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In the digital age, the widespread use of the web and smartphones has accelerated the speedy world growth of on-line gaming. Data point out that the variety of avid gamers worldwide has surpassed 2.8 billion, with the Asia-Pacific area holding a dominant place (Lidia Research and Pocket Gamer, 2025). Concurrently, China’s cell gaming consumer base has reached 663 million, and e-sports customers have grown to 490 million (He et al., 2024; CADPA and GameLook, 2024).
As a prevalent type of leisure, on-line gaming has twin implications: reasonable on-line gaming can fulfill people’ leisure wants and promote the event of cognitive skills (Granic et al., 2014; Green and Bavelier, 2003). However, extreme gaming resulting in Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD)—labeled as a psychological dysfunction in DSM-V—has been related to numerous destructive penalties on psychological, social, and bodily well being that reach from adolescence into maturity (Lin et al., 2021; Sugaya et al., 2019).
Previous assessment research have indicated that the prevalence of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) amongst rising adults is greater than that noticed in different age teams (Gisbert-Pérez et al., 2026). From a developmental psychological perspective, rising maturity is characterised by the coexistence of identification exploration, growing autonomy, and heightened susceptibility to threat behaviors (Arnett, 2000). The transition into college represents a essential interval marked by a shift from exterior regulation to self-regulation, making the start of school a very necessary window for analyzing behavioral threat mechanisms. Empirical findings additional help this developmental argument. Compared with adolescents, first-year faculty college students exhibit a better threat of IGD (Gao et al., 2022), and problematic web use has been proven to peak throughout the freshman 12 months. This heightened vulnerability stems from the interplay between their developmental traits and challenges in adapting to school life.
On one hand, as “digital natives,” they exhibit traits equivalent to dependence on digital know-how, desire for multitasking, reliance on visible communication, and a powerful need for immediate gratification (Teo, 2013). On the opposite hand, as “emerging adults,” their prefrontal cortex stays underdeveloped, resulting in weaker impulse management and larger susceptibility to gaming temptations (Teng et al., 2020).
Moreover, the widespread use of smartphones has blurred the boundaries between studying and leisure, making younger adults extra susceptible to extreme digital machine use (Sohn et al., 2019). Regarding adaptation challenges, the transition from highschool to varsity imposes a number of pressures—social, environmental, and tutorial —that make freshmen extra more likely to understand on-line gaming as a method of “relaxation and escapism” (MIDiA Research, 2025). This transitional interval thus represents a essential window for intervention. Therefore, exploring the causes of IGD amongst freshmen holds vital sensible significance for selling their psychological improvement.
Although college life marks a brand new chapter of independence, parental affect stays profound (Cheng et al., 2023). According to ecological methods idea, the household as a microsystem exerts direct, secure, and cross-contextual results (Schoeps et al., 2020; Sang and Xi, 2005), considerably impacting the wholesome improvement of adolescents’ psychological and social competencies (Yang and Song, 2025). The I-PACE mannequin proposed by Brand et al. (2019) gives a theoretical framework for understanding the pathways by way of which parenting kinds have an effect on gaming habit amongst freshmen. Based on the I-PACE mannequin (Li et al., 2023) (Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution), when people (equivalent to freshmen) expertise maladaptive parenting kinds, they might view on-line gaming as a compensatory pathway to satisfy their psychological wants (Laconi et al., 2017). The ensuing momentary satisfaction encourages people to type new cognitive patterns, main them to repeat web gaming at greater frequencies. This additional perpetuates a destructive compensatory cycle, finally escalating to IGD. Previous research have proven that destructive parenting kinds—equivalent to authoritarian parenting (Zhang et al., 2017) and parental perfectionist expectations (Meng et al., 2025)—can contribute to this habit.
However, though the I-PACE mannequin and associated views present a helpful theoretical foundation, a number of necessary gaps stay within the current literature.
Despite rising analysis on parenting kinds andIGD, a number of necessary gaps stay.
First, from a theoretical perspective, compensatory Internet use idea emphasizes that people have interaction in on-line actions to compensate for offline psychological deficits. However, how parenting kinds form such compensatory motivations within the context of gaming stays underexplored. In explicit, restricted analysis has built-in meaning-related cognitive sources (e.g., presence of that means in life) into the compensatory framework to elucidate how household environments translate into gaming-related addictive behaviors.
