The Moderating Role of Psychological Flexibility on the Association between Distress-Driven Impulsivity and Problematic Internet Use

Chang Liu, Kristian Rotaru, Samuel R. Chamberlain, Lei Ren, Leonardo F. Fontenelle, Rico S. C. Lee, Chao Suo, Kavya Raj, Murat Yücel and Lucy Albertella
Additional contact information
Chang Liu: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
Kristian Rotaru: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
Samuel R. Chamberlain: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Lei Ren: Military Medical Psychology School, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an 710032, China
Leonardo F. Fontenelle: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
Rico S. C. Lee: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
Chao Suo: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
Kavya Raj: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
Murat Yücel: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
Lucy Albertella: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-10

Abstract: Background: Problematic internet use is receiving increasing attention in the addiction field, yet the mechanisms driving such behaviours remain unclear. Previous research has shown that impulsivity- and compulsivity-related constructs may interactively contribute to a range of problematic behaviours. The current study examined whether distress-driven impulsivity and psychological flexibility may interactively contribute to problematic internet use, which has not been addressed in prior literature. Method: Two hundred and one participants completed an online survey. Bootstrapped moderation analysis was conducted to examine the collected data on distress-driven impulsivity, psychological flexibility, and their interaction in relation to problematic internet use. Results: The interaction between distress-driven impulsivity and psychological flexibility was significantly related to problematic internet use. Simple slope tests confirmed that distress-driven impulsivity was associated with problematic internet use among individuals with low flexibility levels. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the moderating role of psychological inflexibility in the association between distress-driven impulsivity and problematic internet use. Prevention and/or early interventions for problematic internet use should consider targeting psychological inflexibility and distress-driven impulsivity.

Keywords: psychological inflexibility; distress-driven impulsivity; problematic internet use; negative urgency; compulsivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9592/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9592/ (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:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9592-:d:880118

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 ().