Does parents' perceived style of setting limits to gaming matter? The interplay between profiles of parental mediation and BIS/BAS sensitivity in problematic gaming and online gambling

INTRODUCTION

Parents try to prevent possible negative outcomes associated with gaming by setting rules on their adolescent's gaming behavior (i.e., restrictive mediation). Parents can use either more autonomy-supportive or more controlling styles to communicate those rules. Using a person-centered approach, this study aims to, first, identify profiles of parents' perceived degree of restrictive mediation in gaming and styles of communicating these rules (i.e., autonomy-supportive and controlling); second, to examine how adolescents in different profiles differ in terms of maladaptive gaming outcomes (i.e., problematic gaming, simulated, and online gambling); third, to investigate the moderating role of gaming frequency and adolescents' personality (i.e., behavioral inhibition system [BIS] sensitivity and behavioral activation system [BAS] sensitivity) in the associations between the parental profiles and the outcomes.

METHODS

The study used quantitative, cross-sectional survey data from Belgian adolescents (N = 1651, mean age = 14.00 years, 51.2% boys), collected between November 2021 and February 2022 in schools.

RESULTS

Cluster analysis yielded four profiles of perceived restrictive mediation: an exclusively controlling one, an autonomy-supportive one, one where parents used a perceived mix of both communication styles, and one where there was an overall perceived lack of restrictive mediation. Adolescents in the controlling profile displayed the most maladaptive outcomes. Some of the associations between the parental profiles and the outcomes were stronger for more frequent gamers and for adolescents scoring higher on both BIS and BAS sensitivity.

CONCLUSION

Associations between the parental profiles and gaming outcomes were theoretically meaningful, yet small in terms of effect size.

Perceptions of and Exposure to Games of Chance, Gambling, and Video Gaming: Self-Reports of Preadolescents and Parents

Although gambling-related behavior develops in preadolescence, there is a scarcity of research into the early socialization processes in this specific age cohort. For this study, preadolescents’ early perceptions of and practices relating to games of chance, gambling, and video gaming were explored. To account for the perspectives of preadolescents and their parents, we administered semi-structured in-depth interviews with elicitation prompts to 10 Flemish (i.e., Belgian) families with 11- to 12-year-olds. The findings show that different socialization dynamics are at play for the examined media genres. Families were relaxed about young people’s involvement in traditional games of chance activities in a familiar context, pointing to early socialization and cultural normalization dynamics in preadolescents who have not yet reached the legal minimum age. Moreover, the parents were not fully aware of the first gambling and games of chance activities of the preadolescents or of some of their in-game micropayments. They did not yet consider active mediation on these matters to be relevant. Because of this, preventive parental mediation efforts cannot reach their full potential; we call upon future researchers to explore ludoliteracy programs that can increase the resilience of young players in a world of increasingly converged media entertainment.Résumé Malgré le fait que les comportements de jeu se développent durant la préadolescence, il existe peu de recherches sur les processus de socialisation précoce au sein de cette cohorte particulière. Cette étude explore et contextualise les perceptions et les pratiques de jeunes préadolescents en matière de jeux de hasard, de jeux d’argent et de jeux vidéo. Dans le but de sonder le point de vue à la fois des jeunes et de leurs parents, nous avons mené des entrevues semi-dirigées approfondies, comportant des questions incitatives, auprès de 10 familles flamandes (c’est-à-dire belges) comptant des jeunes de 11 à 12 ans. Selon nos résultats, différentes dynamiques de socialisation opèrent selon le genre de média. Les parents voient d’un bon œil la pratique des jeux de hasard classiques au sein du cercle familial, ce qui indique une dynamique de socialisation précoce et de normalisation culturelle chez les préadolescents qui n’ont pas encore atteint l’âge minimum légal. Par ailleurs, les parents sondés n’étaient pas pleinement conscients des premiers jeux de hasard et d’argent pratiqués par leurs préadolescents ni de certains micropaiements qu’ils avaient effectués. Ils ne considéraient pas encore comme pertinente l’idée d’intervenir activement sur ces questions. Puisque les efforts des parents en matière de prévention n’atteignent pas pleinement leur but, les recherches futures devraient s’intéresser aux programmes de ludo-littératie destinés à améliorer la résilience des jeunes joueurs dans un monde de divertissement médiatique caractérisé par une convergence grandissante.

Compulsive use of social networking sites in Belgium: prevalence, profile, and the role of attitude toward work and school

A representative sample (n=1,000) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and older filled out an online questionnaire on their Internet use in general and their use of social networking sites (SNS) in particular. We measured total time spent on the Internet, time spent on SNS, number of SNS profiles, gender, age, schooling level, income, job occupation, and leisure activities, and we integrated several psychological scales such as the Quick Big Five and the Mastery Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression modeling shows that gender and age explain an important part of the compulsive SNS score (5%) as well as psychological scales (20%), but attitude toward school (additional 3%) and income (2.5%) also add to explained variance in predictive models of compulsive SNS use.