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Even though positive associations among problematic Internet use (PIU), maladaptive personality traits, insecure attachment styles, and dissociation have been frequently observed in research, a need exists to examine the interrelationships among these factors in young adults. Two hundred fifty-three young adults (52% females) aged between 18 and 25...
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Citations
... User identity dissociation refers to the phenomenon whereby individuals present and act differently in virtual environments compared to the real world (Schimmenti et al., 2021). This concept aligns with social identity theory and role identity theory, which posit that people have multiple identities activated in different contexts (Brown, 2020). ...
Objective: The subject matter of this study focuses on the comparison of user behaviour in the real world and the virtual world, with special emphasis on the phenomenon of user identity dissociation. This dissociation refers to the ability of individuals to separate or distort their real identity when interacting in digital environments. Methodology: The methodology will consist of a systematic literature review, collecting and analysing relevant previous studies to extract patterns and conclusions about user behaviour and identity dissociation in virtual environments. Results: User behaviour in virtual environments shares patterns with the real world but differs in the frequency and combination of responses. Identity dissociation in virtual spaces, driven by anonymity and lack of nonverbal cues, can lead to antisocial behaviours and impulsive decision-making. This negatively impacts platforms by reducing user satisfaction and damaging their credibility. Limitations: The study’s limitations include a small document sample, a short research timeframe and the potential exclusion of relevant documents due to the selected databases, indicating a need for further research. Practical implications: This study provides technology professionals, especially in virtual realities and the metaverse, with insights to improve company outcomes, marketing and communication strategies by enhancing platform design, regulatory policies and audience engagement. Specifically, integrating adaptive feedback systems and immersive storytelling can enhance user satisfaction and brand loyalty.
... Studies also show that all Criterion B domains are related to insecure attachment, with the strongest associations found for Negative Affectivity and Detachment, and the weaker connections observed for Disinhibition and Psychoticism (37). In other studies, attachment anxiety emerges as a robust predictor of Negative Affectivity, whereas attachment avoidance is a strong predictor of Detachment (38,39), also in the ICD-11 maladaptive traits model (40). When Relationship Questionnaire is used, fearful attachment shows negative correlations with Negative Affectivity, Detachment and Psychoticism and dismissing attachment is associated with Negative Affectivity and Antagonism (33,34). ...
... Moderation analyses revealed a significant main effect of attachment anxiety and avoidance was observed for Criterion A, while for Criterion B, anxiety emerged as significant across all traits, with avoidance showing a main effect only for Detachment. These findings underscore the critical yet distinct role of attachment dimensions in the manifestation of personality disorders, aligning with previous research discussed earlier (33,35,38,39). We also observed moderation effects of self-and other-mentalization on the relationship and Negative Affectivity, but not Detachment. ...
Background: Research on different aspects of mentalizing is essential for understanding the mechanisms underlying personality disorders (PD) and informing psychotherapy approaches, where mentalizing functions as a key mechanism of change. This study aimed to explore whether self- and other-mentalizing, in interaction with attachment insecurity, differentially explain Criteria A (level of personality functioning) and B (maladaptive traits) of the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders in the DSM-5.
Method: Our sample consisted of 109 participants (54% female, 41% male, 5% nonbinary). We used The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Personality Disorders, A Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, the Experiences in Close Relationships – Revised, The Self and Interpersonal Functioning Scale, and The Personality Inventory for DSM-5.
Results: Regression analyses show that self-mentalizing deficits uniquely predict both Criterion A domains (self and interpersonal functioning) and all five maladaptive traits, while other-mentalizing is relevant only to interpersonal functioning. Explained variance (adjusted R²) ranges from 55% to 18%. Additionally, mentalization moderates the relationship between insecure attachment and personality pathology (Interpersonal functioning, Negative Affectivity and Detachment), mainly with greater mentalization deficits linked to more severe personality dysfunction under heightened attachment insecurity.
Conclusion: Our findings authorize mentalizing as a crucial factor in PD, supporting the potential value of mentalization-focused interventions in addressing both the severity and the “flavor” of PD. Notably, our findings suggest a hierarchy within self- and other- mentalizing, indicating that self- mentalizing plays a more foundational role in PD. Through a comprehensive, multi-method assessment of mentalization, this study offers a refined understanding of its role in psychopathology, providing valuable insights that could guide the development of more targeted therapeutic interventions.
