Parenting strategies: applying basic psychological needs to children at risk of Internet Gaming Disorder in Indonesia

Every parent desires their child to engage in both play and learning. Often, parents find themselves attributing any challenges to perceived shortcomings in their parenting and struggle to leverage digital media effectively. This research endeavors to examine the fundamental psychological needs - autonomy, competence, and relationship - in relation to parenting strategies for children vulnerable to Internet Gaming Disorder. Employing an analytical cross-sectional design, the study focused on parents with children aged 8 to 12 years in Gresik City, East Java, Indonesia. A purposive sample of 125 participants was selected. The research employed the satisfaction and frustration of the Basic Psychological Needs (BPN) questionnaire along with a parenting strategy scale. Descriptive statistical tests and multiple linear regression were utilized to analyze the BPN and parenting strategies. Simultaneously, BPN significantly influenced parental strategies (p=0.026, which is ≤0.05). In terms of effective contributions, autonomy, competence, and relationship collectively accounted for 7.3%, with individual effects of 1.82%, 5.56%, and 0.04%, respectively. Parents whose BPN were fulfilled exhibited effective parenting strategies, reducing the risk of Internet Gaming Disorder. Consequently, there is a crucial role for nurses and healthcare professionals in educating parents about preventing Internet Gaming Disorder in children.