




































 

 

 

 

 

The Relationship between Internet-

based Entertainment and Self-

expectations in Education in 

Adolescents: The Moderating Effect of 

Parenting Styles

Xiaobin He, 1 Zhipeng Liu, 1 Chang Wang2
 

 
1. School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. 

2. School of Marxism, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. 
 

 

Abstract: Drawing on personal and household data from the China 

Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2020, the study aims to examine the 
relationship between internet-based entertainment and self-

expectations in education in adolescents, as well as analyzing the 
moderating effects of various parenting styles on this relationship. 

Its research findings reveal that internet use for entertainment 

purposes, such as online gaming and short-video viewing, can 
markedly undermine educational aspirations in adolescents; and 

that parenting styles have no significant influence on the negative 

effect of frequent short-video viewing on educational aspirations in 

this group, whereas tolerant parenting can suppress the negative 

effect of frequent online gaming, as opposed to neglectful 
parenting. 

Best Evidence in Chinese Education 2025; 20(2):1979-1982 

DOI: 10.15354/bece.25.ar162 

How to Cite: He, X., Liu, Z., & Wang, C. (2025). The relationship between 

internet-based entertainment and self-expectations in education in adolescents: 

The moderating effect of parenting styles. Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 

2025, 20(2):1979-1982. 

Keywords: Internet, Online Game, Short Video, Self-Expectations in Education, 

Parenting Style 

 



Wang. (China). The Impact of Teacher Leadership. 

BECE, Vol.20, No.2, 2025 1980 

 

 

 

About the Author: Xiaobin He, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.  E-mail: 
xiaobinhe@tsinghua.edu.cn  

Correspondence to: Xiaobin He at Tsinghua University in China. 

Conflict of Interests: None 

Funding: No funding sources declared. 

AI Declaration: The author affirms that artificial intelligence did not contribute to the process of preparing the 

work. 

Research Background and Purpose 

NTERNET use has permeated many facets of adolescents’ life, posing a 

profound impact on their growth. There have been numerous studies on 

the short-term effects of internet use on physical and mental health, as 

well as academic performance, in adolescents, but with few addressing its 

long-term impacts. Based on data from the China Family Panel Studies 

(CFPS) 2020, this study explores the relationship between internet-based 

entertainment and self-expectations in education in this group, as well as 

analyzing the moderating effects of various parenting styles on this 

relationship. 

Research Methodology 

Variables 

 Adolescent self-expectations in education are the dependent 

variable, measured by the self-reported “expected level of education” 

in the questionnaire, which was converted into a quantitative 

variable representing the expected years of education. 

 Internet-based entertainment activities, including online gaming and 

short video viewing, are the independent variables. Binary 

categorical variables were established based on the questionnaire 

items “Do you play online games every day?” and "Do you watch 

short videos every day?” 

 The parenting style is the moderating variable. The 14 indicators 

from the parenting style scale in the self-reporting questionnaire 

were converted into binary variables, and latent class analysis was 

adopted to categorize parenting styles into four types: neglectful, 

authoritarian, tolerant, and authoritative. 

 Control variables include personal characteristics, such as gender, 

age, urban/rural identity, years of education completed, and 

academic ranking; family-related characteristics, such as home 

I 

mailto:xiaobinhe@tsinghua.edu.cn


Wang. (China). The Impact of Teacher Leadership. 

BECE, Vol.20, No.2, 2025 1981 

location, paternal educational level, and paternal occupational status; 

and school-related characteristics, such as school location, being in 

a key school or not, and being in a high-performing class or not. 

Analysis Methods 

Multiple Linear Regression: To control for the effects of other variables on 

student self- expectations in education, the study employs multiple linear 

regression analysis to examine the relationship between the independent 

variables and dependent variable. The regression models include: 

• Model 1 for evaluating the effects of control variables on self-

expectations in education in adolescents;  

• Models 2 and 3, where the independent variables, online 

gaming and short-video viewing, are incorporated into Model 

1, respectively. 

Moderation Analysis: To explore how different parenting styles influence the 

relationship between internet-based entertainment on self-expectations in 

education in adolescents, Models 4 and 5 incorporate interaction terms of 

“online gaming on a daily basis” X “the parenting style experienced” and 

“short-video viewing on a daily basis” X “the parenting style experienced,” 

respectively. 

Robustness Test: To verify the robustness of the analysis results, a logit 

regression is conducted using a binary variable, “anticipating college 

attendance” vs. “not anticipating college attendance, derived from the 

variable of “adolescent self-expectations in education.” Additionally, the 

Bootstrap simulation method is employed to further test the statistical 

significance of the moderating effect of each parenting style on the negative 

impact of internet-based entertainment on student educational aspiration. 

Research Findings 

(I) Internet-based entertainment, notably online gaming and short-

video viewing, has negative effects on adolescent self-expectations 

in education.  

(II) Parenting styles can moderate the negative effects of online gaming 

on adolescent educational aspirations. Specifically, neglectful 

parenting, characterized by indifference to children’s behavior and 

attitudes, tends to exacerbate the negative effect of online gaming, 

as opposed to tolerant parenting, which is effective in mitigating its 

adverse effect. 



Wang. (China). The Impact of Teacher Leadership. 

BECE, Vol.20, No.2, 2025 1982 

(III) The moderating effect of any of the four parenting styles on the 

negative impacts of short-video viewing is statistically insignificant, 

and robustness tests also do not show any unstable results, which 

may be due to the piecemeal and highly viral nature of short videos. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Creative Commons NonCommercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the 

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(http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of 

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The Chinese version of this article has been published in Journal of Beijing University of Technology 

(Social Sciences Edition), 2025; 25(03):36-49. The English version has been authorized for being 

publication in BECE by the author(s) and the Chinese journal. 

何晓斌, 刘志鹏, 王 畅. (2025). 不同家庭教养方式下互联网娱乐使用与青少年自我教育期待的实
证研究. 北京工业大学学报（社会科学版）5 月刊，25(03):36-49. 

 

 

Received: June 05, 2025 

Revised: July 01, 2025 

Accepted: July 15, 2025

 

http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

