Abstract
In this longitudinal study, we applied structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the psychosocial factors from adolescence to adulthood as related to symptoms of Internet addiction (IA) during early midlife. We gathered longitudinal data on a prospective cohort of community-dwelling men and women (N = 548) followed from adolescence to early midlife (mean age = 43; SD = 2.8). The findings supported a meditational model: adolescent (mean age = 16) conflictual parent-child relationship was associated with internalizing problem behaviors at mean age 21 in emerging adulthood (b = 0.13, p < 0.01), which, in turn, were associated with both alcohol/drug use problems at mean age 27-32 (b = 0.24, p < 0.001) and affective disorders at mean age 37 (b = 0.29, p < 0.001), which, ultimately, were associated with symptoms of IA in early midlife (b = 0.23, p < 0.01; b = 0.21, p < 0.05, respectively). In addition, alcohol/drug use problems were associated with affective disorders (b = 0.22, p < 0.05). Among the constructs, alcohol/drug use problems had the greatest total effects on symptoms of IA in early midlife (b = 0.28, p < 0.001). Findings suggest that family therapy focused on an increase in the affectionate relationship between the adolescent and his/her parents, cognitive-behavioral treatment of internalizing problem behaviors, and effective treatment of individuals who have alcohol/drug use problems may reduce the likelihood of having symptoms of IA in early midlife.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 65-72 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Addictive Behaviors |
Volume | 62 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported by National Institutes of Health research grants DA003188 and DA032603 , both from the National Institute on Drug Abuse , awarded to Dr. Judith S. Brook. The funding sponsor had no involvement in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank Dr. Stephen J. Finch for his critical review of this manuscript. This research was supported by NIH grants DA003188 and DA032603 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded to Dr. Judith S. Brook.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016.
Keywords
- Affective disorders
- Alcohol and substance use problems
- Conflictual parent-child relationship
- Internalizing behaviors
- Midlife
- Symptoms of Internet addiction
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
- Clinical Psychology
- Toxicology
- Psychiatry and Mental health