The roles of parental expectation stress and regulatory focus in internet gaming disorder through a gender lens: the potential emotion regulation/coping mechanisms in adolescents
Randomized trial examines effects of parental expectation stress on gaming disorder symptoms in adolescents, indicating differing influences by gender.
Key Points
This study aims to explore the impact of parental expectation stress and regulatory focus on Internet gaming disorder symptoms in adolescents, emphasizing gender differences.
Sample of 998 Chinese senior secondary students completed structured questionnaires.
A multiple-group structural equation modeling analysis was conducted to examine the mediational model.
Focus on regulatory mechanisms and emotion regulation/coping strategies across genders.
For boys, IGD symptoms were primarily explained by regulatory focus metrics (β prevention focus = 0.044, 95%CI = [0.021, 0.076]).
For girls, IGD symptoms were more influenced by emotion regulation behaviors such as rumination (β rumination = 0.015, 95%CI = [0.004, 0.028]).
Direct and indirect associations between parental academic expectation stress and IGD were found for both genders.