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Supportive communication with parents moderates the negative effects of electronic media use on life satisfaction during adolescence

International Journal of Public Health volume 60, pages 189–198 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives

To examine the impact of electronic media (EM) use on teenagers’ life satisfaction (LS) and to assess the potential moderating effect of supportive communication with parents (SCP).

Methods

Data were drawn from the cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study (2009/2010) in Canada, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Israel, The Netherlands, Poland and Scotland. Sample size: 53,973 students aged 11–15 years.

Results

More hours per day spent on the computer were associated with lower LS; more EM communication with friends with higher LS. This relationship became negative if EM use reached and exceeded a certain threshold. SCP moderated the effect of EM communication with friends, but not computer use for the total sample. SCP seems to be more important than computer use or EM communication with friends for LS and it seems to buffer negative effects of EM use.

Conclusions

Communication with parents seems to buffer the negative effects of EM use on LS during adolescence. Higher computer use was related to lower LS, but “optimal” frequency of EM communication with friends was country specific.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Human Development, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Meyran Boniel-Nissim

  2. Department of Behavioral Sciences, Kinneret College, Kinneret, Israel

    Meyran Boniel-Nissim

  3. Institute of Mother and Child, Kasprzaka 17a, 01-211, Warsaw, Poland

    Izabela Tabak & Joanna Mazur

  4. Department of Public Health and Paediatrics, University of Torino, Turin, Italy

    Alberto Borraccino

  5. CRIPACC, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, AL10 9AB, UK

    Fiona Brooks

  6. Centre for Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Rob Gommans

  7. University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9TF, UK

    Winfried van der Sluijs

  8. National Institute of Child Health, Diószegi út 64, Budapest, 1173, Hungary

    Emese Zsiros

  9. Psychology Department, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Wendy Craig

  10. Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Yossi Harel-Fisch

  11. WHO Collaborating Centre for Child and Adolescent Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany

    Emily Finne

Authors
  1. Meyran Boniel-Nissim
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  2. Izabela Tabak
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  3. Joanna Mazur
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  5. Fiona Brooks
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  11. Emily Finne
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Correspondence to Meyran Boniel-Nissim.

Additional information

This article is part of the special issue “Communication Technology, Media Use and the Health of Our Kids”.

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Boniel-Nissim, M., Tabak, I., Mazur, J. et al. Supportive communication with parents moderates the negative effects of electronic media use on life satisfaction during adolescence. Int J Public Health 60, 189–198 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-014-0636-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-014-0636-9

Keywords

  • Life satisfaction
  • Adolescents
  • Computer use
  • Supportive communication with parents
  • Cross-national study