Meng Ziyan, Min Kaiyuan, Ma Runping, Yang Juntao, Zhang Hui, Li Qing
School of Health Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Plastic Surgery Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Mar 28;25(1):1184. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22366-3.
The increasing prevalence of smartphone addiction among youth has raised concerns. Previous research has indicated that poor parent-child relationship can lead to youth smartphone addiction. However, parent-child relationship harmony involves multiple parties and is difficult to intervene in due to family authority and other factors. Focusing on the pathways between parent-child relationships harmony and smartphone addiction is crucial for preventing smartphone addiction. This study was conducted to examine the role of parental monitoring as a mediator and the role of self-control as a moderator in the association between the parent-child relationship harmony and smartphone addiction among Chinese youth.
The nationwide survey included 9,270 youth in the Chinese mainland. The data collected included individual characteristics, smartphone addiction status, parent‒child relationship harmony, parental monitoring and self-control were collected. Sample weights were applied to ensure that the composition of our sample was consistent with the official statistics for each provincial-level administrative division on gender and school type. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the mediating effect of parental monitoring and the moderating effect of self-control in the association between the parent-child relationship harmony and smartphone addiction.
Among the 10,000 weighted participants, 5,166 (51.7%) were male, and 3,608 (36.0%) were aged 16 to 18 years. Parental monitoring mediated 48.14% (95% CI: 40.24 to 56.03) of the association between the parent‒child relationship harmony and smartphone addiction. The partial mediating effect of parental monitoring was differed across gender and age groups, and there was no significant heterogeneity. Moreover, self-control negatively moderated the indirect effects of parental monitoring on smartphone addiction (β = -0.12, 95% CI: -0.57 to -0.38), and the mediating effect of parental monitoring decreased as self-control increased.
Our study explored the association between parent-child relationship harmony and youth smartphone addiction, which appeared to be partially mediated by efficient parental monitoring. Self-control played a moderating role in the indirect pathway of the mediating effect.
青少年智能手机成瘾现象日益普遍，引发了人们的关注。先前的研究表明，不良的亲子关系会导致青少年智能手机成瘾。然而，亲子关系的和谐涉及多个方面，由于家庭权威等因素，难以进行干预。关注亲子关系和谐与智能手机成瘾之间的路径对于预防智能手机成瘾至关重要。本研究旨在探讨父母监控作为中介变量以及自我控制作为调节变量在中国青少年亲子关系和谐与智能手机成瘾之间关联中的作用。
这项全国性调查涵盖了中国大陆的9270名青少年。收集的数据包括个体特征、智能手机成瘾状况、亲子关系和谐程度、父母监控和自我控制情况。采用样本权重以确保我们样本的构成在性别和学校类型方面与每个省级行政区的官方统计数据一致。使用结构方程模型分析父母监控在亲子关系和谐与智能手机成瘾之间关联中的中介作用以及自我控制的调节作用。
在10000名加权参与者中，5166名（51.7%）为男性，3608名（36.0%）年龄在16至18岁之间。父母监控在亲子关系和谐与智能手机成瘾之间的关联中起到了48.14%（95%置信区间：40.24至56.03）的中介作用。父母监控的部分中介效应在性别和年龄组之间存在差异，但无显著异质性。此外，自我控制对父母监控与智能手机成瘾之间的间接效应起到负向调节作用（β = -0.12，95%置信区间：-0.57至-0.38），且随着自我控制能力的增强，父母监控的中介作用减弱。
我们的研究探讨了亲子关系和谐与青少年智能手机成瘾之间的关联，这种关联似乎部分由有效的父母监控所介导。自我控制在中介效应的间接路径中起到了调节作用。
