The Impact of Interparental Conflicts on Online Game Addiction Symptomatology: The Mediating Roles of the Parent-Adolescent Relationship and Loneliness in Adolescents

Abstract

Many studies have documented the close association that exists between interparental conflicts and the symptomatology of online game addiction. However, the underlying mechanism that drives this association has not been fully investigated. This cross-sectional study explores the effect of interparental conflicts on online game addiction symptomatology in adolescents, focusing on the mediating effects of the parent-adolescent relationship and of adolescent loneliness. A total of 553 middle school students completed a questionnaire that included: a perception of interparental conﬂict scale, a level of closeness to parents scale, a short UCLA Loneliness scale, and an online game addiction symptomatology scale. Results showed that interparental conflicts, parent-adolescent relations, and adolescent loneliness are all significantly related to online game addiction symptomatology in adolescents. Structural equation modeling results indicate that the effects of interparental conflicts on adolescent online game addiction symptomatology are partially mediated by the parent-adolescent relationship and by adolescent loneliness.

Keywords

Online game addiction symptomatology interparental conflicts parent-adolescent relationship loneliness structural equation modeling

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

J. C.

Gerbing

D. W.

(1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411.

Ang

C.-S.

Chan

N.-N.

Lee

C.-S.

(2018). Shyness, loneliness avoidance, and internet addiction: What are the relationships? The Journal of Psychology, 152(1), 25–35.

Yang

Wang

Zhang

Deater-Deckard

(2018). Parenting styles and parent–adolescent relationships: The mediating roles of behavioral autonomy and parental authority. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02187

Boyle

Connolly

T. M.

Hainey

(2011). The role of psychology in understanding the impact of computer games. Entertainment Computing, 2(2), 69–74.

Buchanan

C. M.

Maccoby

E. E.

Dornbusch

S. M.

(1991). Caught between parents: Adolescents' experience in divorced homes. Child Development, 62(5), 1008–1029.

Cavanaugh

A. M.

Buehler

(2016). Adolescent loneliness and social anxiety: The role of multiple sources of support. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 33(2), 149–170.

Chen

Yan

Tang

Yang

Xie

(2016). Mobile phone addition levels and negative emotions among Chinese young adults: The mediating role of interpersonal problems. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 856–866.

Choi

Cho

Lee

Kim

Park

E.-C.

(2018). Effect of the online game shutdown policy on internet use, internet addiction, and sleeping hours in Korean adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(5), 548–555.

Choo

Sim

Liau

A. K. F.

Gentile

D. A.

Khoo

(2015). Parental influences on pathological symptoms of video-gaming among children and adolescents: A prospective study. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(5), 1429–1441. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-9949-9

10.

Cummings

E. M.

George

M. R. W.

McCoy

K. P.

Davies

P. T.

(2012). Interparental conflict in kindergarten and adolescent adjustment: Prospective investigation of emotional security as an explanatory mechanism. Child Development, 83(5), 1703–1715.

11.

Davies

P. T.

Cummings

E. M.

(1995). Children's emotions as organizers of their reactions to interadult anger: A functionalist perspective. Developmental Psychology, 31(4), 677–684.

12.

Han

D. H.

Renshaw

P. F.

(2012). Bupropion in the treatment of problematic online game play in patients with major depressive disorder. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 26(5), 689–696.

13.

Hardie

Tee

M. Y.

(2007). Excessive internet use: The role of personality, loneliness and social support networks in Internet addiction. Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies & Society, 5(1), 331–345.

14.

Harold

G. T.

Sellers

(2018). Annual research review: Interparental conflict and youth psychopathology: An evidence review and practice focused update. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(4), 374–402.

15.

Hartley

S. L.

Papp

L. M.

Bolt

(2018). Spillover of marital interactions and parenting stress in families of children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 47(sup1), S88–S99.

16.

Hoffmann

J. P.

(2006). Family structure, community context, and adolescent problem behaviors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(6), 867–880.

17.

L. t.

Bentler

P. M.

(1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55.

18.

Hyun

G. J.

Han

D. H.

Lee

Y. S.

Kang

K. D.

Yoo

S. K.

Chung

U.-S.

