Abstrakt
Adolescent problematic internet use (PIU) is the prevalent condition with the negative effects on adolescent health and well-being. Parental regulation of adolescent internet use has been proposed as the possible protective factor against PIU.
However, currently available studies on internet-related parenting practices suggested that neither active mediation (discussing, explaining, etc.) nor restrictive mediation (rules, bans,etc.) showed negative associations with PIU. Our systematic literature review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the associations between adolescent PIU and general parenting practices and approaches such as parental responsiveness (warmth), parental strictness (control), and authoritative parenting.
Searches covered reports from scientific databases (WOS, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar) published until April 2022. We found significant pooled negative associations between all general parental factors (responsiveness, strictness, authoritative parenting) and PIU, however moderation analyses suggested that the relationship between parental strictness and PIU was different for the problematic use of the internet in general and for the problematic (online) gaming.
The major limits of currently available studies are that they are mostly cross- sectional and survey-based and focused on internet use in general. Further prospective studies and studies on specific online activities, e.g., gaming, use of social networks, and use of online pornography are warranted.