Internet Addiction among Young Adult University Students: The Complex Interplay between Family Functioning, Impulsivity, Depression, and Anxiety

Eleonora Marzilli, Luca Cerniglia, Giulia Ballarotto and Silvia Cimino
Additional contact information
Eleonora Marzilli: Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli, 1, cap. 00185 Rome, Italy
Luca Cerniglia: Faculty of Psychology, International Telematic University Uninettuno, 00186 Roma, Italy
Giulia Ballarotto: Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli, 1, cap. 00185 Rome, Italy
Silvia Cimino: Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli, 1, cap. 00185 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-15

Abstract: International research has underlined that both interpersonal, self-regulation, and comorbid variables can lead to a higher risk of developing internet addiction (IA) among young adults. To date, no studies have explored the interplay between young adults’ family functioning, impulsivity, and psychopathological difficulties. In a community sample of 244 young adult university students, this study aims to assess the relationship between young adults’ IA and young adults’ gender, the perception of their family functioning, impulsivity level, and depressive and anxiety symptoms, considering the possible interplay between these variables. The presence and the severity of IA were addressed through the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Moreover, young adults filled out self-reporting questionnaires, assessing their perception of family functioning and their impulsivity levels and psychopathological symptoms. Results showed no significant association between the youth’s gender and IA. However, moderately addicted young adults were more likely to report poorer quality of family affective involvement and higher attentional impulsivity and depressive problems than other groups. Moreover, young adults’ attentional impulsivity mediated the relationship between family affective involvement and IA. This study provides new evidence on the complex interaction between individuals and interpersonal risk factors involved in IA among young adults, with important implications for the planning of intervention treatments.

Keywords: internet addiction; family functioning; impulsivity; depression; anxiety; young adulthood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8231/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8231/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:8231-:d:441348

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().