... Estos rasgos se describen como variantes desadaptativas de los rasgos de personalidad normal y están asociados al uso problemático de Internet. La afectividad negativa y el psicoticismo, por ejemplo, son predictores de la adicción a Internet, ya que predicen el grado de control sobre el tiempo de conexión y sobre las variables vinculadas con la autopresentación (Gervasi et al., 2017;Schimmenti et al., 2021). En otro estudio se encontró que estos rasgos estaban relacionados con los síntomas de asociados al uso problemático de juegos online (Laier et al., 2018). ...
The aim of this research was to study the relation between Dual Personality Model’s trait continuums (combinations of pathological and positive traits; de la Iglesia & Castro Solano, 2021) and internet use, and to compare them with Five Factor Model traits (FFM; Costa & McCrae, 1984). Sample was composed by 745 internet users with an average age of 38.7 years old (SD = 14.4; 57% female). Internet use with leisure motive was higher in those with less emotional management (EMI) and those with lack of interest in others (IOI), and it was lower in those with high adherence to rules (ARI), impulse control (ICI) and greater environmental control (ECI). Additionally, utilitarian and work use was higher in those with higher IOI and ECI. Regarding personality adjustment (PAI) in a global assessment, healthy personality profiles are characterized by a utilitarian and work use, and those with pathological personality profiles use internet with recreational or social motives. Trait continuums significantly increased the explained variance regarding the use of utilitarian platforms and all kinds of internet use, when compared to FFM traits. Findings give further evidence of the utility of incorporating continuums traits assessment when studying personality, given that the conjointly association of pathological and positive aspects increases the explanation of the phenomenon in a significant manner.
... Some researchers have also found that eveningness has been associated with problematic mobile phone use [69], and those with evening chronotypes tend to perceive excessive mobile phone use as a dysfunctional emotional regulation strategy to cope with negative emotions such as loneliness. Nevertheless, this negative coping mechanism may actually cultivate more detrimental consequences, creating a feedback loop that exacerbates feelings of loneliness and other negative emotions [70,71]. Additionally, higher levels of loneliness could lead to an increased risk of social anxiety. ...
Background
Social anxiety has been a burning problem among contemporary college students in China. Increasing evidence suggests that individual circadian typology–chronotype may play an important role in the development of social anxiety. However, little research has focused directly on examining the association between chronotype and social anxiety, and less is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relationship. The aim of the present study was to investigate the link between chronotype and social anxiety among Chinese college students, and to explore the mediating effect of loneliness and the moderating effect of perceived social support in the association between chronotype and social anxiety.
Methods
A cross-sectional design was conducted among 1616 college students (16–29 years old) from several public universities in Northern China, including 1172 females (72.52%) and 444 males (27.48%), with an average age of 19.68 years old (SD = 1.49). All participants completed the standardized self-report questionnaires including the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Perceived Social Support Scale. Common method bias was performed using Harman’s single-factor test. The mediation and moderation effects were analyzed using SPSS software and PROCESS macros.
Results
Chronotype had a negative predictive effect on social anxiety in college students. Specifically, the greater the inclination of individuals' chronotypes toward evening preference, the more pronounced their symptoms of social anxiety would be. Loneliness served as a partial mediator in the relationship between chronotype and social anxiety, accounting for 30.0% of the total effect. In addition, perceived social support, particularly from friends and significant others, was found to play a moderating role in the process of loneliness affecting social anxiety among college students, while support from family did not. Interestingly, the perceived social support displayed a limited protective effect when college students suffered from higher levels of loneliness.
Conclusion
These findings deepened our understanding of how and when (or for “whom”) chronotype is related to social anxiety, offering a theoretical foundation and practical insights for preventing and addressing social anxiety risk in young adult university students, particularly those with evening chronotypes.
... Therefore, insecure peer attachment is one of the factors contributing to problematic internet use. On the other hand, adolescents with secure peer attachment are more likely to form friendships in the real world, providing them with better protection against PIU [101]. ...
Background
The swift advancement of technology, particularly the internet, has significantly influenced various aspects of human life, resulting in both positive and negative consequences. In Indonesia, adolescents represent the largest group of internet users, with usage durations exceeding four hours per day, making them vulnerable to issues such as Problematic Internet Use (PIU). During adolescence, peer relationships play a crucial role in social development.
Objective
This study aims to explore how peer relations can influence problematic internet use among adolescents and identify strategic factors that contribute to reducing PIU based on systematic review findings. Additionally, the research seeks to quantify the relationship between peer relations and problematic internet use among adolescents through meta-analysis. The hypothesis posits a correlation between peer relations and problematic internet use among adolescents.
Methods
The research employs scoping review and meta-analysis techniques.
