TY  - JOUR
AU  - Hwang, Juwon
AU  - Toma, Catalina L
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/9/15
TI  - The Role of Mental Well-Being and Perceived Parental Supportiveness in Adolescents’ Problematic Internet Use: Moderation Analysis
JO  - JMIR Ment Health
SP  - e26203
VL  - 8
IS  - 9
KW  - problematic internet use
KW  - PIU
KW  - subjective mental well-being
KW  - perceived parental supportiveness
KW  - adolescents
KW  - well-being
KW  - young adult
KW  - internet
KW  - mental health
KW  - support
KW  - parent
KW  - engagement
KW  - social media
AB  - Background: 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. Objective: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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, 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). Conclusions: 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. 
SN  - 2368-7959
UR  - https://mental.jmir.org/2021/9/e26203
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/26203
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34524093
DO  - 10.2196/26203
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/26203
ER  -