Russo Angela, Santoro Gianluca, Schimmenti Adriano
Department of Educational Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, UKE - Kore University of Enna, Enna, Italy.
Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2022 Aug;19(4):236-247. doi: 10.36131/cnfioritieditore20220406.
The positive association between problematic Internet use (PIU) and emotion dysregulation (ED) is well documented. Research has also found that interpersonal guilt is positively associated with ED. Nevertheless, the influence of interpersonal guilt on PIU has been scarcely examined. In the current study, we investigated the relationships among the three constructs, and tested if emotion dysregulation mediates the association between interpersonal guilt and different types of PIU, namely problematic online gaming, problematic social media use, and problematic online pornography use.
A sample of 434 adult participants (210 males, 48.4%) aged between 18 and 69 years old completed self-reported measures on interpersonal guilt, ED, and PIU. A structural equation modeling (SEM) framework was used to test the mediation models.
SEM analyses showed that ED mediates the relationship between interpersonal guilt as antecedent, and problematic online gaming, problematic social media use, and problematic online pornography use as outcomes.
Our findings suggest that emotion dysregulation deriving from experiences of interpersonal guilt can amplify the risk of using gaming, social media, and online pornography in a problematic way. Implications for prevention and treatment of PIU are discussed.
网络使用问题（PIU）与情绪失调（ED）之间的正向关联已有充分记录。研究还发现人际内疚感与情绪失调呈正相关。然而，人际内疚感对网络使用问题的影响却鲜有研究。在本研究中，我们调查了这三种构念之间的关系，并测试了情绪失调是否在人际内疚感与不同类型的网络使用问题（即问题性网络游戏、问题性社交媒体使用和问题性网络色情使用）之间的关联中起中介作用。
434名年龄在18至69岁之间的成年参与者（210名男性，占48.4%）完成了关于人际内疚感、情绪失调和网络使用问题的自我报告测量。采用结构方程模型（SEM）框架来测试中介模型。
结构方程模型分析表明，情绪失调在作为前因的人际内疚感与作为结果的问题性网络游戏、问题性社交媒体使用和问题性网络色情使用之间的关系中起中介作用。
我们的研究结果表明，源于人际内疚感经历的情绪失调会增加以问题方式使用游戏、社交媒体和网络色情内容的风险。文中讨论了对网络使用问题预防和治疗的启示。
