engleski

Relationship between parental mediation and problematic Internet use in adolescents

The growing prevalence of Internet use among adolescents poses a challenge to parents, both in limiting adolescents’ time spent on the Internet and in dealing with other problematic behaviors related to its use. Research points to adolescents using the Internet more than any other age group, and they are at a higher risk for developing problematic Internet use. Although adolescents need autonomy and independence in their behavior, they also need parental monitoring of Internet use since it can lead them into problematic behaviors, especially in early adolescence. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between parental mediation and generalized problematic Internet use in Croatian adolescents. The sample includes 284 Croatian adolescents who attend higher grades of primary school and one of their parents who participate in the research project "Digital technology in the family: patterns of behavior and effects on child development." The data is taken from the first wave of the longitudinal study about adolescents' smartphone use in Croatia. Adolescents completed the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 (GPIUS2, Caplan, 2010). Based on the qualitative study with adolescents and parents in the project, we developed a new scale for measuring parental mediation. Adolescents and parents completed the scale on parental mediation. The results indicate good psychometric characteristics of the newly constructed parental mediation scale. Furthermore, the preliminary results indicate that adolescents whose parents use active mediation more often have a lower preference for online social interaction (POSI) and vice versa. Also, adolescents whose parents use restrictive mediation more often are more likely to use the Internet for mood regulation and vice versa. Although the results show little or no association between parental mediation and problematic use in the sample, the importance of parental behavior in the prevention of problematic Internet use cannot be ignored. Parents are advised to apply different mediation strategies when it comes to managing their children's Internet use and should agree on rules for Internet use with their children who are in early adolescence.

adolescents, parents, problematic Internet use, parental mediation, Internet

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