Shield or Shackle? Exploring the Paradoxical Role of Restrictive Mediation in Adolescent Depression

Previous research has largely focused on whether restrictive mediation reduces online time or addiction risks, ignoring adolescents' resistance and its psychological outcomes. Considering adolescents' agency in their socialization process, this study explores whether restrictive mediation shields them from depression by limiting entertaining-oriented Internet use (EIU) or inadvertently exacerbates depression by triggering resistance to parental control (RPC), either directly or indirectly through increased EIU. Using data from 7,965 Chinese adolescents and employing structural equation modeling, the study found that more frequent restrictions were associated with reduced EIU, which in turn predicted lower levels of depression. However, frequent restrictions also triggered RPC, which directly increased depression and led to greater engagement in restricted activities, thereby offsetting the intended protective effects of restrictions. Moreover, the study examined varying restriction styles (i.e. how parents implement restrictions) and revealed that their impact on depression depended on both the implementation style and adolescents' responses.