Modeling Internet Addiction: Examining the Impact of Parenting Styles and Psychological Control with the Mediating Roles of Media Literacy and Cognitive Emotion Regulation

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to develop a predictive model of Internet addiction among high school students in Kermanshah. It is based on parenting styles as well as psychological control, with the mediating role of media literacy and cognitive emotion regulation. Method: The present study is a quantitative-methods. The ۳۸۴ high school students in Kermanshah were selected using a multi-stage cluster sampling method and the research instruments completed by the students in the academic year ۱۴۰۲-۱۴۰۳ included the following items: Baumrind’s Parenting Styles Inventory, Young's Internet Addiction Questionnaire, Tammen's Media Literacy Questionnaire, Soenens et al.'s Parental Psychological Control Scale, and Garnefski and Kraaij’s Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Path analysis and inferential statistics were employed to analyze the proposed model using SPSS and SMARTPLS software. Results: The results revealed that parenting styles directly predict Internet addiction (β = ۰.۴۲۰, P < ۰.۰۵), with authoritative and permissive styles showing a stronger protective effect. Cognitive emotion regulation significantly mediated this relationship (β = ۰.۲۳۵, P < ۰.۰۵), indicating that better emotion regulation reduces the risk of addiction. However, psychological control did not directly predict Internet addiction (β = ۰.۱۰۴, P > ۰.۰۵) but had an indirect effect through cognitive emotion regulation (β = ۰.۵۲۰, P < ۰.۰۵). Media literacy, while not a direct predictor (β = ۰.۱۱۷, P > ۰.۰۵), mediated the relationship between parenting styles and Internet addiction, suggesting that higher media literacy promotes healthier Internet use. Conclusion: Given that there is a relationship between Internet addiction, emotional regulation and parenting styles, developing family interactions and strengthening the parent-child relationships can create a sense of support and security. Therefore, families can reduce time spent on the Internet by promoting and encouraging alternative activities such as engaging in artistic activities, reading books, or participating in community-based projects.

کلیدواژه ها:

Internet addiction ، Parenting style ، Psychological Control ، Media Literacy ، Cognitive emotion regulation ، adolescents ، path analysis ، Predictive Modeling ، Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)