Abstract
Over the past few years, Internet gaming addiction has become a major social problem and an important research topic. Internet gaming addiction leads to a range of negative effects on the development of adolescents. Therefore, to develop effective prevention and remediation programs for Internet gaming addiction, the risk factors associated with Internet gaming addiction need to be identified. Technoference is defined as everyday interruptions in interpersonal interactions due to technology devices. It may play an essential role in adolescents' development as a part of a family system. According to the problem-behavior theory, the family system can directly influence the behavior of individuals, and affect the behavior of individuals through the individual system. From the perspective of need satisfaction theory, the need to belong reflects the information in the environment and influences the behavior of people. Accordingly, technoference occurring in the family environment is a piece of essential environmental information that may affect adolescents’ Internet gaming addiction by influencing their need to belong. Therefore, this study attempted to explore the mediating role of the need to belong. Besides, friendship quality may act as a buffer for maladaptive effects. Adolescents that feel isolated from peer relationships prefer to seek self-esteem or reassurance through internet games, so friendship quality may play a moderating role in the relationship between technoference and Internet gaming addiction.
The present study constructed a moderated mediation model to examine whether the need to belong mediated the relationship between technoference and adolescent’s Internet gaming addiction, and whether friendship quality moderated this mediation effect. The study recruited 3209 junior high school students to complete Technology Interference in Life Examples Scale, Need to Belong Scale, Friendship Quality Scale, and Internet Gaming Addiction Scale. For data analysis, common method biases were examined at first. Then, correlation analysis was conducted to obtain the relationship between variables among the hypothesized model. All analyses were carried out using SPSS 21.0 and Amos17.0.
The results indicated that: (1) The need to belong partially mediated the relationship between technoference and adolescent’s Internet gaming addiction. (2) Friendship quality moderated the relationship between technoference and the need to belong. Specifically, high friendship quality could alleviate the impact of technoference on the need to belong. (3) Friendship quality moderated the relationship between the need to belong and adolescent’s Internet gaming addiction. Specifically, high friendship quality could alleviate the impact of the need to belong to the adolescent’s Internet gaming addiction.
The present study advanced our understandings of the underlying mechanism between technoference and adolescent’s Internet gaming addiction. These findings provide a new view, which helps us understand the effect of technoference. The conclusion of the current study was of great importance for the intervention of adolescent’s Internet gaming addiction.
Key words
adolescent /
technoference /
the need to belong /
friendship quality /
Internet gaming disorder
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zien Ding Liu qinxue.
The Relationship Between Technoference and Internet Gaming Disorder: The Mediating Role of the Need to Belong and the Moderation Role of Friendship Quality[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2022, 45(6): 1383-1389
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