The Mediating Role of Coping Styles on Impulsivity, Behavioral Inhibition/Approach System, and Internet Addiction in Adolescents From a Gender Perspective

Abstract

Previous findings have shown that impulsivity and Behavioral Inhibition/Approach System (BIS/BAS) have substantial effects on adolescents’ Internet addiction, but the mechanisms underlying these associations and gender differences in these effects have received little attention. We examined the mediating effects of coping styles from impulsivity, and BIS/BAS to Internet addiction as well as gender differences in these associations. A total of 416 Chinese adolescents were examined using a cross-sectional survey involving Young’s Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, BIS/BAS scales, and Coping Style Scale for Middle School Students. The data were analyzed using the independent sample t-test, chi-square test, Pearson correlation, and structure equation modeling. The results from the multiple-group (by adolescent gender) structural model analysis revealed that both impulsivity (p < 0.001) and BIS (p = 0.001) directly predicted positive Internet addiction in girls, while both impulsivity (p = 0.011) and BAS (p = 0.048) directly predicted positive Internet addiction in boys. Furthermore, emotion-focused coping mediated the relationship between impulsivity and Internet addiction (β = 0.080, 95% CI: 0.023–0.168) and the relationship between BIS and Internet addiction (β = 0.064, 95% CI: 0.013–0.153) in girls, while in boys, problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping mediated the association between impulsivity and Internet addiction (β = 0.118, 95% CI: 0.031–0.251; β = 0.065, 95% CI: 0.010–0.160, respectively) and problem-focused coping mediated the association between BAS and Internet addiction [β = −0.058, 95% CI: (−0.142)–(−0.003)]. These findings extend our insight into the mechanisms underlying the associations among impulsivity, BIS/BAS, and Internet addiction in adolescents and suggest that gender-sensitive training approaches to decrease adolescents’ Internet addiction are indispensable. These interventions should focus on the different gender predictors of adolescent Internet addiction and on the development of specific coping styles for boys and girls respectively.

Prevalence of Internet Addiction during the COVID-19 Outbreak and Its Risk Factors among Junior High School Students in Taiwan

“…In the psychological dimension, this study discovered that impulsivity was positively related to IA, which was consistent with past researches [ 13 , 20 , 21 , 62 ]. Potential contributions of psychosocial risk factors of IA were further analyzed using a forward logistic regression analyses.…”

“…On the other hand, past researches have shown that higher levels of neuroticism [ 19 , 20 ], greater impulsivity [ 20 , 21 ], higher levels of depression [ 22 , 23 ], alexithymia [ 24 , 25 ], self-esteem [ 26 , 27 ], and subjective well-being [ 28 , 29 ] are all associated with IA. Furthermore, previous research also indicated sociological factors, including actual social support [ 30 , 31 ], virtual social support [ 32 , 33 ], and family function [ 34 , 35 ] to be related to IA.…”

Problematic Facebook use and problematic video gaming as mediators of relationship between impulsivity and life satisfaction among female and male gamers

“…Taken together, it can be assumed that gender can be a moderator of the relationship between impulsivity and problematic behavior as well as and life satisfaction and problematic behaviors such as PVG and PFU. However, previous studies [88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95] have reported a non-consistent pattern of gender differences in these relationships. Consequently, it is important to understand the differences between males and females in the relationship between impulsivity and problematic behavior as well as life satisfaction and these types of behaviors.…”

“…However, Li et al [91] reported that general impulsivity was positive associated with problematic internet use, irrespective of gender. Similarly, Shokri, Potenza and Sanaeepour [92] postulated similar relationships between problematic Internet use and impulsivity traits such as negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking lack of premeditation across gender.…”

The Potential Role of the Early Maladaptive Schema in Behavioral Addictions Among Late Adolescents and Young Adults

“…Besides, gender seem to moderate the link between BAs and their clinical phenotype. In fact, recent findings showed that while GD was more frequent among males than females (Fröberg et al, 2015;Di Nicola et al, 2017;Carneiro et al, 2019), IA did not show a gender-related trend (McNicol and Thorsteinsson, 2017;Li et al, 2019) and FA was more frequent among females (Aloi et al, 2017;Borisenkov et al, 2018;Magyar et al, 2018).…”