Harsh Parenting and Problematic Smartphone Use: The Chain Mediating Effects of Attention to Negative Information and Social Anxiety

Harsh parenting has been shown to be associated with problematic smartphone use among adolescents. However, few studies have explored the relationship between harsh parenting and problematic smartphone use through a dual-system framework that integrates both emotional and cognitive processing. We aim to investigate the serial mediation effects of attention to negative information and social anxiety in the relationship between harsh parenting and problematic smartphone use among adolescents. The study involved 276 adolescents (mean age = 13.93; SD = 0.82; 42.4% boys) from two middle schools in southeastern China. We assessed harsh parenting, attention to negative information, social anxiety and problematic smartphone use over three waves at three-month intervals. The result show that attention to negative information (T2) serve as independent mediator between harsh parenting (T1) and problematic smartphone use (T3). Also, attention to negative information (T2) and social anxiety (T2) serve as chain mediators between harsh parenting (T1) and problematic smartphone use (T3). However, the direct effect of harsh parenting (T1) on social anxiety (T2) was not significant. These findings suggest that attention to negative information and social anxiety serve as key cognitive and emotional mechanisms linking harsh parenting to problematic smartphone use in adolescents.