The influence of juvenile preference for online social interaction on problematic Internet use: The moderating effect of sibling condition and the moderated moderating effect of age cohort

Previous studies have demonstrated that the preference for online social interaction (POSI) is one of the most important factors affecting problematic Internet use (PIU). As self-worth orientation theory suggests, however, only-child could buffer the effect of POSI on PIU, given the fact that children without siblings (the only-child) typically enjoy more resources from parents than do children with siblings. As children grow, particularly after school age, they would become more susceptible to the peers' influence than parents'. Thus, the buffering effect of only-child would decrease along with age due to the lessening effect of parents. To examine the moderating effect of sibling condition (only-child vs. children with siblings) and moderated moderating effect of age cohort (adolescent vs. emerging adult) on the relationship between POSI and PIU, we collected data from 12,051 Chinese students and measured their POSI, PIU, sibling condition, age and other demographics. The results showed that (a) the PIU score of only-child was significantly lower than that of children with siblings; (b) the POSI significantly predicted the PIU; (c) sibling condition moderated the relationship between POSI and PIU, and age cohort further moderated the moderation of sibling condition; (d) age cohort moderated the relationship between POSI and PIU. The implications for the prevention of Internet addictive behaviors among adolescents were discussed.