Second, most empirical research on IGD have predominantly targeted on adolescents. Although rising adults and faculty college students characterize a inhabitants present process vital developmental transitions and autonomy growth, comparatively fewer research have examined mechanistic pathways linking parenting kinds to IGD on this group. Moreover, current integrative proof in greater training contexts has highlighted the psychological influence of helicopter parenting and overinvolvement, but its connection to gaming-related addictive outcomes—particularly by way of cognitive and govt mechanisms—stays insufficiently theorized.
Third, though that means in life and self-control have more and more been included into IGD fashions, current research usually deal with gender merely as a management variable. Few research have examined whether or not gender moderates the sequential transformation of cognitive sources into govt regulation inside a theoretically grounded mediation chain.
Accordingly, the current research integrates parenting kinds, presence of that means in life, and self-control inside the I-PACE framework, and examines gender as a moderator of the cognitive-to-executive transformation course of. By adopting a process-oriented perspective, this research goals to make clear how and below what circumstances household environments contribute to IGD threat amongst faculty freshmen.
Darling and Steinberg (1993) synthesized prior analysis to redefine parenting kinds as the combination of parental instructional philosophies, behaviors, and emotional expressions. This perspective is characterised by stability and profound significance for people’ improvement.
First, parenting kinds exert each speedy and long-term influences on shaping particular person conduct. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory posits that particular person conduct doesn’t come up in isolation however is formed by ongoing interactions between the person and environmental methods, with the household enjoying a pivotal function within the socialization course of (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Xie and Chen (2021), analyzing cross-sectional and longitudinal knowledge from college freshmen, concluded that parental parenting kinds proceed to affect kids’s conduct even after they enter early maturity. These kinds not directly have an effect on maladaptive behaviors amongst first-year faculty college students upon enrollment and subsequently, additional revealing the cross-contextual and secure nature of parenting kinds.
Second, totally different parenting kinds exert various results on faculty college students’ IGD. Existing analysis signifies that folks using constructive parenting kinds can scale back on-line habit amongst faculty college students whereas fostering greater relationship high quality (Anasuyari and Latifah, 2023). Conversely, adolescents experiencing destructive parenting or household conflicts usually tend to develop IGD (Petrescu et al., 2025). This additional helps the notion that people could immerse themselves in digital environments to buffer hostile psychological results of destructive parenting. In abstract, this research proposes Hypothesis 1: Positive parenting kinds inhibit IGD, whereas destructive parenting kinds put it up for sale.
The transition to school life signifies a essential interval for the event of that means in life (Steger et al., 2009). Frankl (1966) idea posits that people who lose their sense of life’s that means fall into an “existential vacuum,” manifesting as vacancy, aimlessness, and worth confusion. Those missing life that means could search validation by way of digital achievements. This idea has been operationalized in psychology as “meaning in life,” outlined as “the understanding of one’s own existence and the perception of its significance” (Steger et al., 2006). Conceptually, Steger et al. (2006) additional divided that means in life into two dimensions based mostly on Frankl (1966) idea: the presence of that means (PML) and the seek for that means (SML). PML represents the cognitive dimension, reflecting the extent to which people comprehend their lives, understand objective, and really feel that their existence is significant. SML constitutes a motivational dimension, involving energetic efforts to determine or strengthen one’s understanding of life’s that means.
Notably, PML reveals a major constructive affiliation with constructive psychological indicators and a major destructive correlation with destructive psychological indicators (Kleiman et al., 2013; Park et al., 2010). It serves as a essential protecting issue for psychological well being, buffering in opposition to points like melancholy and anxiousness (Cohen and Cairns, 2012). For occasion, Park et al. (2010) discovered that people with a stronger PML skilled lowered depressive signs related to the seek for that means. In distinction, the connection between SML and psychological well being is extra complicated and debated, with research linking it to each constructive (Bailey and Phillips, 2015) and destructive outcomes (Li et al., 2019; Steger et al., 2008).
Overall, PML is a extra secure and strong predictor of psychological well being than SML, demonstrating stronger correlations, larger predictive energy, and broader relevance throughout psychological traits. Its protecting impact is especially pronounced amongst people with traumatic experiences or decrease baseline psychological well being (Doran et al., 2014), and its affiliation with psychological well being exhibits good temporal stability (Steger et al., 2008).
