Childhood cumulative risk and relationship addiction: a developmental timing-pathway differentiation-node buffering...

To challenge the traditional view of homogeneous effects of childhood risk, this study proposed and preliminarily examined an integrative "Developmental Timing-Pathway Differentiation-Node Buffering" (DT-PD-NB) model to explore the heterogeneous association pathways between childhood cumulative risk and adult relationship addiction.

This study adopted a cross-sectional retrospective survey design, and a questionnaire survey was conducted among 856 Chinese adults. Structural equation modeling was employed with cross-validation, E-value sensitivity analysis, systematic competitive model comparison, and placebo testing to enhance causal inference credibility.

The results identified three potential association patterns: (1) Temporal specificity: Infancy risk primarily showed indirect effects through attachment security impairment (β _indirect = .21, 95% CI [0.16, 0.27]), whereas late school-age risk demonstrated strong direct effects (β _direct = .34, 95% CI [0.30, 0.38]); (2) Pathway differentiation: The maternal attachment mediation pathway (β _indirect = .13, 95% CI [0.09, 0.18]) was twice as strong as the paternal pathway (.06, 95% CI [0.03, 0.10]), with stronger effects among females; (3) Node buffering: Ego-resiliency buffered risk damage to attachment (interaction β = -.18, p < .001), while family routines blocked risk erosion of psychological resilience (interaction β = -.22, p < .01).

The childhood risk effects follow refined, adjustable developmental pathways. This provides a novel framework for understanding the origins of relationship addiction and designing precision prevention strategies tailored by developmental stage, target population, and intervention node. This study employed a cross-sectional retrospective design; all findings represent associational evidence awaiting confirmation through prospective longitudinal research.