Renshaw

P. F.

(2015). Risk factors associated with online game addiction: A hierarchical model. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 706–713.

19.

Hughes, M. E., Waite, L. J., Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2004). A short scale for measuring loneliness in large surveys: Results from two population-based studies. Research on aging, 26(6), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027504268574

20.

John

Grych

Seid

,… Fincham. (1992). Assessing marital conflict from the child's perspective: The Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale. Child Development, 63, 558–572.

21.

Johnson

H. D.

Lavoie

J. C.

Mahoney

(2001). Interparental conflict and family cohesion: Predictors of loneliness, social anxiety, and social avoidance in late adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Research, 16(3), 304–318.

22.

Kim

E. J.

Namkoong

Kim

S. J.

(2008). The relationship between online game addiction and aggression, self-control and narcissistic personality traits. European Psychiatry, 23(3), 212–218.

23.

Kim

S. M.

Han

D. H.

Lee

Y. S.

Renshaw

P. F.

(2012). Combined cognitive behavioral therapy and bupropion for the treatment of problematic on-line game play in adolescents with major depressive disorder. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(5), 1954–1959.

24.

Kinnunen

Mauno

(1998). Antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict among employed women and men in Finland. Human Relations, 51(2), 157–177. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679805100203

25.

Koçak

Mouratidis

Sayıl

Kındap-Tepe

Uçanok

(2017). Interparental conflict and adolescents’ relational aggression and loneliness: The mediating role of maternal psychological control. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(12), 3546–3558.

26.

Kouros

C. D.

Papp

L. M.

Goeke-Morey

M. C.

Cummings

E. M.

(2014). Spillover between marital quality and parent–child relationship quality: Parental depressive symptoms as moderators. Journal of Family Psychology, 28(3), 315–325.

27.

Kweon

Y. R.

Park

M. S.

(2012). Effects of school adjustment on higher grade elementary school students' internet game addiction: Focused on gender difference. Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 21(2), 99–107. https://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2012.21.2.99

28.

Larsen

Branje

S. J. T.

Valk

I. E. V. D.

Meeus

W. H. J.

(2007). Friendship quality as a moderator between perception of interparental conflicts and maladjustment in adolescence. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(6), 549–558.

29.

Lau

Nie

(2008). Interplay between personal goals and classroom goal structures in predicting student outcomes: A multilevel analysis of person-context interactions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(1), 15–29.

30.

Lee

Kim

(2017). Predictors of online game addiction among Korean adolescents. Addiction Research & Theory, 25(1), 58–66.

31.

Shi

Dang

(2014). Online communication and subjective well-being in Chinese college students: The mediating role of shyness and social self-efficacy. Computers in Human Behavior, 34, 89–95.

32.

Zhang

Zhou

Zhao

Wang

(2016). Stressful life events and adolescent Internet addiction: The mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction and the moderating role of coping style. Computers in Human Behavior, 63(October), 408–415.

33.

Wang

(2013). The role of cognitive distortion in online game addiction among Chinese adolescents. Children & Youth Services Review, 35(9), 1468–1475.

34.

(1995). China's one-child policy: How and how well has it worked? A case study of Hebei Province, 1979-88. Population and Development Review, 21(3), 563–585. https://doi.org/10.2307/2137750

35.

Garland

E. L.

Howard

M. O.

(2014). Family factors in Internet addiction among Chinese youth: A review of English-and Chinese-language studies. Computers in Human Behavior, 31, 393–411.

36.

Lim

M. H.

Gleeson

J. F. M.

Alvarez-Jimenez

Penn

D. L.

(2018). Loneliness in psychosis: A systematic review. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 53(3), 221–238.

37.

Liu

C.-Y.

Kuo

F.-Y.

(2007). A study of internet addiction through the lens of the interpersonal theory. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10(6), 799–804.

38.

Liu

(2006). Boys as only‐children and girls as only‐children—Parental gendered expectations of the only‐child in the nuclear Chinese family in present‐day China. Gender and Education, 18(5), 491–505.

39.

Liu

L.-J.

