Parenting styles and internet addiction in college students: self-esteem and self-control as mediators

TL;DR

The study shows how parenting styles affect college students' internet addiction, with self-esteem and self-control playing key roles in this relationship.

Contribution

The novelty lies in identifying self-esteem and self-control as mediators linking parenting styles to internet addiction in college students.

Findings

Positive parenting styles protect against internet addiction through self-esteem and self-control.

Negative parenting styles partially relate to internet addiction via reduced self-esteem and self-control.

Interventions should focus on promoting positive parenting and enhancing self-esteem and self-control.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the effect of parental rearing styles on internet addiction among college students, specifically assessing the mediating roles of self-esteem and self-control in the influencing path.

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among college students in a city in eastern China in 2022. Chained mediation effect tests, employing Model 6 of PROCESS with SPSS (27.0), were utilized to statistically analyze the pathways of factors such as parenting styles, self-esteem, and self-control that influence Internet addiction.

Positive parenting styles served as protective factors against internet addiction, whereas negative parenting styles constituted potential risk factors. Self-esteem and self-control fully mediated the association between positive parenting styles and internet addiction. Conversely, they partially mediated the relationship between negative parenting styles and internet addiction.

Interventions should attach importance to improving positive parenting styles and reducing negative parenting styles, and aim to cultivate self-esteem and strengthen self-control, which are essential to effectively address internet addiction in college students.

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