Parental Monitoring and Adolescent Problematic Mobile Phone Use: The Mediating Role of Escape Motivation and the Moderating Role of Shyness

Xinchen Fu, Jingxuan Liu, Ru- De Liu, Yi Ding, Jia Wang, Rui Zhen and Fangkai Jin
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Xinchen Fu: Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Jingxuan Liu: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
Ru- De Liu: Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Yi Ding: Graduate School of Education, Fordham University, New York, NY 10023, USA
Jia Wang: Teachers’ College, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100011, China
Rui Zhen: Institute of Psychological Sciences, College of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, No. 2318 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 311121, China
Fangkai Jin: Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: In an attempt to reduce the negative consequences of adolescent media use, parents often monitor their children’s online activities. However, research suggests that parental monitoring often does not reduce children’s problematic mobile phone use as expected. Based on the results of a survey of 584 Chinese adolescents, we found that parental monitoring positively predicted children’s problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) within a Chinese cultural context. The results also showed that children’s escape motivation partially mediated this relationship, while their level of shyness moderated both the mediated path and the direct impact of parental monitoring on children’s PMPU. The findings suggested that a higher level of shyness increased the likelihood that parental monitoring would increase the child’s escape motivation and PMPU. The study results provide guidelines for parents and educators regarding interventions for adolescents’ problematic phone use.

Keywords: parental monitoring; problematic mobile phone use; escape motivation; shyness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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