Results
Scoping review results indicate that, overall, peer relationships can have both positive and negative impacts on PIU. A more positive relationship between adolescents and their peers tends to correlate with lower levels of PIU. Conversely, adolescents with problematic peer relationships are more likely to develop PIU behaviours. Meta-analysis results further strengthen these findings, demonstrating a significant correlation between peer relationships and problematic internet use among adolescents (r = 0.191; p = 0.020; 95% CI).
Conclusion
Despite the significant correlation, the influence of peer relationships on problematic internet use appears to be relatively low. This suggests the existence of other factors that contribute to PIU behaviours beyond peer relationships.
... This is an interesting result because women are often associated with low mood regulation compared to men (McRae et al., 2008). However, this result is also in line with other findings that higher PIU tendencies in men are also accompanied by lower mood regulation (Frangos et al., 2010;Schimmenti et al., 2021). As described by Caplan (2010), individuals who experience PIU will usually have deficient self-regulation and also difficulty regulating mood. ...
... Men tend to use the internet mostly for online gaming and browsing web pages, while women use the internet mostly for chatting and accessing social networking sites (Fernández et al., 2015). Broadly speaking, the results of this study support prior studies that found men have a higher tendency to develop problematic internet use compared to women (Fernández et al., 2015;Schimmenti et al., 2021). Moreover, especially for the age group of emerging adults, who at this stage emphasize exploring their lives to find interests and build interpersonal relationships with others, so that emotional attachment to the internet is common for this age group (Ardelia & Jaro'ah, 2023). ...
Purpose: The internet plays a vital role in the daily lives of emerging adults, but it also brings potential negative consequences like problematic internet use (PIU), particularly in this age group. Developmental task from this age group could be one of the stressors which could lead individual to obtain a maladaptive use of internet. Further, PIU can also bring detrimental effect and pathological mental disorder. Despite its importance, PIU among emerging adults has not been extensively studied. This study seeks to investigate the tendency towards problematic internet use among emerging adults, considering their exploratory phase where internet use is prevalent. Method: This study used a cross-sectional design with survey data collection. 104 participants, women and men aged 18-29 years old (M = 19.9; SD =1.88) were collected in this study. Participants completed the demographic scale and the Generalized Problematic Internet Use-2 scale (GPIUS-2). Data were analyzed using the descriptive statistical technique with Jamovi statistical software. Result: Overall, most participants spend at least 5 hours on their internet usage per day (77.88%) while the rest spend 3 to 5 hours on the internet (22.12%). Interestingly, a higher tendency of problematic internet use was found in men (M = 47.8; SD =8.18) than women (M = 44.7; SD =9.52). Furthermore, men were also higher than women in all dimensions of PIU except in mood regulation, albeit the differences were negligible. Conclusion: This study provides theoretical enrichment of the exploration of problematic internet use specifically among emerging adults. Further, the results of this study could be clinically useful for designing interventions related to social media use behavior.
... This result confirms earlier research by [44], which discovered that time spent on-line was a predictor of internet addiction as well. Although there is a strong correlation between time spent on-line and internet addiction, the cause and impact of this correlation cannot be determined by a cross-sectional study. ...
Teens lifestyles have changed significantly during and after COVID 19 epidemic, and they have started engaging in risky health behaviours like using smartphones more frequently.
... This result confirms earlier research by Schimmenti et al. [45], which discovered that time spent online was a predictor of internet addiction as well. Although there is a strong correlation between time spent online and internet addiction, the cause and impact of this correlation cannot be determined by a cross-sectional study. ...
BACKGROUND: Teens’ lifestyles have changed significantly during and after COVID-19 epidemic and they have started engaging in risky health behaviors like using smartphone more frequently. Everyone is compelled to use their smartphone more frequently than usual to access daily necessities during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. AIM: We aimed to evaluate the problem of internet addiction and the increasing use of smartphone among teenage Egyptian youth during COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Online surveys were sent to Egyptian teens (12–18 years old) in several governorates in June 2020, and they were completed by 154 youths over the course of one month. Different teenagers were required to respond to and share in this poll, and versions in both English and Arabic were used. At the outset of the questionnaire, the question about consent was viewed as mandatory. The extent of Internet use was evaluated using Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT). The survey was divided into four sections and created with the goals of understanding the modes (frequency, patterns, and goals) of internet use, the negative effects, linked parental behaviors, as well as the eventual occurrence and severity of addiction. The same data from the time before the epidemic was also looked into and analyzed. Version 23 of IBM SPSS Statistics was used for the analysis. The p-value threshold for significance was established at 0.05. RESULTS: The mean age of the teens was 14.38 ± 2.87 years and equal gender frequency (males of 50.6% and females of 49.4%. About 79.9% of them live in urban environment, 18.8% suffered from family problems and 40.9% were in the secondary educational level. Increased physical inactivity of participants was noticed after COVID-19 among participants (55.8%). About 87.7% of them used smartphone for online access (87.7%). Half of the subjects (50%) spent 1–3 h online before COVID, while more than half of them (59.1%) spent more than 6 hours online after COVID, with a statistically significant difference. Mean IAT was 61.91 ± 16.77 after COVID versus 45.26 ± 12.45 before COVID. The prevalence of internet addiction was increased from 67.5% before COVID-19 to 77.9% after COVID-19 infection. IAT score was normal, mild, moderate, and severe in 5.8%, 16.2%, 65.6%, and 12.3% after COVID-19, respectively, compared to normal, mild, moderate, and severe IAT score in 26.6%, 5.8%, 61.0%, and 6.5% before COVID, respectively, with significant differences between them before and after COVID (p < 0.000). Increasing mother’s and father’s educational, increasing time spent online, decreasing duration of sleep, and lower the number of days of exercise for more than 30 min/week were associated with higher IAT score. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, internet addiction was extremely common among teenagers (77.9%). The amount of time spent online, the length of sleep, and the number of days that a person exercises for more than 30 min/week were all predictors of addiction.
