Prospective Associations Between Emotion Dysregulation, Problematic Internet Use, Internalizing Symptoms, and Life Satisfaction: A Baseline-Adjusted Two-Wave Study of Polish Adults

Longitudinal evidence remains limited on whether the association between problematic Internet use (PIU) and life satisfaction persists after accounting for prior PIU, internalizing symptoms, and life satisfaction. This study examined whether baseline emotion regulation difficulties prospectively predicted PIU, depressive and generalized anxiety symptoms, and life satisfaction 6 months later. Participants were 2,122 Polish adults aged 19-98 years; 1,412 completed follow-up. All constructs were assessed at both waves. Baseline-adjusted path models used 50 multiply imputed datasets. Baseline emotion dysregulation predicted higher PIU (β = 0.155, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] [0.107, 0.204], p < 0.001) and internalizing symptoms at follow-up. Within T2, PIU was positively associated with internalizing symptoms, which were negatively associated with life satisfaction; direct PIU-life satisfaction paths were negligible (depressive symptoms: β = 0.004, 95 percent CI [-0.035, 0.042], p = 0.846; generalized anxiety symptoms: β = 0.002, 95 percent CI [-0.037, 0.041], p = 0.926). The serial indirect associations were statistically significant but very small: depressive symptoms, β = -0.004, 95 percent CI [-0.006, -0.002], p < 0.001; generalized anxiety symptoms, β = -0.004, 95 percent CI [-0.006, -0.001], p = 0.002. Reciprocal prospective sensitivity models showed small PIU-to-symptom associations but no prospective PIU-to-life-satisfaction association. Other sensitivity analyses did not materially alter the findings. The findings highlight the contribution of internalizing symptoms to the PIU-life satisfaction association after baseline adjustment, but same-wave indirect pathways do not establish temporal mediation or intervention benefits.