Chen Yan, Gu Qian, Zheng Qishan, Hu Biying, Gu Chuanhua, Hu Qingping, Cao Yuqi
Tian Jiabing College of Education, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.
School of Educational Science, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jul 21;16:1590057. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1590057. eCollection 2025.
Problematic smartphone use can significantly jeopardize adolescents' academic development as well as their physical and mental health. Although previous studies have explored the role of parental mediation strategies in adolescents' problematic smartphone use, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the relationship between parental mediation and adolescents' problematic smartphone use, with a specific focus on the chain mediation effects of basic psychological needs and positive outcome expectations.
This study conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1,947 students from three junior high schools in Wuhan, Yichang, and Xiaogan, China, using a cluster sampling method. Validated scales were employed to measure parental mediation, problematic smartphone use, basic psychological needs, and positive outcome expectations.
The findings revealed that active mediation not only directly influences problematic smartphone use but also exerts an indirect effect through the individual mediation of basic psychological needs and positive outcome expectations, as well as through the sequential mediation from basic psychological needs to positive outcome expectations. Parental supervision not only directly influenced problematic smartphone use but also exerted indirect effects through the independent mediating role of basic psychological needs and the chain mediation pathway from basic psychological needs to positive outcome expectations.
Active mediation and basic psychological needs significantly reduced adolescents' problematic smartphone use, whereas parental supervision and positive outcome expectations significantly increased it. These findings provide theoretical insights into the mechanisms of problematic smartphone use and offer practical implications for educational strategies, emphasizing the importance of parents selecting appropriate mediation approaches, fulfilling basic psychological needs, and reducing positive outcome expectations to mitigate adolescents' problematic smartphone use.
问题性智能手机使用会严重危及青少年的学业发展以及他们的身心健康。尽管先前的研究已经探讨了父母调节策略在青少年问题性智能手机使用中的作用，但其潜在机制仍不明确。本研究旨在调查父母调节与青少年问题性智能手机使用之间的关系，特别关注基本心理需求和积极结果期望的链式中介效应。
本研究采用整群抽样方法，对来自中国武汉、宜昌和孝感三所初中的1947名学生进行了横断面调查。使用经过验证的量表来测量父母调节、问题性智能手机使用、基本心理需求和积极结果期望。
研究结果显示，积极调节不仅直接影响问题性智能手机使用，还通过基本心理需求和积极结果期望的个体中介作用，以及从基本心理需求到积极结果期望的顺序中介作用产生间接影响。父母监督不仅直接影响问题性智能手机使用，还通过基本心理需求的独立中介作用以及从基本心理需求到积极结果期望的链式中介途径产生间接影响。
积极调节和基本心理需求显著减少了青少年的问题性智能手机使用，而父母监督和积极结果期望则显著增加了这种使用。这些发现为问题性智能手机使用的机制提供了理论见解，并为教育策略提供了实际启示，强调了父母选择适当的调节方法、满足基本心理需求以及降低积极结果期望以减轻青少年问题性智能手机使用的重要性。
