Theoretical perspectives of parental influence on adolescent cyber behaviour: A bi-national Instagram-based study

An increase in adolescent social media use has exacerbated cyberbullying globally. Instagram has the highest percentage of adolescent users experiencing cybervictimisation. While past research has delved into self-driven or peer-driven motivations of cyberbullying, theory-driven research characterising external factors is integral to understanding the psyche of cyberbullies, victims, or bystanders. Examining factors moderating cyberbullying in the broader social context of family in addition to peers is vital to mitigate cyberbullying. This paper explores factors related to parent and adolescent behaviours and relationships using the theory of planned behaviour. Two Instagram-specific instruments were designed, developed, and validated. Statistical analysis and comparisons were made between participants from two countries, i.e., India and Singapore. Results showed that perceived parental control, parental behavioural intention, subjective norms, and gender were significant predictors of adolescents' cyber behaviour. While past studies have concluded that theoretical perspectives are integral to studying cyberbullying behaviours, our study gives insight on how determinants of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) predict actual intentions to cyberbully in adolescents. Further, the theoretical perspective and structural equation modelling (SEM) allows us to explore the effects of deeply held attitudes (Singapore: β = .590, p < .01; India: β = .659, p < .01), perceived parental control (Singapore: β = .068, p < .01; India: β = .192, p < .01) and subjective norms (Singapore: β = .745, p < .01; India: β = .295, p < .01) in proximal factors such as parents and their behavioural intentions. While TPB has only been used to study individual behavioural intentions in the past, the statistical analysis gives us the chance to delve into how individual behavioural intentions in family settings may affect adolescents' social media behaviour.