Impact of childhood trauma on internet addiction in medical students: the mediating role of perceived stress
10.11886/scjsws20240619001
- VernacularTitle:童年创伤对医学生网络成瘾的影响:压力知觉的作用路径
- Author:
Xiaohong PENG
1
;
Xiaoyuan LIAO
2
;
Dantong WU
1
;
Yanyin ZHOU
1
;
Yelu LIU
1
;
Yuxiang WANG
1
;
Luoya ZHANG
1
;
Juan DENG
1
;
Yanjie PENG
1
;
Kezhi LIU
1
;
Jing CHEN
1
;
Wei LEI
1
Author Information
1. The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, China
2. Pengzhou Fourth People's Hospital, Chengdu 611930, China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Perceived stress;
Childhood trauma;
Internet gaming disorder;
Social media addiction;
Mediating effect
- From:
Sichuan Mental Health
2025;38(3):267-272
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
BackgroundWith the rapid development of the networking technologies, internet addiction has increasingly become a serious mental health issue. Previous studies have revealed the link between childhood trauma and internet addiction, while the mediating role of perceived stress in this link is not yet clear. ObjectiveTo investigate the role of medical students' perceived stress in the relationship between childhood trauma and internet addiction, so as to provide references for the intervention of internet addiction. MethodsFrom February to March 2023, a random sampling technique was used to select 1 232 undergraduate students from the School of Clinical Medical Sciences of Southwest Medical University as research subjects. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Internet Gaming Disorder Scale (IGDS), and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) were used for assessment. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated. The mediation effect of perceived stress in the relationship between childhood trauma and internet addiction was tested using Model 4 in the SPSS Process 4.1, and Bootstrapping procedure involving 5 000 replicates was employed to confirm the statistical significance. ResultsA total of 1 016 (82.47%) valid completed questionnaires were gathered. The CTQ-SF scores of medical students were positively correlated with PSS scores, IGD scores, and BSMAS scores (r=0.583, 0.474, 0.465, P<0.01). PSS scores were positively correlated with IGD scores and BSMAS scores (r=0.369, 0.479, P<0.01). Childhood trauma in medical students was found to positively predict perceived stress (β=0.191, P<0.01), social media addiction (β=0.160, P<0.01), and internet gaming disorder (β=0.106, P<0.01). Perceived stress played a significant mediating role in the relationship between childhood trauma and internet gaming disorder, indirect effect value was 0.018 (95% CI: 0.009~0.027), accounting for 16.98%. Perceived stress also exhibited a significant mediating role in the relationship between childhood trauma and social media addiction, indirect effect value was 0.063 (95% CI: 0.048~0.079), accounting for 39.38%. ConclusionChildhood trauma in medical students may affect internet gaming disorder and social media addiction through perceived stress. [Funded by 2022 Annual Research Project of Sichuan Applied Psychology Research Center,(number,CSXL-22102)]