Guo

(2007). Loneliness and health-related quality of life for the empty nest elderly in the rural area of a mountainous county in China. Quality of Life Research, 16(8), 1275–1280. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-007-9250-0

40.

MacKinnon

D. P.

Lockwood

C. M.

Hoffman

J. M.

West

S. G.

Sheets

(2002). A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods, 7(1), 83–104.

41.

Manders

W. A.

Scholte

R. H. J.

Janssens

J. M. A. M.

De Bruyn

E. E. J.

(2020). Adolescent personality, problem behaviour and the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship. European Journal of Personality, 20(3), 237–254. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.574

42.

Mastrotheodoros

Van der Graaff

Deković

Meeus

W. H. J.

Branje

S. J. T.

(2019). Interparental conflict management strategies and parent–adolescent relationships: Disentangling between‐person from within‐person effects across adolescence. Journal of Marriage and Family, 81(1), 185–203.

43.

McKernan

C. J.

Lucas-Thompson

R. G.

(2018). Autonomic nervous system coordination moderates links of negative interparental conflict with adolescent externalizing behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 54(9), 1697–1708.

44.

Mehroof

Griffiths

M. D.

(2010). Online gaming addiction: The role of sensation seeking, self-control, neuroticism, aggression, state anxiety, and trait anxiety. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 13(3), 313–316.

45.

Moura

Santos

R. A. D.

Rocha

Matos

P. M.

(2010). Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC): Factor structure and invariance across adolescents and emerging adults. International Journal of Testing, 10, 364–382.

46.

O’Mara

Schrodt

(2017). Negative parental disclosures as mediators of coparental communication and relational outcomes in parent-child relationships. Journal of Family Communication, 17(2), 169–184.

47.

Özdemir

Kuzucu

Ş.

(2014). Depression, loneliness and Internet addiction: How important is low self-control? Computers in Human Behavior, 34, 284–290.

48.

Park

S. K.

Kim

J. Y.

Cho

C. B.

(2008). Prevalence of Internet addiction and correlations with family factors among South Korean adolescents. Adolescence, 43(172), 895–909.

49.

Paulus

F. W.

Ohmann

Von Gontard

Popow

(2018). Internet gaming disorder in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 60(7), 645–659.

50.

Peng

Feng

Zhang

Zhao

Zhang

Chang

Zhang

Xiao

(2019). Measuring decision‐making competence in Chinese adults. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 32(3), 266–279.

51.

Peng

Guo

Zhao

Han

(2020). Short Boredom Proneness Scale: Adaptation and validation of a Chinese version with college students. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 48(2), 1–8.

52.

Peng

Jiang

Zhang

Xiao

Song

Feng

Miao

(2013). The impact of psychological capital on job burnout of Chinese nurses: The mediator role of organizational commitment. PLoS One, 8(12), e84193.

53.

Peng

Miao

Feng

Xiao

(2013). Five different types of framing effects in medical situation: A preliminary exploration. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 15(3), 161–165.

54.

Peng

Ren

Yang

Zhao

Fang

Shao

(2020). The network structure of decision-making competence in Chinese adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 563023. https://doi.org/563010.563389/fpsyg.562020.563023

55.

Peng

Zhang

Liao

Zhang

Zhu

(2019). Justice and foresight: The effect of belief in a just world and sense of control on delay discounting. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 13, e3. https://doi.org/ 10.1017/prp.2019.1013

56.

Peng

Zhang

Zhao

Fang

Shao

(2020). Coach–athlete attachment and the subjective well-being of athletes: A multiple-mediation model analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(13), 4675.

57.

Pivarunas

Conner

B. T.

(2015). Impulsivity and emotion dysregulation as predictors of food addiction. Eating Behaviors, 19, 9–14.

58.

Schneider

B. H.

Atkinson

Tardif

(2001). Child-parent attachment and children's peer relations: A quantitative review. Developmental Psychology, 37(1), 86–100.

59.

Schneider

L. A.

King

D. L.

Delfabbro

P. H.

(2017). Family factors in adolescent problematic Internet gaming: A systematic review. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6(3), 321–333.

60.