Within this context, existential psychology gives a invaluable theoretical framework for understanding the mechanisms linking parenting kinds to IGD amongst faculty college students. Positive kinds characterised by heat and understanding improve one’s general that means in life, whereas destructive kinds involving overprotection, rejection, and emotional neglect diminish it (Zhu et al., 2011; Li et al., 2021; He et al., 2023). For instance, a survey of 542 faculty college students by Liu et al. (2022) discovered vital destructive correlations between parental rejection/overprotection and that means in life, and vital constructive correlations between parental emotional heat and that means in life.
Research on adolescent web gaming dysfunction persistently highlights the distinguished function of PML, the core cognitive dimension of that means in life, in lowering addictive behaviors throughout totally different populations. Focusing on left-behind center faculty college students, Wang et al. (2022) discovered that whereas SML was unrelated to pathological web use, PML confirmed a major destructive correlation. This notion may independently or at the side of self-stigma type a chained mediating pathway, buffering the constructive affect of sensitivity rejection on pathological web use. This signifies that the clearer the precise notion of life’s that means, the decrease the chance of web habit amongst left-behind center faculty college students.
Among college college students, research on college college students—by Cao Ruilin et al. in Northeastern China (Cao et al., 2019) and Jilin Province (Cao et al., 2023), and by Zhao et al. (2020a,b) on feminine college students’ cell phone habit—have persistently validated that greater ranges of PML are related to a decrease probability of web or cell phone habit, both immediately or not directly by way of mediators like shallowness and faculty adaptation. “Presence of meaning in life” persistently emerges as a vital protecting think about lowering habit dangers.
This physique of proof signifies that, in comparison with actively looking for that means, the presence of that means in life features as a extra basic and secure protecting think about curbing digital habit amongst adolescents. The presently prevalent parenting kinds equivalent to “tiger parenting” and “helicopter parenting,” which overemphasize exterior achievements on the expense of emotional help, could foster a way of meaninglessness and depressive tendencies in some college students (Ye et al., 2024). This, in flip, can drive them to make use of gaming as a compensatory mechanism to satisfy their psychological wants. In different phrases, inside the “existential vacuum” created by a scarcity of PML, the moment suggestions from on-line video games—equivalent to achievements, social connections, and digital identities—turns into a extremely enticing “substitute for PML” providing readily accessible psychological achievement.
Therefore, this research proposes Hypothesis 2: Presence of that means in life mediates the connection between parenting kinds and IGD.
Self-control refers back to the energetic adherence to social norms, delaying speedy impulses, and regulating conduct in unsupervised conditions by way of inside representational considering and reminiscence recall. It represents a essential transitional stage from exterior management to mature self-regulation (Kopp, 1982). Self-control features as a restricted psychological useful resource; people possessing larger self-control sources can extra successfully inhibit impulses, modify behaviors, or maintain efforts towards long-term targets. Research signifies self-control serves as a protecting issue in opposition to IGD in adolescents (Kim et al., 2008).
To additional perceive self-control mechanisms, Hofmann et al. (2009) proposed the Dual-Systems Perspective, providing a vital framework. This idea posits that self-control displays the dynamic equilibrium between the impulsive system (pursuing speedy rewards) and the reflective system (contemplating long-term targets). When self-control is poor, the impulsive system dominates, main people to prioritize speedy gratification (e.g., speedy gratification from gaming) over long-term advantages (e.g., tutorial achievement).
Substantial empirical analysis has demonstrated its core mediating function: self-control serves as a central mediator between parenting kinds and addictive behaviors. Existing analysis signifies that self-control mediates the connection between parenting kinds and IGD (Gui et al., 2025; Zhang et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2024). Self-control is positively related to presence of that means in life and negatively related to seek for that means in life (Li et al., 2019). One research demonstrated that the constructive affiliation between self-control and that means in life was mediated by the notion of getting construction in life (Stavrova et al., 2018).
Based on this, Hypothesis 3 proposes that self-control mediates the connection between parenting kinds and IGD.
