Childhood psychological maltreatment and addictive social media use in Chinese adolescents: A path model of sense of control and negative affect as mediators

Abstract

Background

Addictive social media use (SMU) is a global concern, especially among adolescents. Recent studies have suggested that childhood psychological maltreatment may contribute to the development of addictive SMU. However, this association and its underlying mechanisms require further exploration.

Objective

Guided by compensatory control theory and compensatory Internet-use theory, this study investigates whether and how adolescents' addictive use of social media is influenced by childhood psychological maltreatment. Specifically, we examined two factors related to childhood psychological maltreatment–sense of control and negative affect (measured by depression and anxiety individually)–as potential mediators.

Methods

In a cross-sectional design, 994 adolescents (aged 13–16, with a mean age of 14.37 years, SD = 0.66, 44 % girls) from one middle school in China completed a pencil-and-paper survey assessing childhood psychological maltreatment, sense of control, depression, anxiety, and addictive SMU. A structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses.

Results

After controlling for sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., gender, age, and only child), the results indicated that childhood psychological maltreatment indirectly affects addictive SMU via the independent mediating effects of depression and anxiety, as well as the sequential mediating effects of the sense of control and depression and the sense of control and anxiety.

Conclusions

The findings revealed compensation mechanisms underlying the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and adolescents' addictive SMU, which highlights alleviating negative affect (depression, anxiety) may play a more critical role in the development of addictive SMU.