The Association between Parental Control and Problematic Internet Use among Adolescents: Three-Level Meta-Analysis and Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling.

Numerous studies have examined the relationship between parental control (parental psychological control and parental behavioral control) and problematic Internet use among adolescents; however, the findings are inconsistent, and existing hypotheses are conflicting. This study employed three-level m...

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Publicado en:Journal of Youth & Adolescence Vol. 55; no. 2; pp. 289 - 316
Autores principales: Huang, Liangrong, Zeng, Miaomiao, Jiao, Tong, Yang, Fang, Zhang, Yanyan
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Feb2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Feb2026
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      pub: Springer Nature
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        10.1007/s10964-025-02268-8
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        atl: The Association between Parental Control and Problematic Internet Use among Adolescents: Three-Level Meta-Analysis and Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling.
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        au:
          Huang, Liangrong
          Zeng, Miaomiao
          Jiao, Tong
          Yang, Fang
          Zhang, Yanyan
        affil:
          https://ror.org/00js3aw79 School of Philosophy and Sociology, Jilin University, Changchun, China
          https://ror.org/025n5kj18 School of Education, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing, China
          Rizhao Polytechnic, Rizhao, China
          Duyun No.1 high school, Duyun, China
      su:
        Internet addiction
        Psychological distress
        Parent-child relationships
        Sex distribution
        Parenting
        Interpersonal relations
        Cultural pluralism
        Adolescence
        Risk assessment
        Meta-analysis
        Structural equation modeling
        Descriptive statistics
        Systematic reviews
        MEDLINE
        Online information services
        Psychology information storage & retrieval systems
        ERIC (Information retrieval system)
      sug:
        subj:
          Internet addiction
          Psychological distress
          Parent-child relationships
          Sex distribution
          Parenting
          Interpersonal relations
          Cultural pluralism
          Adolescence
          Risk assessment
          Meta-analysis
          Structural equation modeling
          Descriptive statistics
          Systematic reviews
          MEDLINE
          Online information services
          Psychology information storage & retrieval systems
          ERIC (Information retrieval system)
      keyword:
        Meta-analytic structural equation modeling
        Parental behavioral control
        Parental control
        Parental psychological control
        Problematic internet use
        Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services
        Three-level meta-analysis
        Meta-analytic structural equation modeling
        Parental behavioral control
        Parental control
        Parental psychological control
        Problematic internet use
        Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services
        Three-level meta-analysis
      ab: Numerous studies have examined the relationship between parental control (parental psychological control and parental behavioral control) and problematic Internet use among adolescents; however, the findings are inconsistent, and existing hypotheses are conflicting. This study employed three-level meta-analyses to clarify the association between parental control and problematic Internet use in adolescents. To reliably and comprehensively explain the association, this study also examined the mediating roles of psychological distress and interpersonal relationships through meta-analytical structural equation modeling. After searching and screening the literature, this meta-analysis included a total of 55 studies, with 156 effect sizes and 58,124 adolescents. Results revealed a positive correlation between parental psychological control and problematic Internet use in adolescents, and a negative correlation between parental behavioral control and problematic Internet use in adolescents. The association between psychological control and Internet use was moderated by type of problematic Internet use, measurement of problematic Internet use, measurement of psychological control, type of psychological control, and publication year. The association between behavioral control and Internet use was moderated by behavioral control scales and parental gender. 16 longitudinal studies (95 effect sizes; N = 18,810) were included in the current study, with a mean follow-up interval of 11.04 months. After controlling for prior levels of the relevant outcomes, results indicated that parental psychological control at Time 1 significantly predicted adolescents' problematic Internet use at Time 2 (β = 0.120), and adolescents' problematic Internet use at Time 1 significantly predicted parental psychological control at Time 2 (β = 0.05). Meta-analytic structural equation modeling revealed that psychological distress and interpersonal relationships mediated the association between parental psychological control and problematic Internet use, while interpersonal relationships mediated the association between parental behavioral control and problematic Internet use. These findings suggest that interventions and treatments for problematic Internet use among adolescents should take parental control into account and address adolescent psychological distress and interpersonal difficulties.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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