The complete that means in life is just not solely a cognitive expertise but additionally a psychological useful resource that facilitates behavioral regulation. Research signifies that that means in life enhances people’ adaptability and coping skills (Haugan, 2014; Krok, 2018; Miao, 2021) and self-regulation capability (Li et al., 2019; Routledge and FioRito, 2021), significantly considerably selling self-control (Yu and Du, 2023).
Research signifies that self-control absolutely mediates the connection between PML and cell phone habit tendencies (Zhang X. G. et al., 2019). If parenting kinds overly emphasize exterior achievements whereas neglecting emotional help and autonomy improvement, it might exacerbate college students’ lack of PML, trapping people in an “existential vacuum (Liu and Wang, 2022; Zhang et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2024).” The immediate reinforcement supplied by on-line video games—equivalent to achievements, social connections, and digital identities—turns into an irresistibly enticing “substitute for PML,” providing speedy and simply accessible compensatory psychological satisfaction. Furthermore, analysis signifies {that a} lack of that means in life diminishes self-control (Liu et al., 2022). Individuals missing a PML discover it tougher to withstand the temptation of gaming’s immediate rewards (such because the impulse to “play one more round”), resulting in lowered inhibitory management over gaming conduct. Therefore, self-control could perform as a “downstream variable,” transmitting the affect of that means in life towards IGD. Hypothesis 4 proposes that that means in life and self-control mediate the connection between parenting kinds and IGD in a chain-like method.
Gender variations are a major issue within the mechanisms underlying IGD. Gender-related variations play a vital function in IGD susceptibility, encompassing each organic and psychosocial gender influences. Neuroimaging research reveal that males exhibit stronger reward system activation (vmPFC, ACC, nucleus accumbens) and weaker impulse management throughout risk-taking—patterns particular to IGD, whereas these tendencies are much less pronounced in females (Wang et al., 2022).
Psychologically, some males are likely to internalize real-life issues internally or cope by way of on-line gaming (Zhu et al., 2019). Further analysis signifies that younger males are extra inclined to IGD than females (Bian et al., 2026). This phenomenon can also be validated amongst college college students, the place male undergraduates exhibit considerably greater charges of IGD than females (Hammood et al., 2025).
Regarding the connection between habit and psychological sources, a number of research have linked “meaning in life” to problematic utilization behaviors. On one hand, people with greater charges of problematic cell phone use sometimes exhibit decrease that means in life (Hu et al., 2022; Zhao et al., 2023). Furthermore, empirical research amongst Chinese college college students point out that that means in life considerably and negatively predicts smartphone habit, with feminine college students usually scoring greater on that means in life than males (Ye et al., 2025).
On the opposite hand, the affiliation between that means in life and IGD has additionally been partially validated. For occasion, Zhang M. X. et al. (2019) employed a one-year cross-lagged evaluation to find that college college students’ that means in life mediates longitudinally between social help and IGD, whereas additionally immediately predicting IGD negatively. However, present analysis predominantly focuses on the connection between that means in life and smartphone habit, with restricted exploration of the connection between that means in life—significantly the PML—and IGD. Additionally, research point out variations between genders within the internalization and transformation of psychological sources.
Women sometimes are likely to deeply internalize interpersonal relationships and emotional experiences, forming that means in life on the cognitive degree(PML), which is then reworked into self-control capabilities regulating conduct (Ji et al., 2024; Zhao et al., 2020a,b); whereas males could rely extra on exterior guidelines or action-oriented methods (Rose and Rudolph, 2006).
Based on these findings, we hypothesize that the essential level of gender distinction could lie within the psychological transformation strategy of “whether individuals can effectively convert a PML into self-control abilities.” Testing the moderating impact of this pathway can immediately validate the theoretical perspective that “women are more adept at converting cognitive psychological resources into behavioral regulation capabilities,” thereby offering a extra refined mechanistic clarification for understanding gender variations in IGD threat. Therefore, this research proposes Hypothesis H5: Gender will reasonable the chain-mediated pathway by way of which parenting kinds affect IGD by way of that means in life and self-control.
In abstract, this research examines the connection mechanisms between parental parenting kinds and IGD amongst faculty college students based mostly on current analysis and theories. An intensive understanding of those mediating components and their function within the relationship between parenting kinds and on-line habit is essential, as these insights can considerably contribute to safeguarding the psychological well being of this inhabitants.