... The results of this study support previous research in which attachment to parents contributes to PIU behavior in adolescents conducted by Cacioppo et al. (2019). They use four statement items describing four categories of attachment (Schimmenti et al., 2021) and the AAI scale as an interview structure. Jia and Jia (2016) and Suzuki et al. (2023) used the Experiences in Close Relationships-Relationship Structure (ECR-RS) questionnaire, which measures attachment anxiety and avoidance. ...
Indonesian adolescents spend too many hours using the internet. It leads to negative impacts, including problematic internet use (PIU). Few studies have found that social factors from parents and peers contribute to how they use the internet. Regardless, they still found inconsistencies regarding whether parents or peers, if investigated together, had the highest impact on their maladaptive internet use. This study aimed to examine the contribution of adolescent attachment to parents and peers to adolescents’ maladaptive internet use in terms of PIU. This research is using accidental sampling. The subjects were 237 adolescents (91 male) aged 12-24 years (M=15.03) from the Jabodetabek area. Data was collected using Google Forms. The PIU was measured using IPIUS (Indonesia Problematic Internet Use), and adolescents’ attachment was measured using IPPA (Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment). Multiple regression with the stepwise model is applied to investigate the contribution of attachment to PIU. This paper argues that parent and peer attachment contributes significantly to adolescents’ PIU, and this parent attachment has a higher influence than peer attachment. This implies that optimizing parents’ role in attachment behavior could still impact adolescents’ internet behavior.
... Despite differences in terminology, there seems to be a consensus that PIU is related to several negative consequences for everyday functioning, interpersonal relationships, and emotional well-being (e.g., Aboujaoude, 2010;Benzi et al., 2023;Fontana et al., 2022Fontana et al., , 2023Schimmenti et al., 2021;Spada, 2014). In addition, features of PIU are like symptoms shown by those suffering from substance-related addictions, including unpredictable behaviors and mood fluctuations (Ko et al., 2009;Kuss et al., 2013). ...
The increasing use of the Internet has raised concerns about its problematic use, particularly among emerging adults who grew up in a highly digitalized world. Helicopter parenting, characterized by excessive involvement, overcontrol, and developmentally inappropriate behavior, has been identified as a potential factor contributing to problematic Internet use (PIU). Under these circumstances, considering that emerging adults navigate their adult lives and strive to reduce their sense of being in-between, implicit emotion regulation strategies, such as defense
mechanisms, may help comprehend PIU. The present questionnaire-based study investigated the associations between maternal and paternal helicopter parenting and PIU through defensive functioning among a community sample of 401 cisgender emerging adults (71.82% females; 82.04% heterosexuals; Mage=24.85, SD=2.52) living in Italy. About one-fourth (25.19%) reported PIU. Greater maternal, B=0.904, SE=0.235, p<.001, but not paternal, B=0.343, SE=0.188, p=.068, helicopter parenting was significantly associated with PIU through a less mature defensive functioning. Conversely, neither maternal, B=1.158, SE=0.722, p=.109, nor paternal, B=0.355, SE=0.731, p=.628, helicopter parenting had a direct association with PIU. The results suggest the importance for psychotherapists to incorporate individuals’ defense mechanisms and parent–child relationship history when designing tailored interventions for effective treatment of PIU. This emphasis is crucial because, in a developmentally appropriate parenting style, relying on more mature defenses after psychotherapeutic intervention can lead to healthier adjustment among emerging adults.
