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Parental Attachment and Problematic Internet Use among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Gender and Grit

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  • Xiaoyu Lan

    (Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China)

  • Wenchao Wang

    (Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China)

Abstract

Problematic Internet use (PIU) is currently becoming a more serious public health concern, representing a deleterious effect on adolescent adaptive emotional and behavioral patterns. Given the prevalence of PIU and its deleterious impact on adolescents’ optimal functioning, it is valuable to investigate the risk and protective factors of PIU. Guided by a socio-ecological framework, the current study examines the associations of paternal attachment and maternal attachment with PIU among Chinese adolescents. Furthermore, this study investigates whether adolescents’ gender and grit moderate this association. A total of 2677 Chinese adolescents (56.5% girls; M age = 15.56; SD = 1.57) was involved in this study. Adolescents were uniformly instructed to complete a battery of self-reported questionnaires. The results of linear regression analyses showed that paternal attachment and maternal attachment security were negatively related to PIU. Moreover, moderation analyses revealed that higher levels of grit buffered against boys’ PIU in the context of paternal attachment security and girls’ PIU in the context of paternal attachment insecurity. The current study suggests that parental attachment security plays an important role in mitigating the likelihood of Chinese adolescents’ PIU. Moreover, the buffering role of grit in PIU varies by the levels of paternal attachment security, depending on the adolescents’ gender.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoyu Lan & Wenchao Wang, 2020. "Parental Attachment and Problematic Internet Use among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Gender and Grit," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:23:p:8933-:d:454374
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yongfeng Ma & Chunhua Ma & Xiaoyu Lan, 2020. "Uncovering the Moderating Role of Grit and Gender in the Association between Teacher Autonomy Support and Social Competence among Chinese Undergraduate Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-17, September.
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