The master’s thesis examines the association between parenting styles, as experienced by adolescents, and their use of the internet. The theoretical framework links scholarship on the family and parenting, Baumrind’s classical typology of parenting styles, concepts of behavioral (non-chemical) addictions, developmental characteristics of adolescence, and the foundations of systems theory. The empirical section is based on a quantitative study with 375 high-school students who completed the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), a questionnaire on risky internet use, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Data were collected via an online survey with anonymity and voluntary participation ensured, and the analysis was conducted in SPSS. The results showed that the perceived paternal authoritative parenting style is statistically significantly associated with a lower level of risky internet use compared to authoritarian and permissive styles; for mothers, the associations were similar, but the differences did not reach statistical significance. Differences by gender and age within the high-school sample were not statistically significant. The findings add to the understanding of the role of parenting styles in adolescents’ internet use and provide a basis for further research, for which it would be sensible to include other factors as well.
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