This research goals to: Examine the connection between totally different parenting kinds and IGD amongst faculty college students. Investigate how a PML and self-control mediate the connection between parenting strategies and IGD, whereas evaluating variations in these mediating results throughout parenting kinds in addition to exploring the moderating function of gender.
This research integrates the I-PACE mannequin (Brand et al., 2019) as the first theoretical framework to elucidate how parenting kinds affect Internet Gaming Disorder amongst faculty freshmen. The I-PACE mannequin conceptualizes particular Internet-use issues as the results of dynamic interactions amongst predisposing particular person components, affective and cognitive responses, govt management processes, and reinforcement studying mechanisms. Within this framework, environmental and dispositional components exert their affect by way of cognitive and govt pathways that finally form problematic behaviors.
In the current mannequin, parenting kinds are positioned as distal environmental components inside the “Person” and contextual layers of the I-PACE framework. Specifically, emotional heat represents a constructive rearing context, whereas rejection and overprotection characterize destructive rearing environments. These parenting dimensions represent the antecedent variables within the mannequin.
Presence of Meaning in Life is conceptualized as a cognitive useful resource and is positioned on the cognitive-response degree of the I-PACE framework. Distinct from the motivational dimension of “search for meaning,” PML displays people’ perceived sense of objective, coherence, and existential significance. In this research, PML serves as the primary mediator, representing the cognitive mechanism by way of which parenting environments form inside psychological sources.
Self-control is positioned on the govt degree of the I-PACE mannequin. Drawing on dual-systems idea, self-control displays the dynamic stability between impulsive and reflective methods and represents people’ capability to control conduct in pursuit of long-term targets. In the proposed sequential pathway, self-control features as a downstream regulatory mechanism translating cognitive sources into behavioral restraint, with IGD conceptualized because the behavioral final result.
In addition, gender is specified as a boundary situation inside the mannequin. Rather than serving merely as a management variable, gender is hypothesized to reasonable the transformation course of from cognitive sources (PML) to govt regulation (self-control). In different phrases, gender could affect the effectivity with which meaning-related cognitive sources are transformed into behavioral management capacities.
Furthermore, compensatory Internet use idea enhances the I-PACE framework by explaining the purposeful motivation underlying extreme gaming. When people expertise psychological deficits or unmet wants in offline contexts, on-line actions could serve compensatory features. Within this built-in framework, diminished PML could improve reliance on gaming as an alternative supply of objective or psychological achievement.
Taken collectively, the proposed mannequin delineates a theoretically grounded sequential pathway:
Parenting kinds → Presence of Meaning in Life → Self-control → Internet Gaming Disorder, with gender moderating the cognitive-to-executive transformation course of. By integrating environmental, cognitive, govt, and behavioral ranges inside a unified framework, this research gives a extra process-oriented clarification of how household environments contribute to IGD threat amongst rising adults.
In abstract, this research examines the connection mechanisms between parental parenting kinds and IGD amongst first-year college college students based mostly on current analysis and theories. An intensive understanding of those mediating components and their function within the relationship between parenting kinds and on-line habit is essential, as these insights can considerably contribute to safeguarding the psychological well being of this inhabitants. Although IGD is a world phenomenon, testing this theoretically grounded mannequin inside the Chinese cultural context contributes to evaluating its cross-cultural generalizability.
To deal with these theoretical and empirical gaps, the current research is guided by the next analysis questions:
RQ1: How do totally different parenting kinds (emotional heat, rejection, and overprotection) relate to Internet Gaming Disorder amongst first-year college college students?
RQ2: Does Presence of Meaning in Life mediate the connection between parenting kinds and IGD?
RQ3: Does self-control mediate this relationship, and does it function as a downstream regulatory mechanism following PML?
RQ4: Do PML and self-control collectively type a sequential (chain) mediation pathway linking parenting kinds to IGD?
RQ5: Does gender reasonable the transformation course of from cognitive sources (PML) to govt regulation (self-control), thereby influencing the power of the general chain mediation?
Based on these analysis questions and theoretical foundations, we suggest the next hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Positive parenting kinds inhibit IGD, whereas destructive parenting kinds put it up for sale.
Hypothesis 2: Presence of that means in life mediates the connection between parenting kinds and IGD.
Hypothesis 3: self-control mediates the connection between parenting kinds and IGD.
