The effects of self-esteem and parental phubbing on adolescent internet addiction and the moderating role of the classroom environment: a hierarchical linear model analysis

BACKGROUND: With the advent of the new media era, the understanding of adolescent internet addiction needs to be enriched. It is also necessary to distinguish the related factors of adolescent internet addiction at different levels to clarify the mechanisms of this phenomenon. METHODS: This study used hierarchical linear model analysis to explore the effects of student-level factors and school-level factors on adolescent internet addiction, along with cross-level moderating effects. A total of 1,912 students between the 4th and 8th grades in China participated in the study. Participants completed the Self-Esteem Scale, Parents Phubbing Scale, Classroom Environment Scale, and the Diagnostic Questionnaire of Internet Addiction. RESULTS: Correlational analyses revealed that internet addiction was found to be negatively correlated with both self-esteem and the teacher-student relationship (p < 0.01), while father phubbing, mother phubbing, and learning burden were shown to positively correlate with internet addiction (p < 0.01). Hierarchical linear model analysis suggested that student-level variables, including self-esteem, and mother phubbing, were significant predictors of internet addiction (β = -0.077, p < 0.001 and β = 0.028, p < 0.01, respectively). At the school level, learning burden significantly and negatively predicted internet addiction (β = 0.073, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the relationship between self-esteem and internet addiction was significantly moderated by learning burden (β = -0.007, p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the teacher-student relationship also had a significant moderating effect on the association between mother phubbing and internet addiction (β = -0.005, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed the relationships between self-esteem, parental phubbing, and classroom environment with adolescent internet addiction, and these findings could provide insights into reducing adolescent internet addiction from the perspective of individuals, families, and schools.