Structural Relationships Between Negative Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies and Symptoms of Internet Addiction: Mediating Role of Anxiety

Abstract

Background: Internet addiction is one of the most paramount problems of societies. Therefore, the knowledge of its influencing factors is of special importance. Methods: The present study was correlational in terms of goals and descriptive in terms of the data gathering procedure. The statistical population consisted of 2,000 male students and included all fourth-grade students of state high schools of Tabriz City in 2017. The sample included 246 students, selected through random cluster sampling. For the collection of data, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation questionnaire (CERQ), Young’s Diagnostic questionnaire (YDQ), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were used. Then, the collected data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. Results: Negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies could explain internet addiction symptoms. Self-blame, other-blame, rumination, catastrophizing, and anxiety could explain internet addiction symptoms directly. The indirect effect of self-blame and rumination on internet addiction mediated by anxiety was positive and significant; however, the indirect effect of other-blame and catastrophizing on internet addiction mediated by anxiety was not significant. Conclusions: The findings have practical implications for clinical psychologists and can be used for diagnosis and therapy of internet addiction disorder.

Parental attachment security and problematic internet use in children: The mediating role of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies

“…Specifically, in the research of Extremera et al (2019) problematic users showing significantly higher scores for maladaptive CER strategies (Rumination, Catastrophizing, Self-blame, and Other-blame). Other studies have shown that maladaptive CERS were positively associated to PIU, IA, or problematic device use (Kökönyei et al, 2019; Nosrat-Abad et al, 2020), which is consistent with the significant positive correlations we found between all maladaptive CERS and PIU. These findings suggest that problematic Internet use can be understood as a maladaptive strategy, which is used for escape from everyday problems and that partly arises because of the difficulty of using other adaptive emotional regulation strategies (e.g., Blasi et al, 2019; Brand et al, 2016; Gioia et al, 2021).…”

“…According to the cognitive-behavioral model (Davis, 2001), maladaptive cognitions are a influencing factor in Internet Addiction, suggesting that high levels of Rumination might lead to more severe and durable Internet Addiction. Regarding the rest of CERS, some current results showed that all the maladaptive strategies (Self-blame, Other-blame, Catastrophizing, and Rumination) were positively related to problematic gaming on Internet (Kökönyei et al, 2019), to IA behaviors (Nosrat-Abad et al, 2020) or to Problematic Smartphone Use (Extremera et al, 2019). These findings suggest the importance of maladaptive CERS in the development and maintenance of problematic use of technology.…”

“…Focusing on maladaptive CERS, particularly, Rumination has been related to Problematic Smartphone Use (Elhai et al, 2018) and Internet Addiction (Liu et al, 2019; McNicol & Thorsteinsson, 2017; Nosrat-Abad et al, 2020) in adolescence and preadolescence. According to the cognitive-behavioral model (Davis, 2001), maladaptive cognitions are a influencing factor in Internet Addiction, suggesting that high levels of Rumination might lead to more severe and durable Internet Addiction.…”

Impulsivity and Depressive Brooding in Internet Addiction: A Study With a Sample of Italian Adolescents During COVID-19 Lockdown

“…As a result, those who have a lot of ruminating may have a more severe and long-lasting Internet addiction. Other recent studies have investigated both the relationship between Internet addiction and general rumination (46)(47)(48)(49)(50) as well as the specific one with so-called social media rumination, that is the propensity to continually ponder about one's social media postings, relevant situational conditions, and the ramifications of those posts, displaying a recursive cycle process with mental anguish (51)(52)(53)(54)(55).…”

Impact of IAD on Teenagers Emotion Regulation and Anxiety

“…According to Ali, argues that like drug, alcohol, and gambling addictions, certain Internet addicts' actions can have a severe impact on relationships, which can lead to difficulties finding work, unhappy marriages, and divorce [2]. Also, in adolescents, who are in a stage of physical and mental growth, their brains are developing, and external factors easily influence them.…”