The Relationship Between Parental Psychological Control And Problematic Online Game Use Among Junior High School Students:the Chain Mediating Role Of Perceived Stress And Boredom And Educational Implications

While online games have become an entertaining pastime,they have also had many negative effects on junior high school students,so the exploration of problematic online game use has received the attention of many researchers.According to self-determination theory,the family environment influences the satisfaction of basic psychological needs of adolescents and is critical to their development.When parenting behaviors do not meet the psychological needs of children,they will trigger problematic behaviors in children.According to the "general model of stress response",individuals are prone to negative emotions when in stressful situations.According to the compensatory Internet use model,individuals usually immerse themselves in the online world as a way to self-regulate and compensate for the stress and negative emotions in real life.It has been shown that parental psychological control is one of the many factors why individuals are addicted to online games,and it is also one of the important factors affecting the growth and development of junior high school students.In order to better understand the internal mechanisms influencing middle school students’ problematic online game use,this study examined the relationship between parental psychological control and middle school students’ problematic online game use based on self-determination theory,the "general model of stress response" and the compensatory network use model,using stress perception and boredom tendency as mediating variables.In this study,1203 junior high school students from four middle schools in Henan Province were used as the research subjects,the Parental Psychological Control Scale,Stress Perception Scale,Boredom Tendency Scale,and Problematic Online Game Use Questionnaire were used to investigate the research subjects,and after data processing and analysis using SPSS26.0,the following findings,conclusions,and educational insights were obtained.Conclusion:(1)Parental psychological control positively predicted middle school students’ problematic online game use,stress perceptions,and boredom tendencies;stress perceptions positively predicted middle school students’ problematic online game use;boredom tendencies positively predicted middle school students’ problematic online game use;and stress perceptions positively predicted boredom tendencies.(2)The higher the degree of parental psychological control perceived by junior high school students,the higher their degree of stress perception and boredom tendency.This in turn leads to a higher degree of problematic online game use among junior high school students.(3)Parental psychological control can not only directly influence middle school students’ problematic online game use,but also indirectly influence middle school students’ problematic online game use through stress perception and boredom tendency.Educational implications:Combining the above conclusions,the following educational countermeasures are proposed to curb the occurrence of problematic online game use and promote the psychologically healthy growth of middle school students.First,adopting a warm parenting style and creating a good family environment.Second,focusing on cultivating and strengthening middle school students’ resilience to stress,and guide them to face stress properly.Third,realizing the adverse effects caused by boredom and learning to release the bad emotions in a reasonable way.Fourth,taking effective measures to intervene and preventing problematic online game use for junior high school students.