Parent-child relationship and problematic smartphone use among chinese adolescents: a moderated mediation model

Cai Zhang; Yiru Jiang; Chengwei Zhu; Mian Li; Xi Quan; Fumei Chen

doi:10.1007/s12144-022-03556-3

Parent-child relationship and problematic smartphone use among chinese adolescents: a moderated mediation model

Curr Psychol. 2022 Aug 10:1-15. doi: 10.1007/s12144-022-03556-3. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Cai Zhang¹, Yiru Jiang¹, Chengwei Zhu¹, Mian Li¹, Xi Quan¹, Fumei Chen¹

Affiliation

¹ Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, No. 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, 100875 Beijing, PR China.

Abstract

To explore the influence and mechanism of parent-child relationship on adolescents' problematic smartphone use, a sample of 3355 Chinese adolescents (M _age=16.93, SD = 0.49, range: 14-19 years old; 48% boys) is recruited to measure parent-child relationship, problematic smartphone use, personal growth initiative, and school belonging. The results are as follows. (1) After controlling for gender, age and time spent online per day, parent-child relationship is negatively correlated with problematic smartphone use, and the negative association between parent-child relationship and problematic smartphone use is mediated by the personal growth initiative. (2) The association between parent-child relationship and problematic smartphone use, the association between parent-child relationship and personal growth initiative, and the association between personal growth initiative and problematic smartphone use are all moderated by school belonging and are stronger in adolescents with a high level of school belonging. The present study highlights the mediating role of personal growth initiative and the moderating role of school belonging in the association between parent-child relationship and problematic smartphone use. This study also contributes to a better understanding of the effects, paths, and conditions of parent-child relationship on the problematic smartphone use of adolescents and provides constructive suggestions for preventing adolescents' problematic smartphone use in the mobile Internet era.

Keywords: Adolescents; Parent-child relationship; Personal growth initiative; Problematic smartphone use; School belonging.

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