Schudlich

T. D. D. R.

Jessica

N. W.

Erwin

S. E. A.

Rishor

(2019). Infants' emotional security: The confluence of parental depression, Interparental conflict, and parenting. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 63, 42–53.

61.

Sherrill

R. B.

Lochman

J. E.

Decoster

(2017). Spillover between interparental conflict and parent-child conflict within and across days. Journal of Family Psychology, 31(7), 900–909.

62.

Sigal

Sandler

Wolchik

Braver

(2011). Do parent education programs promote healthy postdivorce parenting? Critical distinctions and a review of the evidence. Family Court Review, 49(1), 120–139.

63.

Simcharoen

Pinyopornpanish

Haoprom

Kuntawong

Wongpakaran

(2018). Prevalence, associated factors and impact of loneliness and interpersonal problems on internet addiction: A study in Chiang Mai medical students. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 31, 2–7.

64.

Smith

O. A.

Nelson

J. A.

Adelson

M. J.

(2019). Interparental and parent–child conflict predicting adolescent depressive symptoms. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(7), 1965–1976.

65.

Zhang

Liu

Zhen

(2018). Predicting Chinese adolescent internet gaming addiction from peer context and normative beliefs about aggression: A 2-year longitudinal study. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1143.

66.

Turner

B. J.

Layden

B. K.

Butler

S. M.

Chapman

A. L.

(2013). How often, or how many ways: Clarifying the relationship between non-suicidal self-injury and suicidality. Archives of Suicide Research, 17(4), 397–415.

67.

Uruk

A. C.

Demir

(2003). The role of peers and families in predicting the loneliness level of adolescents. The Journal of Psychology, 137(2), 179–193.

68.

Wang

H.-Z.

Sheng

J.-R.

Wang

J.-L.

(2019). The association between mobile game addiction and depression, social anxiety, and loneliness. Frontiers in Public Health, 7, 247.

69.

Wang

(2021). Perceived interparental conflict and problematic social media use among Chinese adolescents: The mediating roles of self-esteem and maladaptive cognition toward social network sites. Addictive Behaviors, 112, 106601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106601

70.

Wei

Chen

Xin

Liu

Zou

(2020). Interparental conflict, parent–adolescent attachment, and adolescent Internet addiction: The moderating role of adolescent self-control. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 48(9), 1–13.

71.

Williams

(2016). Adolescents' relationships with parents. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 22(1), 58–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927x02250056

72.

Wiseman

Mayseless

Sharabany

(2006). Why are they lonely? Perceived quality of early relationships with parents, attachment, personality predispositions and loneliness in first-year university students. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(2), 237–248.

73.

Qiu

Hahne

Zhao

(2018). Psychometric properties of the short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8) among Chinese adolescents. Medicine, 97(38), e12373–e12373. https://doi.org/10.1097/md.0000000000012373

74.

Turel

Yuan

(2012). Online game addiction among adolescents: Motivation and prevention factors. European Journal of Information Systems, 21(3), 321–340.

75.

Yam

C.-W.

Pakpour

A. H.

Griffiths

M. D.

Yau

W.-Y.

C.-L. M.

J. M. T.

Leung

(2019). Psychometric testing of three Chinese online-related addictive behavior instruments among Hong Kong university students. Psychiatric Quarterly, 90(1), 117–128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-018-9610-7

76.

Yap

S. T.

Baharudin

(2016). The relationship between adolescents’ perceived parental involvement, self-efficacy beliefs, and subjective well-being: A multiple mediator model. Social Indicators Research, 126(1), 257–278. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0882-0

77.

Zhang

Peng

Gao

Huang

Miao

(2019). Relationship between meaning in life and death anxiety in the elderly: Self-esteem as a mediator. BMC Geriatrics, 19(1), 1–8.

78.

Zhao

Zhou

Nie

Zhou

(2020). The relationship between bullying victimization and online game addiction among Chinese early adolescents: The potential role of meaning in life and gender differences. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105261.

79.

Zhou

Jia

Zhao

Sun

Wang

(2017). Interparental conflict and adolescent internet addiction: The mediating role of emotional insecurity and the moderating role of big five personality traits. Computers in Human Behavior, 73, 470–478.