Interpersonal Relationships and Problematic Use of the Internet Among Adolescents: Between- and Within-Person...

Prior research has examined the role of interpersonal relationships in adolescents' problematic use of the internet (PUI). However, studies that examine the distinct contributions of various interpersonal relationships (i.e., with mothers, fathers, teachers, and peers) to adolescent PUI at the within-person level remain lacking. Thus, this longitudinal study was conducted to address this research gap by incorporating both between- and within-person perspectives and potential sex differences.

The study recruited 598 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 15.47 years at Wave 1, SD = 0.53; 54.52% girls) who participated in five waves of data collection across 2.5-years. Multilevel model was constructed to examine the between- and within-person associations between various sources of interpersonal relationships and adolescent PUI.

The findings demonstrated that improved relationships with teachers and peers were related to lower levels of PUI at the between- and within-person levels, whereas no such association was found for parent-adolescent relationships. In addition, the associations between interpersonal relationships and adolescent PUI were not moderated by sex at either the between- or within-person level.

These findings underscore the need to examine the distinct associations between multiple sources of interpersonal relationships and PUI among Chinese adolescents. The results revealed that positive interpersonal relationships, especially those with teachers and peers, may be an effective compensatory strategy for preventing and intervening in adolescent PUI.