Academic Journal
Emotional symptoms and problematic internet use among adolescents with and without childhood trauma: A two-wave cross-lagged panel and network analysis.
| Τίτλος: | Emotional symptoms and problematic internet use among adolescents with and without childhood trauma: A two-wave cross-lagged panel and network analysis. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Xie X; School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China., Hu Z; School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China., Tian X; School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China., Wang X; School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China., Yang Y; Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Behavior, Shandong Mental Health Center, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250014, China., Kong L; School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China. Electronic address: konglinghua@sdu.edu.cn. |
| Πηγή: | Addictive behaviors [Addict Behav] 2026 Jul; Vol. 178, pp. 108656. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Feb 28. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Science Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 7603486 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-6327 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03064603 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Addict Behav Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Oxford : Elsevier Science Original Publication: Oxford, Elmsford, N. Y., Pergamon Press. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Internet Addiction Disorder*/psychology , Internet Addiction Disorder*/epidemiology , Depression*/psychology , Depression*/epidemiology , Anxiety*/psychology , Anxiety*/epidemiology , Adverse Childhood Experiences*/statistics & numerical data , Adverse Childhood Experiences*/psychology , Internet Use*/statistics & numerical data, China/epidemiology ; Humans ; Adolescent ; Female ; Male ; Self Concept ; Anhedonia ; Internet |
| Περίληψη: | Background: Emotional symptoms, including depression and anxiety, are commonly linked with Problematic Internet Use in adolescents. However, the temporal dynamics of these associations, particularly in the context of childhood trauma, remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the bidirectional relationships between emotional symptoms and Problematic Internet Use, with a focus on whether trauma exposure moderates these associations. Methods: Two-wave data were collected from 10,394 Chinese adolescents over a six-month interval. Depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and Problematic Internet Use were assessed at both time points. Cross-lagged panel models (CLPM) tested temporal associations, and cross-lagged panel network analyses (CLPN) identified symptom-level predictors. Results: Depressive symptoms at Time 1 predicted Problematic Internet Use at Time 2 in both trauma-exposed (β = 0.122) and non-exposed (β = 0.098) groups, with stronger effects compared to anxiety symptoms (β = 0.081 and 0.098, respectively). Trauma exposure did not significantly moderate the strength of these variable-level associations. In the CLPN, negative self-esteem (Out-EI: 0.598-0.822) and anhedonia (Out-EI: 0.605-0.613) were key predictors, while social withdrawal was the most influenced symptom (In-EI: 0.646-0.864). Adolescents with trauma exposure exhibited a less interconnected and sparser symptom network. Conclusions: Depressive symptoms, particularly negative self-esteem and anhedonia, play a central role in the development of adolescent Problematic Internet Use. Although childhood trauma did not moderate the strength of associations at the variable level, it was associated with alterations in the structural dynamics of symptom interactions, highlighting the need for trauma-informed, emotion-focused interventions in adolescent mental health. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Adolescents; Childhood trauma; Cross-lagged network analysis; Cross-lagged panel model; Emotional symptoms; Problematic internet use |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260304 Date Completed: 20260710 Latest Revision: 20260710 |
| Update Code: | 20260711 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108656 |
| PMID: | 41780207 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-6327 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108656 |