Emotional symptoms and problematic internet use among adolescents with and without childhood trauma: A two-wave...

Emotional symptoms, including depression and anxiety, are commonly linked with Problematic Internet Use in adolescents. However, the temporal dynamics of these associations, particularly in the context of childhood trauma, remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the bidirectional relationships between emotional symptoms and Problematic Internet Use, with a focus on whether trauma exposure moderates these associations.

Two-wave data were collected from 10,394 Chinese adolescents over a six-month interval. Depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and Problematic Internet Use were assessed at both time points. Cross-lagged panel models (CLPM) tested temporal associations, and cross-lagged panel network analyses (CLPN) identified symptom-level predictors.

Depressive symptoms at Time 1 predicted Problematic Internet Use at Time 2 in both trauma-exposed (β = 0.122) and non-exposed (β = 0.098) groups, with stronger effects compared to anxiety symptoms (β = 0.081 and 0.098, respectively). Trauma exposure did not significantly moderate the strength of these variable-level associations. In the CLPN, negative self-esteem (Out-EI: 0.598-0.822) and anhedonia (Out-EI: 0.605-0.613) were key predictors, while social withdrawal was the most influenced symptom (In-EI: 0.646-0.864). Adolescents with trauma exposure exhibited a less interconnected and sparser symptom network.

Depressive symptoms, particularly negative self-esteem and anhedonia, play a central role in the development of adolescent Problematic Internet Use. Although childhood trauma did not moderate the strength of associations at the variable level, it was associated with alterations in the structural dynamics of symptom interactions, highlighting the need for trauma-informed, emotion-focused interventions in adolescent mental health.