Perceived autonomy-supportive parenting and internet addiction: respiratory sinus arrhythmia moderated the mediating effect of basic psychological need satisfaction

The Impact of Cyberbullying Victimization on Internet Gaming Addiction Among College Students: The Mediating Roles of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration, and the Moderating Role of Parental Autonomy Support

PURPOSE

Research on the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and Internet gaming addiction in China is limited, while the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Based on the Self-Determination Theory, this study establishes a moderated mediation model to test the mediating roles of basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration between cyberbullying victimization and Internet gaming addiction, as well as the moderating role of parental autonomy support in this mediating effect.

METHODS

2819 college students were surveyed using self-reported questionnaires about cyberbullying victimization, basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration, parental autonomy support, and Internet gaming addiction. SPSS 24.0 was utilized to analyze the correlations between variables, and Amos 24.0 was employed to test the structural equation model of this study.

RESULTS

Cyberbullying victimization was found to significantly predict Internet gaming addiction positively. Basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration played partial mediating roles between cyberbullying victimization and Internet gaming addiction respectively. Parental autonomy support further moderated the first half of the mediated model pathway. Specifically, the impact of cyberbullying victimization on basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration are more obvious among college students with high level of parental autonomy support.

CONCLUSION

The findings advance our understanding of how cyberbullying victimization affects Internet gaming addiction.Within the college environment, reducing cyberbullying victimization could prevent Internet gaming addiction. Furthermore, enhancing basic psychological need satisfaction, reducing basic psychological need frustration, and reinforcing parental autonomy support among college students who have experienced cyberbullying would be effective to prevent Internet gaming addiction.

Parenting Styles and Adolescents' Problem Behaviors: The Mediating Effect of Adolescents' Self-Control

The study examined the mediating role of adolescents' self-control on the relationship between parenting styles and problem behaviors. A parenting style questionnaire, adolescents' self-control questionnaire, and the Youth Self-Report were administered to 611 adolescents (335 boys, and 276 girls, Mage = 13.17, SD = 0.46) to assess their parenting styles, self-control, and problem behaviors. The results indicated that paternal rejection was positively associated with externalizing problems and maternal rejection was positively associated with internalizing problems. Moreover, adolescents' self-control played a mediating role in the relationship between paternal rejection and externalizing problems and between paternal rejection and internalizing problems. The findings showed that paternal and maternal rearing styles have different influences on adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems, respectively, and adolescents' self-control played a mediating role in these different relationships. This study has great significance for revealing the mechanism of parenting styles on adolescents' problem behaviors.

The association of childhood maltreatment with Internet addiction: the serial mediating effects of cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depression

OBJECTIVES

Childhood maltreatment, cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERSs), and depression can be important in adolescents' Internet addiction. The current study aims to investigate the direct effect of childhood maltreatment on Internet addiction and its indirect effects via CERSs and depression.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

4091 adolescents (age M = 13.64, SD = 1.59; 48.9 % males) were recruited from a public school in China.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional design, participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short version (CERQ-Short), the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). A latent structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses.

RESULTS

After controlling for age, childhood maltreatment was directly associated with adolescents' Internet addiction (β = 0.12, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, the serial mediating effect via maladaptive CERSs and depression was 0.02 (95 % CI [0.01, 0.04]), and via adaptive CERSs and depression was 0.001 (95 % CI [0.0004, 0.002]), demonstrating significant serial mediating role of CERSs and depression in this relationship. No gender difference was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that maladaptive CERSs and depression can be potential mechanisms relating childhood maltreatment to adolescents' Internet addiction, while adaptive CERSs can be a less influential factor for reducing Internet addiction.

Associations of resilience and respiratory sinus arrhythmia with alienation among college students

BACKGROUND

Although the sense of alienation is harmful and causes many developmental problems, very few studies have focused on its antecedent variables and when these variables are related to alienation. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between resilience and sense of alienation among college students, and the moderating role of baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in this association.

METHOD

Physiological data were collected during a resting condition in the laboratory from 109 college students aged from 17 to 21 years (M = 18.94, SD = 0.92). Questionnaires that captured demographic information, resilience, and sense of alienation, were also completed.

RESULTS

Results indicated that resilience was negatively related to the sense of alienation. Moreover, this negative relationship was moderated by baseline RSA such that it was significant only among students with low levels of baseline RSA.

CONCLUSION

Our findings revealed that individuals with low resilience tend to have a higher level of alienation if their baseline RSA is relatively low.

