Parent-child gender effect in the associations among problematic internet use, parent-adolescent conflict, and academic engagement

Objective: In this study, we explored whether and how the indirect effects of father- and mother-adolescent conflict between PIU and academic engagement differ between female and male adolescents.Background: Problematic internet use (PIU) is an important health issue for adolescents. It has been found to be related to severe impairment in their interpersonal relationships (e.g., parent-child relationships) and academic outcomes (e.g., academic engagement), particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.Method: A national survey was conducted in diverse regions of the Chinese mainland, and a total of 2,688 adolescents between 10 and 19 years old (52.8% girls, M-age = 14.06 +/- 2.47) participated in the study. Correlation and mediation analyses were conducted and were stratified by gender.Results: Multigroup analysis indicated that PIU was similarly and positively associated with father- and mother-adolescent conflict in adolescent boys and girls, whereas only father-adolescent conflict was negatively related to boys' academic engagement and only mother-adolescent conflict was negatively related to girls' academic engagement.Conclusion: These results support the same-gender matching model in parent-adolescent conflict and expand the same-gender effect to Chinese culture.Implications: These findings have important implications for understanding the mechanisms of how adolescent PIU impedes academic engagement through parent-adolescent conflict in father-son, father-daughter, mother-son, and mother-daughter dyads, indicating that family interventions focused on father-son and mother-daughter relationships may largely facilitate adolescents' academic engagement.