The relationship between parental control and high-risk internet behaviours in adolescence

Abstract

One of the main predictors of being a victim of cyber-aggression is engaging in high-risk behaviours on the internet. The main objective of this research is to analyse the relationship between two types of parental control (restriction and supervision) and engagement in high-risk internet behaviours during adolescence. To that end, and as a secondary objective, we designed and validated the High-risk Internet Behaviours Questionnaire for adolescents, used in this study. We analysed the responses of 946 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 to the High-risk Internet Behaviours Questionnaire and the Questionnaire on Parental Control of Internet Use in Adolescence. The results show that the questionnaire has appropriate metrics of reliability and validity, and show the existence of a statistically significant negative relationship, albeit small, between supervision and engaging in high-risk internet behaviours. We discuss the practical implications of these results.