Uncovering the relationship between childhood maltreatment subtypes and adolescent internet addiction: Evidence from the network and mediation analysis

Background

Childhood maltreatment has been identified as a predisposing factor for adolescent internet addiction. However, existing studies predominantly focus on overall scores of childhood maltreatment, overlooking the differential impact of five childhood maltreatment subtypes (i.e., physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect).

Objective

To fill this gap, we aim to reveal the specific associations between childhood maltreatment subtypes and internet addiction, thereby identifying the most critical types of childhood maltreatment. The underlying mechanisms were also explored.

Methods

We conducted a large sample cross-sectional Study 1 (N = 9336) and a longitudinal Study 2 (N = 1390) to examine the relationship between childhood maltreatment subtypes and internet addiction through network analysis. Longitudinal Study 3 (N = 974) further explored the underlying psychological driving processes through mediation analysis.

Results

Emotional abuse was most strongly associated with internet addiction in both contemporaneous (Studies 1–2) and cross-lagged panel networks (Study 2). Moreover, emotional abuse was longitudinally linked to internet addiction through internalizing problems (i.e., anxiety, depression; compensation-seeking process) and sensation seeking (reward-driven process) (Study 3).

Conclusions

These findings unraveled the complex relationship between childhood maltreatment subtypes and internet addiction and emphasized the importance of psychological interventions focusing on experiences of emotional abuse.