Structural Relationships of Childhood Maltreatment with Internet Addiction and Risky Behaviors in Adolescents: Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation and Distress Tolerance

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Humanity and Social Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanity and Social Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

3 M.A. of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Humanity and Social Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

10.48308/apsy.2025.239345.1797

Abstract

Aim: The present study was conducted with aim of determining structural relationships between childhood maltreatment with internet addiction and risky behaviors in adolescents with mediating role of emotion regulation strategies and distress tolerance.
Method: The research method was a correlational design based on structural equation modeling. The present research population was the high school students of Sanandaj, and for this purpose, 462 students were selected through convenience sampling method. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Iranian Adolescent Risk-Taking Scale (IARS), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Child and Adolescent (ERQ-CA) were used to collect data. The Pearson correlation coefficient test and the structural equation modeling method were used by SPSS-27 and AMOS-24 software.
Results: The results indicated that childhood maltreatment has a direct and significant relationship with internet addiction and risky behaviors among adolescents. It was also found that the mediating model of emotion regulation and distress tolerance provides a good fit in explaining the relationship between childhood maltreatment, internet addiction, and risky behaviors.
Conclusion: Considering the role of emotion dysregulation and distress tolerance in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and the tendency toward Internet addiction and risky behaviors, conducting educational workshops by school psychologists and counselors aimed at strengthening adaptive emotion regulation strategies and enhancing distress tolerance for at-risk adolescents can be highly beneficial.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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