Hypothesis 4: that means in life and self-control mediate the connection between parenting kinds and IGD in a chain-like method.
Hypothesis 5: Gender will reasonable the chain-mediated pathway by way of which parenting kinds affect IGD by way of that means in life and self-control.
The research inhabitants consisted of full-time first-year undergraduate college students enrolled in customary four-year tutorial applications. This group represents people present process the transition from highschool to school and has been recognized as a high-risk inhabitants for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) (Gao et al., 2022; Li et al., 2018). To improve regional representativeness, cluster sampling was employed. Participants have been recruited on the class degree from two universities in China: one “Double First-Class” college positioned in western China and one complete undergraduate establishment in japanese China.
Data assortment was carried out in 2025 utilizing each on-line and offline strategies. In classroom settings, members have been invited to finish the questionnaire by scanning a QR code. Additionally, a web based survey hyperlink was distributed by way of the Wenjuanxing platform. Prior to participation, all respondents have been knowledgeable of the research objective and have been assured of anonymity and voluntary participation.
The inclusion standards have been as follows: (1) full-time first-year undergraduate college students enrolled in a typical four-year program; (2) voluntary participation with knowledgeable consent; and (3) capability to finish the questionnaire independently. The exclusion standards included: (1) lacking knowledge on key research variables or substantial merchandise omissions; and (2) proof of careless responding (e.g., extraordinarily quick completion occasions, straight-line responses, or inconsistent solutions on reverse-scored objects).
A complete of roughly 828 questionnaires have been distributed. After knowledge screening, 728 legitimate responses have been retained, yielding an efficient response charge of 87.9%.
The remaining pattern had a imply age of 18.96 years (SD = 0.82), together with 335 males (46.0%) and 393 females (54.0%). Among members, 34.2% have been solely kids. Urban-origin college students accounted for 59.6% of the pattern, whereas 40.4% have been from rural areas. Regarding household construction, 91.6% got here from two-parent households, 3.3% from father-only households, and 5.1% from mother-only households.
Parenting type: This research employed the Chinese model of the Short-Form Parenting Style Questionnaire (s-EMBU), revised by Jiang et al. (2010). It includes three dimensions—emotional heat, rejection, and overprotection—with 21 objects in whole, together with one reverse-scored merchandise (Item 17). Each merchandise presents two distinct parenting approaches (father/mom) for respondents to distinguish and reply. A 4-point scale starting from “Never” to “Always” was employed. This scale has been extensively adopted by Chinese students, and it was chosen because the analysis instrument for this research. The general Cronbach’s α for this scale within the research was 0.817. The reliability coefficients have been 0.922 for the Rejection dimension, 0.797 for the Overprotection dimension, and 0.946 for the Emotional Warmth dimension. Parenting kinds have been assessed for validity by way of KMO sampling adequacy, which was 0.877 (p < 0.0001).
Presence of that means in life: The whole that means in life scale initially developed by Steger et al. (2006), this 10-item scale makes use of a 1–7 level scoring system. However, the Presence of Meaning subscale is probably the most extensively used measure of this assemble (Brandstätter et al., 2012). Given that PML and SML are established as distinct components (Steger et al., 2006), using this targeted measure permits for a exact investigation into the distinctive psychological mechanisms of PML, which may inform focused interventions. Liu and Gan (2010) tailored this scale.
This research employed the Chinese 5-item revised model of the PML Scale, with the merchandise “My life has no definite purpose” reverse-scored. Higher whole scale scores point out larger ranges of PML amongst respondents. The Cronbach’s α for this scale within the current research was 0.886. The validity of the PML was assessed by way of KMO sampling adequacy, which was 0.884 (p < 0.001).
Self-control: This research employed the revised Self-Control Scale tailored for Chinese college college students by Tan and Guo (2008). They modified Tangney et al.’s (2004) scale to higher align with the habits and cultural context of Chinese faculty college students. The revised Self-Control Scale includes 19 objects, with objects 1, 5, 11, and 14 scored positively and the rest negatively. It measures 5 dimensions: work/research efficiency, well being habits, impulse management, leisure restraint, and temptation resistance. A 5-point scale was used, starting from “completely disagree” (1) to “completely agree” (5). This research employs the Self-Control Scale revised by Tan Shuhua et al. The Cronbach’s α for this scale within the current research was 0.931. The validity of self-control was assessed by way of KMO sampling adequacy, which was 0.95 (p < 0.0001).
