This study found that the impulsivity of the middle school boys had mediating effects on the influential relationship between perceived maternal attitude and their Internet addiction.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of mater...
This study found that the impulsivity of the middle school boys had mediating effects on the influential relationship between perceived maternal attitude and their Internet addiction.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of maternal attitude perceived by middle school boys to their Internet addiction and impulsivity and the mediating effects of impulsivity on the influential relationship of maternal attitude to Internet addiction.
Two research questions were posed:
First, What are the relationships of maternal attitude perceived by middle school boys to their Internet addiction and impulsivity?
Second, Does their impulsivity have any mediating effects on the relationship between perceived maternal attitude and Internet addiction?
The subjects in this study were 600 selected boys who were in their first, second and third grades in a middle school located in the city of Busan. A maternal attitude test, an Internet addiction test and an impulsivity test were carried out. After a survey was conducted, the answer sheets from 472 respondents were analyzed except for the incomplete ones. As for data analysis, a statistical package SPSS 20.0 was employed, and Pearson correlation analysis was made to determine the relationships of the major variables. Besides, another statistical package AMOS 20.0 was utilized to grasp the structural relationship of the variables. Finally, bootstrapping was used to check the significance of the mediating effects.
The major findings of the study were as follows:
First, maternal intimacy had a negative correlation with Internet addiction. Maternal control was positively correlated with Internet addiction. Maternal intimacy had a negative correlation with impulsivity, and maternal control was positively correlated with impulsivity. Second, as a result of analyzing whether impulsivity had any mediating effects on the relationship between maternal attitude and Internet addiction, that had a significant correlation with the variables. Maternal attitude exercised a direct significant influence on Internet addiction, and that had an indirect significant effect on Internet addiction through impulsivity as well, which implied that it produced a partial mediating effect.
The findings of the study, the following conclusion was reached:
When the middle school boys perceived maternal attitude as more intimate, the levels of the Internet addiction and the impulsivity of them lowered. As the levels of the impulsivity lowered with more intimate caring from mother, that of the Internet addiction did as well by the half.
Limitations to the current study and recommendations for future research are discussed.