Game Addiction, Experiential Avoidance, Sensation Seeking and Aggression in the Teenagers of Divorced and Non-Divorced Families: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Divorce is a phenomenon that affects not only the mental health of couples but also the psychological health of children. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to compare experiential avoidance, sensation seeking, game addiction, and aggression in teenagers of divorced and non-divorced families. The method of this study was causal-comparative. The statistical population of the study included all teenagers from divorced families and ordinary teenagers (teenagers in non-divorced families) in the first grade of high school in the academic year of 2017 - 2018 in Shiraz. The sample included 100 teenagers of divorced families and 100 ordinary teenagers in Shiraz who were selected by the purposing sampling method. The results of data analysis showed that there is a significant difference between experiential avoidance, sensation seeking, game addiction, and aggression in divorced and ordinary teenagers (P-value < 0.001). Teenagers with divorced parents have more experimental avoidance, sensation seeking, addiction to computer games, and aggression than ordinary teenagers. To improve these components, it is necessary to use treatments related to the components such as treatments of the third wave of psychology (i.e. treatment of mindfulness and positive psychotherapy).