An emotional and cognitive model of problematic Internet use among college students: The full mediating role of cognitive factors

Abstract

Numerous researches have shown that the problematic Internet use (PIU) is significantly associated with a variety of psychological problems among young people. However, limited research has focused on the psychological mechanism underlying PIU. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between several emotional and cognitive factors in predicting PIU in a sole model. In this model, difficulties in emotion regulation was the independent variable, three cognitive variables (i.e. experiential avoidance, desire thinking, and intolerance of uncertainty) were the mediators, and PIU was the dependent variable. Participants were 300 college students from four universities in Tehran (60% females; Mean age = 20.27). Results of the Structural Equation Modeling analysis revealed a full mediation role of experiential avoidance and desire thinking in the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and PIU (R2 = 57%). Based on these findings a special attention to cognitive factors is suggested in the treatment of PIU.