Parental Control and Internet Use Among Italian Adolescents

Internet use can have both positive and negative impacts. Above all, risks are linked to immoderate use among adolescents. The importance of parental control over their children’s internet use is a key element in limiting the risk factors that such use may have. We investigated this perception by administering a self-report questionnaire to 236 Italian teenagers aged 14–17 years, of which 69.9% are female. Descriptive analyses were primarily conducted. Subsequently, to identify any differences in responses provided concerning social variables, Covariance Analyses and Multivariate Covariance Analyses (one in relation to each batch of items), whose factors were “residency area” (small centre - large centre), “socio-economic status” (medium high-medium low), and “gender”, were conducted. The variable “age” was inserted as a covariate. In line with the literature, the findings confirm that parental control plays a decisive role in favouring the responsible use of the Internet. Furthermore, we found that the place of residence influences the length of time spent on the Internet. Nevertheless, we observed that the relationship between parental control and the use/abuse of the Internet does not change depending on the parents’ economic status.