easily internalize the value and rules of positive social behaviors that their parents try to motivate [
On the other hand, those with low mental well-being and unsupportive parents should be especially vulnerable to PIU. As reviewed, unsupportive parenting may prompt adolescents to engage in excessive use of the internet [
Hypothesis 3: High subjective mental well-being will moderate the association between perceived parental supportiveness and PIU, such that the negative association between perceived parental supportiveness and PIU will be stronger for adolescents with high mental well-being.
The study analyzed one of the Technology & Adolescent Mental Wellness (TAM) data sets that were collected from a nationally representative cross-sectional sample administered by Qualtrics between March and April 2019. The primary purpose for the data collection was to understand parents’ and adolescents’ technology use and mental health. The target population was English-speaking US residents aged 12 to 17 years. We set the parameters for Qualtrics to recruit a sample consistent with the race/ethnicity composition of the US census population for 12- to 17–year-old subjects. Recruitment and sampling approaches were modeled after previous youth and media studies using Qualtrics [
Adolescents completed the short version of the Problematic and Risky Internet Use Screening Scale (PRIUSS-3) [
Adolescents answered the following questions about their relationship with their parent or guardian who took the survey with them using a 5-point Likert scale from 0 (never) to 4 (always) [
The short version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS) was used to measure adolescents’ mental well-being (7 items) [
Age, gender, race, family income, family structure, school type, and social media use were included as covariates in the analysis. Respondents were asked to indicate their age, ranging from 12 to 17 years. Gender was coded with 1 being female and 2 being male. Race was coded with 1 being Caucasian and 0 being others. School type was categorized into 1 being public schools and 0 being others. Family income was assessed using 12 increasing income ranges (1=less than $20,000 to 12=more than $150,000). Family structure was coded with 1 being a parent who is divorced, separated, or widowed and 0 being others. Finally, frequency of checking social media was assessed on a scale from 1 (less than once a week) to 8 (almost constantly) [
The hypotheses were tested through a hierarchical linear regression analysis conducted using the
A total of 4592 parent-adolescent (aged 12-17 years) dyads completed the survey. Adolescents’ mean age was 14.61 (SD 1.68) years, and the sample consisted of 46.4% (n=2130) females and 66.9% (n=3370) White individuals.
Most caregivers identified themselves as a biological parent (n=3934, 85.7%), followed by stepparent (n=246, 5.4%), parent’s partner (living together) (n=137, 3.0%), adoptive parent (n=120, 2.6%), grandparent (n=106, 2.3%), other relative or guardian (n=26, 0.6%), and foster parent (n=12, 0.3%).
Descriptive characteristics (N=4592).
Characteristic | Participants | |
Age (years), mean (SD) | 14.61 (1.68) | |
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Female | 2130 (46.4) |
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Male | 2392 (52.1) |
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Nonbinary gender | 23 (0.5) |
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Female-to-male transgender | 25 (0.5) |
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Male-to-female transgender | 5 (0.1) |
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Prefer not to answer | 17 (0.4) |
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White/Caucasian | 3370 (66.9) |
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Black or African American | 699 (15.2) |
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American Indian/Alaska Native | 116 (2.5) |
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Asian | 211 (4.5) |
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Asian Indian | 17 (0.4) |
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Other Asian | 7 (0.2) |
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Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander | 36 (0.8) |
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Multiracial | 221 (4.8) |
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Other | 31 (0.7) |
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Prefer not to answer | 82 (1.8) |
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Latino/Hispanic/Mexican | 101 (2.2) |
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Less than $9,999 | 235 (5.1) |
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$10,000-$19,999 | 310 (6.8) |
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$20,000-$29,999 | 417 (9.1) |
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$30,000-$39,999 | 441 (9.6) |
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$40,000-$49,999 | 385 (8.4) |
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$50,000-$59,999 | 440 (9.6) |
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$60,000-$69,999 | 306 (6.7) |
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$70,000-$79,999 | 399 (8.7) |
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$80,000-$89,999 | 266 (5.8) |
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$90,000-$99,999 | 322 (7.0) |
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$100,000-$149,999 | 694 (15.1) |
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More than $150,000 | 368 (8.0) |
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Married | 2921 (63.6) |
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Living with a partner | 440 (9.6) |
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Divorced | 389 (8.5) |
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Separated | 136 (3.0) |
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Widowed | 94 (2.0) |
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Never married | 568 (12.4) |
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Prefer not to answer | 44 (1.0) |
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Public school (middle or high school) | 3585 (78.1) |
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Private school (middle or high school) | 568 (12.4) |
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Home schooled | 207 (4.5) |
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Online school | 106 (2.3) |
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Public 4-year college | 82 (1.8) |
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Not currently in school | 23 (0.5) |
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Prefer not to answer | 19 (0.4) |
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Frequency of checking social media | 5.15 (2.06) |
aThis item was answered by parents or guardians who took the survey with the adolescents.
Pearson correlation coefficients for all variables.