Internet gaming dysfunction: This research was assessed utilizing the 9-item web gaming dysfunction scale developed by Petry et al. (2014) based mostly on the DSM-5 diagnostic standards. Item 8 (“using games to escape problems or alleviate negative emotions”) particularly corresponds to the core characteristic of compensatory use idea. It employs a 5-point scale starting from 1 (fully disagree) to five (fully agree), with a most whole rating of 45. Higher scores point out larger tendencies towards IGD. In this research, the Cronbach’s α for this scale was 0.914. The validity of the IGD scale was assessed utilizing KMO sampling adequacy, which was 0.877 (p < 0.0001).
Data have been analyzed utilizing IBM SPSS Statistics model 27.0 and Hayes’ PROCESS macro model 4.1. Analyses included widespread technique bias testing, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and each chain and moderated mediation analyses. All statistical exams adopted a significance degree of p < 0.05. Data cleansing was carried out utilizing listwise deletion for circumstances with lacking values on key variables or indicators of careless responding (e.g., very quick completion occasions, straight-lining, or inconsistent reverse-scored responses). The remaining pattern included 728 members (efficient response charge = 87.9%). Multicollinearity was checked utilizing variance inflation components (VIFs) and tolerance values. All VIFs have been between 1.05 and a pair of.11, and tolerance values exceeded 0.47, indicating no multicollinearity points. Three dimensions of parenting kinds—rejection, overprotection, and emotional heat—have been examined in separate fashions. Mediation and moderated mediation results have been examined utilizing the PROCESS macro (Model 6 and Model 91). Model 6 examined the chain mediation pathway (parenting type → presence of that means in life → self-control → IGD), whereas Model 91 examined the moderated mediation impact of gender. Bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples was employed to generate bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals for direct and oblique results. An impact was thought-about vital when the arrogance interval didn’t embrace zero. The moderated mediation impact was evaluated utilizing the index of moderated mediation (Hayes, 2015). Bootstrapping was chosen as a result of it doesn’t assume normality of the sampling distribution of oblique results and is extensively really helpful for mediation and moderated mediation analyses (Hayes, 2013, 2022, 2015).
To make sure the robustness of the statistical analyses, an a priori pattern dimension estimation was carried out utilizing G*Power 3.1 software program (Faul et al., 2009). The estimation was carried out individually for the 2 major fashions within the research.
First, for the mannequin testing the chain mediation impact (comparable to PROCESS Model 6), the evaluation was specified as a linear a number of regression (F check). Based on Cohen (1988) conventions, a medium impact dimension (f2 = 0.15) was used because the benchmark. Given an α error likelihood of 0.05, a statistical energy (1–β) of 0.95, and a complete of 6 predictor variables (together with three management variables, one dimension of parenting type, and two mediating variables: presence of that means in life and self-control), the calculation yielded a minimal required pattern dimension of 146 (Cohen, 1988).
Second, for the moderated chain mediation mannequin (comparable to PROCESS Model 91), which focuses on testing interplay results, a extra conservative small impact dimension (f2 = 0.02) was adopted for the estimation, as interplay results are sometimes smaller. With an α error likelihood of 0.05, energy (1–β) of 0.95, and 6 predictor variables (comprising two management variables, one dimension of parenting type, presence of that means in life, gender, and the interplay time period between presence of that means in life and gender), the required pattern dimension was calculated to be 652.
With a remaining legitimate pattern dimension of 728, our research meets and surpasses the a priori pattern dimension necessities. This quantity is considerably bigger than the 146 wanted for the chain mediation mannequin and adequately meets the upper threshold of 652 required to detect the smaller interplay impact within the moderation mannequin. Consequently, the research gives ample energy to carefully check the primary, mediating, and moderating results.
Emerging maturity is a developmental stage characterised by identification exploration, elevated instability, and larger vulnerability (Arnett, 2000). Although parental authority sometimes declines throughout this part, mother and father nonetheless exert vital affect by way of emotional, monetary, and interpersonal channels. Recent integrative analysis on “helicopter parenting” in greater training contexts means that over-controlling or over-involved parenting kinds could undermine faculty college students’ autonomy and psychological adjustment, growing the chance of psychological misery and maladaptive behaviors (La Rosa et al., 2025).
