Internet use (e.g., smartphone use, social media use) is ubiquitous in our daily lives and plays an increasingly important role in human well-being. Today’s adolescents and their parents spend significant amounts of time on technological devices, such as smartphones, especially during COVID-19. In this year, new research shows that nearly half of American teenagers say they use the Internet “almost constantly”, 95% of American teens have smartphones, and about 54% of teens said it would be “somewhat hard” to give up social media. Hence, further research on the relationship between Internet use and psychological well-being among children and adolescents is worth pursuing.
At the same time, a new interest in this area of research is “parental technoference” which was defined as regular interruptions to real-time face-to-face communications, interactions, or time spent together among family members because of parental use of technology. Technoference has become a common phenomenon in many families with children, and evidence has been identified that extended parental time on technological devices (e.g., smartphones) could have negative effects on parent-child relationships and children’s wellbeing. For example, parental phubbing is regarded as a typical parental technoference, and this term is used widely in some countries around the world, which has been demonstrated to be detrimental to their children’s developmental outcomes and cause various psychological health problems.
This Research Topic aims to explore the specific association between Internet use (including children and their parents) and psychological well-being among children and adolescents, which can help further design effective intervention programs to reduce children’s and parents' extended Internet use, and in turn, to prevent children and adolescents from suffering mental health problems, especially, during COVID-19 period, all over the world.
Specifically, we would like to address three questions:
1) Whether children’s and parents’ Internet use (particularly extended Internet use) was associated with psychological health problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, low well-being) among children and adolescents, especially during the COVID-19 period (but not limited to).
2) Theories (e.g., parental-child interaction) and underlying mechanisms (mediators or moderators) to explain the association between children’s and parents' extended Internet use and children's mental health problems.
3) Factors (such as risk and protective factors) associated with children’s and parents' extended Internet use and how these factors predict the prevalence of psychopathology in children and adolescents.
Quantitative studies (e.g., cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, cohort studies, experimental studies, intervention studies, meta-analysis) and qualitative studies (e.g., interview studies, observational studies, systematic review) are both welcome.
Internet use (e.g., smartphone use, social media use) is ubiquitous in our daily lives and plays an increasingly important role in human well-being. Today’s adolescents and their parents spend significant amounts of time on technological devices, such as smartphones, especially during COVID-19. In this year, new research shows that nearly half of American teenagers say they use the Internet “almost constantly”, 95% of American teens have smartphones, and about 54% of teens said it would be “somewhat hard” to give up social media. Hence, further research on the relationship between Internet use and psychological well-being among children and adolescents is worth pursuing.
At the same time, a new interest in this area of research is “parental technoference” which was defined as regular interruptions to real-time face-to-face communications, interactions, or time spent together among family members because of parental use of technology. Technoference has become a common phenomenon in many families with children, and evidence has been identified that extended parental time on technological devices (e.g., smartphones) could have negative effects on parent-child relationships and children’s wellbeing. For example, parental phubbing is regarded as a typical parental technoference, and this term is used widely in some countries around the world, which has been demonstrated to be detrimental to their children’s developmental outcomes and cause various psychological health problems.
This Research Topic aims to explore the specific association between Internet use (including children and their parents) and psychological well-being among children and adolescents, which can help further design effective intervention programs to reduce children’s and parents' extended Internet use, and in turn, to prevent children and adolescents from suffering mental health problems, especially, during COVID-19 period, all over the world.
Specifically, we would like to address three questions:
1) Whether children’s and parents’ Internet use (particularly extended Internet use) was associated with psychological health problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, low well-being) among children and adolescents, especially during the COVID-19 period (but not limited to).
2) Theories (e.g., parental-child interaction) and underlying mechanisms (mediators or moderators) to explain the association between children’s and parents' extended Internet use and children's mental health problems.
3) Factors (such as risk and protective factors) associated with children’s and parents' extended Internet use and how these factors predict the prevalence of psychopathology in children and adolescents.
Quantitative studies (e.g., cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, cohort studies, experimental studies, intervention studies, meta-analysis) and qualitative studies (e.g., interview studies, observational studies, systematic review) are both welcome.