The relative importance of paternal and maternal involvement as predictors of adolescents' home internet use and usage

Abstract

This study examined three parenting variables (parental education, parental ICT literacy, and parenting style) predicting adolescents’ home internet use and usage using relative importance analysis. Design. Participants were 807 Secondary 1 (Grade 7) students who completed independent paper-based surveys in Hong Kong. Results. Irrespective of adolescent gender, maternal education, parental monitoring style, and parental worry style were the three most important predictors for learning-related internet usage. Male adolescents were highly influenced by maternal education and paternal parenting style whereas female adolescents were highly influenced by maternal parenting style and paternal education. For leisure-related internet usage, the three most important predictors were maternal permission style, paternal permission style, and paternal monitoring style. Maternal permission style and paternal permission style showed the highest importance for male adolescents. Maternal permission style, paternal ICT literacy, paternal monitoring style, and maternal worry style were the most important predictors for female adolescents. Conclusions. We discerned some generic parenting patterns and some specific parenting patterns with respect to adolescent gender. Mothers are relatively more important in the supervision of adolescents’ internet use and usage at home than are fathers.