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. 2019 Dec 1;8(4):649-663.
doi: 10.1556/2006.8.2019.61. Epub 2019 Dec 2.

Linking parental mediation practices to adolescents' problematic online screen use: A systematic literature review

Philip Nielsen  1   2 , Nicolas Favez  2 , Howard Liddle  3 , Henk Rigter  4
Affiliations

Linking parental mediation practices to adolescents' problematic online screen use: A systematic literature review

Philip Nielsen et al. J Behav Addict. .

Abstract

Background and aims: To remedy problematic Internet use (PIU) and problematic online gaming (POG) in adolescents, much is expected from efforts by parents to help youths to contain their screen use. Such parental mediation can include (a) refraining from acting, (b) co-viewing or co-gaming with the teen, (c) active mediation, and (d) restrictive mediation. We evaluated if parental mediation practices are linked to PIU and POG in adolescents.

Methods: For a systematic literature review, we searched for publications presenting survey data and relating parental mediation practices to levels of PIU and/or POG in adolescents. The review's selection criteria were met by 18 PIU and 9 POG publications, reporting on 81.002 and 12.915 adolescents, respectively. We extracted data on gaming problems, mediation interventions, study design features, and sample characteristics.

Results: No type of parental mediation was consistently associated with lower or elevated problematic screen use rates in the adolescents. Refraining from parental mediation tended to aggravate screen use problems, whereas active mediation (talking to the teen) may mitigate such problems in PIU, but less clearly in POG. The link of restrictive mediation with problematic screen use varied from positive to negative, possibly depending on type of restriction. In both PIU and POG, family cohesion was related to lower rates of the problem behavior concerned and family conflict to higher rates.

Discussion and conclusions: Parental mediation practices may affect problematic screen use rates for better or worse. However, research of higher quality, including observations of parent-teen interactions, is needed to confirm the trends noted and advance the critical issue of the possible association between PIU, POG, and family interactions.

Keywords: adolescents; family cohesion; parental mediation; problematic Internet use; problematic online gaming; systematic literature review.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Study selection flow diagram
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Nature of the correlations between distinct types of parental mediation practices and problematic screen use among adolescents. Five parental mediation practices as examined in problematic Internet use (PIU) studies and problematic online gaming studies (POG). Number of studies per correlation outcome. Positive correlation: the mediation practice was associated with lower rates of problematic screen use (PIU or POG). Negative correlation: the reverse, associated with higher rates. No correlation: no statistically significant association between mediation practice and problematic screen use. Not included in the PIU and PIU + POG graphs: the papers on problematic social media use (Koning et al., 2018) and problematic smartphone use (Lee et al., 2017)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. The publications marked with ** are part of the PIU review and those marked with * are of the POG review.
    1. Aarseth E., Bean A. M., Boonen H., Colder Carras M., Coulson M., Das D., Deleuze J., Dunkels E., Edman J., Ferguson C. J., Haagsma M. C., Helmersson Bergmark K., Hussain Z., Jansz J., Kardefelt-Winther D., Kutner L., Markey P., Nielsen R. K. L., Prause N., Przybylski A., Quandt T., Schimmenti A., Starcevic V., Stutman G., Van Looy J., Van Rooij A. J. (2017). Scholars’ open debate paper on the World Health Organization ICD-11 Gaming Disorder proposal. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6(3), 267–270. doi: 10.1556/2006.5.2016.088 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anderson E. L., Steen E., Stavropoulos V. (2017). Internet use and problematic Internet use: A systematic review of longitudinal research trends in adolescence and emergent adulthood. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 22(4), 430–454. doi: 10.1080/02673843.2016.1227716 - DOI
    1. *Benrazavi R., Teimouri M., Griffiths M. D. (2015). Utility of parental mediation model on youth’s problematic online gaming. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 13(6), 712–727. doi: 10.1007/s11469-015-9561-2 - DOI
    1. **Bleakley A., Ellithorpe M., Romer D. (2016). The role of parents in problematic Internet use among US adolescents. Media and Communication, 4(3), 24–34. doi: 10.17645/mac.v4i3.523 - DOI

Publication types