A Dyadic Approach to Adolescents’ Risky Online Behaviors

Abstract

This research analyzes the discrepancies respecting parents’ and their children’s perspectives on adolescents’ risky online behaviors and parental mediation. Rather than focus solely on youth outcomes, this study explores dyadic data, by comparing reports from adolescents attending 7th to 12th grades in Portuguese schools and those of their parents (N=1016). Moreover, this research considers the existence of defense mechanisms influencing adolescents’ reports, a factor that has been neglected in previous studies. Differences regarding adolescents’ gender, parents’ gender, and adolescents’ school year are considered and tested using One-way ANOVA. Within the family unit, the only members considered by adolescents to have the same or more online and computer skills than the teenagers themselves are their older siblings. Practical implications aiming to mitigate the risk involved in adolescents’ online experiences, and theoretical contributions to the field of prevention and youth well-being in the context of consumer behavior in the digital age are discussed.