Pérez-Wiesner Mateo, Bühler Kora-Mareen, López-Moreno Jose Antonio
Department of Psychobiology and Methodology in Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, Somosaguas Campus, Complutense University of Madrid, 28223 Madrid, Spain.
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences-HM Hospitals, University Camilo José Cela, 28692 Madrid, Spain.
Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2025 Jul 22;15(8):145. doi: 10.3390/ejihpe15080145.
The extensive use of digital media among adolescents has raised concerns about its impact on emotional development and mental health. Understanding the psychological factors behind problematic digital media use is essential for effective prevention. This study examined whether the relationships between emotion regulation (negative and positive), compulsive use, cognitive preoccupation, and negative outcomes linked to digital media are consistent across sex and academic year. We used a cross-sectional design with 2357 adolescents (12-16 years old) from Compulsory Secondary Education. Participants completed validated self-report questionnaires assessing problematic digital media use, and associated consequences in four domains: internet, video games, social networking, and messaging. Four structural equation models (SEMs), each focused on a media type, tested whether these relationships remained stable across sex and academic year. All models showed good fit, and differences between groups were minimal, supporting valid comparisons. Results confirm that emotion regulation difficulties and problematic digital media use are consistently associated with negative outcomes in all adolescents, regardless of sex or academic level. Preventive strategies targeting emotional regulation and digital media behaviors may be broadly applied to reduce emotional and functional problems related to excessive media use.
青少年中数字媒体的广泛使用引发了人们对其对情绪发展和心理健康影响的担忧。了解数字媒体使用问题背后的心理因素对于有效预防至关重要。本研究考察了情绪调节（消极和积极）、强迫性使用、认知专注以及与数字媒体相关的负面结果之间的关系在性别和学年方面是否一致。我们采用横断面设计，对来自义务中等教育阶段的2357名青少年（12至16岁）进行了研究。参与者完成了经过验证的自我报告问卷，评估数字媒体使用问题以及在四个领域的相关后果：互联网、电子游戏、社交网络和信息传递。四个结构方程模型（SEM），每个模型聚焦于一种媒体类型，测试了这些关系在性别和学年方面是否保持稳定。所有模型拟合良好，组间差异极小，支持有效比较。结果证实，情绪调节困难和数字媒体使用问题在所有青少年中均与负面结果持续相关，无论性别或学业水平如何。针对情绪调节和数字媒体行为的预防策略可能广泛适用于减少与过度媒体使用相关的情绪和功能问题。
