J Affect Disord. 2025 Apr 24:S0165-0327(25)00706-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.04.131. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Although internet addiction has been related to negative parenting, few studies have investigated relationships involving parental rejection and parental overprotection and adolescent internet addiction. The present study examined the role of psychological entitlement and the presence of meaning in mediating relationships between parental rejection and overprotection and adolescent internet addiction.
METHODS: Self-reported data were drawn from a cross-sectional study involving a large-scale sample of 4091 secondary vocational schools students (45.9 % girls; Mage = 16.77 years, SD = 0.75) in China.
RESULTS: Both parental rejection and overprotection were positively related to internet addiction among vocational school students. Moreover, psychological entitlement and presence of meaning mediated the relationship between parental rejection and internet addiction, while psychological entitlement mediated the link between parental overprotection and internet addiction.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that parental rejection and overprotection may put adolescents at greater risk of social networking and internet game addictions by elevating their level of psychological entitlement and reducing the level of presence of meaning. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.
PMID:40286930 | DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2025.04.131
