Examining the Pathways from Different Childhood Maltreatment to Internet Addiction for Adolescents: Based on I-PACE Model

A survey was conducted with 1104 adolescents from two secondary vocational schools. Validated scales assessed major childhood maltreatment types (emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional neglect), executive function deficits, emotional dysregulation, maladaptive cognitions, and symptoms of Internet addiction. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test direct and indirect pathways. The results indicated that: (1) No direct associations were found between any childhood maltreatment type and Internet addiction; (2) Physical abuse and emotional neglect showed no indirect associations; (3) Both emotional abuse and sexual abuse indirectly predicted Internet addiction through the sequential chain mediation involving executive function deficits, emotional dysregulation and maladaptive cognitions. These findings suggest that emotional abuse and sexual abuse serve as distal indirect risk factors for adolescent Internet addiction and appear to share a common underlying link.