Parent–adolescent communication, parental Internet use and Internet-specific norms and pathological Internet use among Chinese adolescents

Data were collected from 3556 Chinese junior and senior high school students to explore the associations between adolescent pathological Internet use (PIU) and parental variables, including parent–adolescent communication, parental Internet use and parental Internet-specific norms regarding adolescent Internet use. In particular, this study considered the different role of parental variables under two conditions: parental norms that were consistent or inconsistent with parents’ Internet use behaviors. The participants were asked to answer an anonymous questionnaire that included all mentioned factors. The results revealed an 11% rate of adolescent PIU, and hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that parent–adolescent communication predicted PIU negatively under both conditions. When parental norms were consistent with their Internet use behaviors, parental norms predicted adolescent PIU negatively; conversely, when parental norms were inconsistent with their Internet use behaviors, parental behaviors predicted adolescent PIU positively. Implications for family-based prevention and the limitations of this study are discussed.

► We measured the effects of Internet-specific parental factors on pathological Internet use (PIU).
► Two situations that parental behaviors were inconsistent with their norms or not were examined.
► Parent–adolescent communication predicted adolescents’ PIU negatively in both situations.
► Parental Internet use predicted PIU negatively when parental behaviors were against norms.
► Otherwise, parental norms predicted adolescent PIU positively.