Internet addiction and maladaptive schemas: The potential role of disconnection/rejection and impaired autonomy/performance

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Problematic internet use (PIU) has become public health concern, particularly among adolescents and emerging adults. There is growing interest concerning the potential impacts of early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) on PIU and its most severe manifestation internet addiction (IA). However, a deeper understanding of these relationships is needed regarding of effects of schemas on IA. The purpose of the present study was to explore the role of EMSs among adults.

METHODS: The sample comprised 714 Iranian participants who completed a self-report survey comprising sociodemographic variables, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF). The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

RESULTS: Findings indicated that there was a positive and significant relationship between EMS domains and IA. The results confirmed that disconnection/rejection schema domains and impaired autonomy/performance schema domains were significantly related with IA. The results of the analysis of convergent validity and discriminant validity were acceptable among the nine reflective constructs.

CONCLUSION: Findings of the present study indicated that existence of underlying EMSs may be a vulnerability factor for developing IA and adds to the growing body of cyberpsychology literature that has examined the relationships between the EMSs and IA.