DISCUSSION

The current study sheds light on the psychological and biological characteristics of these individuals who tend to have higher levels of alienation, which may be useful for intervention program developers and practitioners.

Online Gaming Addiction and Basic Psychological Needs Among Adolescents: The Mediating Roles of Meaning in Life and Responsibility

Individuals whose basic needs are naturally satisfied are much less dependent on their environment and more autonomous. Basic psychological needs (i.e., the general motivators of human actions) are significant predictors of online gaming addiction. Moreover, it has been posited that meaning and responsibility in life are at the center of life from an existential point of view. Therefore, a hypothetical model was tested to examine the relationships between basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness), online gaming addiction, responsibility, and meaning in life. Data were collected from a sample of 546 participants. Mediation analysis was conducted, and the results indicated that basic psychological needs, online gaming addiction, responsibility, and meaning in life had significant negative and positive relationships. The findings indicated that responsibility and meaning in life had a serial mediating effect in the relationship between basic psychological needs and online gaming addiction. The findings also showed that the inverse relationship between online gaming addiction and basic psychological needs was at least partially explained by meaning in life and responsibility. The results of the present study are of great importance and suggest that interventions to satisfy the basic psychological needs of adolescents may help prevent online gaming addiction.

Offline and Online Social Support and Short-Form Video Addiction Among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Emotion Suppression and Relatedness Needs

Short-form video applications have gained worldwide popularity in recent years. Although short-form video applications encourage communication over the Internet, their popularity encourages adolescents to overindulge in them. This study aimed to explore the effects of offline and online social support (SS) for short-form video addiction (SVA), and the mediating role of emotion regulation and basic psychological needs. A total of 490 junior middle school students from China participated in the study. Structural equation modeling using a bootstrap procedure revealed that (a) offline SS and relatedness needs negatively predicted SVA, (b) pursuit of online SS and emotion suppression positively predicted SVA, (c) emotion suppression and relatedness needs were mediators between offline SS and SVA, and (d) emotion suppression was a mediator between the pursuit of online SS and SVA. These findings provide valuable insight into SVA and will help develop effective strategies for the prevention of SVA.

Parental Autonomy Support and Pathological Internet Use among Chinese Undergraduate Students: Gratitude Moderated the Mediating Effect of Filial Piety

Applying an integrated theoretical model consisting of the socioecological theory, the self-determination theory, and the broaden-and-build theory, the present study tested a moderated mediation model of parental autonomy support, filial piety, and gratitude to study how these factors are jointly related to pathological Internet use (PIU) in Chinese undergraduate students. A total of 1054 Chinese undergraduate students (M age = 20.35, SD = 1.00, 34.7% females) aged between 16 and 24 years participated in this study. They were instructed to complete self-reported questionnaires on parental autonomy support, filial piety, gratitude, and PIU. The results showed that parental autonomy support was negatively associated with PIU, and filial piety partially mediated this relation. Specifically, parental autonomy support was positively related to filial piety, which, in turn, was negatively associated with PIU. In addition, gratitude moderated the first path of the indirect relation and the direct relation of this mediation effect. To be specific, undergraduate students with higher gratitude showed high filial piety and low PIU, in the context of low parental autonomy support, than those with lower gratitude. Taken together, the current study contributes to extant research by highlighting the vital role of parental autonomy support in mitigating undergraduate students' PIU and illustrating how filial piety explains the underlying mechanism of this association. This study also provides novel insights into intervention or prevention programs by demonstrating that gratitude alleviates the adverse effect of low parental autonomy support on students' PIU.

Parental Autonomy Support, Parental Psychological Control and Chinese University Students' Behavior Regulation: The Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs

The present research examined relationships between parental autonomy support, parental psychological control, and Chinese emerging adults' autonomous regulation in their university studies as well as dysregulation in social media engagement. A total of 287 (102 female and 185 male) Chinese university students reported on their perceived parenting styles, psychological needs, and behavior regulation. Results showed that basic psychological need satisfaction was positively associated with parental autonomy support and autonomous regulation of learning; need frustration was positively correlated with parental psychological control and dysregulation in social media engagement. More importantly, psychological need frustration was a mediator of the relation between parental psychological control and dysregulation in social media engagement. Our findings suggest that students living in an autonomy-supportive familial environment tend to have satisfied psychological needs as well as autonomous learning behavior. Impairment of psychological needs could be one of the mechanisms through which psychologically controlling parenting was linked to dysregulation of social media use in Chinese culture.