Variables | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
1. Age | —a | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
2. Gender | –0.021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
3. Race | 0.059b | 0.065b | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
4. Family income | 0.026 | 0.115b | 0.160b | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
5. Family structure | 0.052b | –0.032d | –0.024 | –0.218b | — | — | — | — | — | — |
6. School type | 0.007 | –0.058b | –0.049c | –0.102b | –0.041c | — | — | — | — | — |
7. Frequency of checking social media | 0.047c | –0.048e | 0.038d | 0.059b | –0.069b | –0.069b | — | — | — | — |
8. Mental well-being | –0.010 | 0.047c | 0.046c | 0.114c | –0.036d | –0.004 | –0.005 | — | — | — |
9. Parental supportiveness | 0.057b | –0.081b | 0.011 | –0.069b | 0.079b | 0.152b | –0.146b | 0.228b | — | — |
10. Problematic internet use | –0.045c | 0.040c | 0.083b | 0.106b | –0.066b | –0.140b | 0.353b | –0.104b | –0.366b | — |
aThe correlation coefficient is not displayed since it is shown in the asymmetrically diagonal position of the table.
bCorrelations significant at the
cCorrelations significant at the
dCorrelations significant at the
Standardized coefficients, standard errors, and
There was a statistically significant negative relationship between perceived parental supportiveness and PIU (β=–.275,
A statistically significant interaction effect of perceived parental supportiveness and subjective well-being on PIU also emerged (β=–.191,
Simple slope analyses for the association between perceived parental supportiveness and PIU were calculated at the mean (1 SD) level for subjective mental well-being, using the Johnson-Neyman techniques [
Hierarchical regression analysis examining the relationships between problematic internet use, perceived parental supportiveness, and subjective mental well-being (N=4592)a.
Variable | Problematic internet use | Δ |
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β | SE |
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22.2 | |
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Age | –.072 | 0.032 | <.001 |
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Genderb | .002 | 0.107 | .90 |
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Racec | .053 | 0.115 | <.001 |
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Family income | .050 | 0.016 | .002 |
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Family structured | –.020 | 0.160 | .22 |
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School typee | –.060 | 0.135 | <.001 |
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Frequency of checking social media | .277 | 0.027 | <.001 |
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4.2 | |
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Perceived parental supportiveness | –.285 | 0.018 | <.001 |
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Subjective mental well-being | –.079 | 0.011 | <.001 |
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2.2 | |
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Perceived parental supportiveness × subjective mental well-being | –.191 | 0.003 | <.001 |
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aAll coefficients are standardized. Predictors are mean-centered.
bFemale=1, male=2.
cWhite=1, others=0.
dDivorced, separated, or widowed parent=1, others=0.
ePublic school=1, others=0.
Interaction effect between perceived parental supportiveness and subjective mental well-being on problematic internet use.
PIU among adolescents is a public health concern due to its high prevalence and detrimental impact on adolescents’ physical, social, and academic development [
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. Similarly, better mental well-being among adolescents was associated with lower PIU, supporting claims by previous research [
Finally, the negative association between PIU and perceived parental supportiveness increased for adolescents with high mental well-being (
We conducted additional analyses to investigate the possibility that adolescents who perceive their parents as unsupportive seek social connections on the internet, potentially in an effort to foster relationships that compensate for low parental supportiveness. A regression model with social media use as the dependent variable and parental supportiveness and mental well-being as independent variables (
An intriguing issue that should be investigated by future research concerns the interplay between PIU/internet addiction and subjective mental well-being over time. While adolescents with unsupportive parents in our sample maintained high levels of subjective mental well-being even as they engaged in high PIU, it is likely that as PIU continues over time it can lead to a deterioration in subjective mental well-being, and even to psychopathology, supporting the large body of research that finds depression and anxiety to be strongly linked with PIU and internet addiction in young adults [
Given this state of affairs, we argue that adolescence is a tremendously important point for intervention, before PIU turns into full-blown internet addiction and before it leads to a deterioration in adolescents’ well-being. Perceptions of parental unsupportiveness were the strongest driver of problematic usage, even among adolescents who otherwise experienced high well-being. Thus, perceived parental supportiveness is a key factor that should be targeted. For example, PIU prevention should include training for parents to improve their communication skills and provide appropriate discipline, but also validation and companionship, for their adolescents.
This study has several limitations. While associations were observed between PIU and subjective mental well-being and perceived parental supportiveness, the cross-sectional nature of the study does not permit insight into temporal or causal relationships. Future longitudinal studies are necessary to understand what factors protect adolescents against PIU. This study did not differentiate between diverse types of internet use (eg, video gaming, chatting, social networking sites, etc). PIU in these different online contexts may relate differently to subjective mental well-being and perceived parental supportiveness. Furthermore, the measures are all self-reported by adolescents and thus are limited by their ability and willingness to recall and report information accurately.
Despite these limitations, this study contributes to the literature by finding a meaningful interplay between adolescents’ mental well-being and their perception of parental supportiveness in shaping PIU. This helps illuminate the conditions under which adolescent PIU emerges.
Interaction effect between subjective mental well-being and perceived parental supportiveness on the frequency of checking social media.
problematic internet use
Problematic and Risky Internet Use Screening Scale
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale–short version
Technology & Adolescent Mental Wellness
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being
Access to secondary data in this study was supported by the TAM Data Consortium at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the university nor the TAM Data Consortium.
None declared.