Although first-year faculty college students are now not below direct parental supervision, present findings point out that early parenting experiences proceed to have an effect on the chance of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) by way of internalized psychological processes. Negative parenting kinds, equivalent to rejection and overprotection, are considerably positively correlated with IGD, whereas emotional heat performs an oblique function by way of psychological mechanisms. Consistent with earlier analysis on the detrimental results of over-controlling parenting on the psychological adjustment of rising adults, this research additional means that the influence of parenting kinds doesn’t diminish upon coming into college. Instead, it continues to affect behavioral tendencies by way of internalized psychological constructions. Rather than immediately growing gaming conduct, rejection and overprotection could undermine the event of autonomous self-structure and secure internalized that means frameworks throughout rising maturity. In the absence of such psychological sources, gaming could perform as an accessible compensatory exercise that gives construction and speedy reinforcement. However, their results are primarily oblique, moderately than purely direct behavioral results. This sample refines compensatory Internet use idea (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014), indicating that compensatory gaming conduct could not solely stem from present emotional misery but additionally from weakened psychological sources in early household environments. In different phrases, the chance pathway appears to unfold by way of a decline in inside capabilities moderately than by way of direct parental restrictions or insufficient supervision. These outcomes align with developmental views indicating that parenting practices contribute to the formation of socioemotional competence and self-regulatory capacities that reach past adolescence (Baumrind, 1991). Rather than exerting affect by way of ongoing behavioral monitoring, early household environments could form comparatively enduring psychological orientations that persist into rising maturity.
In distinction, as soon as mediating variables have been included within the mannequin, emotional heat may now not immediately predict IGD. This discovering means that constructive parenting kinds could play extra of a task in fostering protecting developmental foundations moderately than immediately inhibiting maladaptive behaviors. Emotional heat could domesticate psychological sources that scale back the chance of later habit, moderately than immediately suppressing gaming behaviors themselves. This distinction is essential, because it shifts the main focus of the research from behavioral monitoring to the formation of developmental sources.
Our findings recommend that parental affect extends past adolescence and continues to form behavioral vulnerabilities throughout the transition to maturity. However, this research doesn’t merely concentrate on the direct relationship between parenting kinds and IGD; it contributes by analyzing the interior psychological processes by way of which these influences unfold. Notably, this research was carried out in China, the place prolonged parental involvement and household interdependence are culturally emphasised. Future cross-cultural analysis ought to study whether or not these mechanisms generalize to different cultural contexts.
A key contribution of the current research is to make clear how existential sources and regulatory capability could collectively account for the affiliation between parenting kinds and web gaming dysfunction (IGD) amongst first-year faculty college students. In the correlational analyses, presence of that means in life (PML) was considerably associated to parenting kinds and IGD. However, when self-control was included within the full mannequin, the impartial oblique impact of PML on IGD was now not vital. This sample means that PML could also be extra distal to behavioral outcomes and that its affiliation with IGD could function primarily by way of regulatory processes.
PML refers back to the extent to which people understand their lives as purposeful, coherent, and vital (Steger, 2012). Compared with situational cognitions, PML might be thought-about a comparatively enduring private orientation. Within the I-PACE framework, such enduring orientations could also be conceptualized as a part of the Person (P) element, which incorporates comparatively secure traits and perception methods that form downstream cognitive–affective responses and govt functioning (Brand et al., 2019). From this attitude, PML is extra more likely to affect problematic gaming not directly, by shaping the circumstances below which people have interaction in self-regulation, moderately than immediately suppressing gaming conduct.
Importantly, as a result of the current research is cross-sectional, the information don’t enable causal or temporal conclusions concerning the ordering of those processes. Nevertheless, the noticed sample is in step with a theoretically proposed pathway during which PML is linked to IGD by way of self-control. This interpretation aligns with dual-system accounts of self-control that distinguish motivational orientation from govt regulation (Hofmann et al., 2009). PML could mirror larger alignment with long-term targets and life path, however efficient restraint within the face of instantly rewarding on-line actions seemingly requires enough govt management. This view can also be in step with Baumeister’s meaning-based mannequin of self-regulation, which means that having a coherent that means in life gives motivational grounding for long-term purpose pursuit, whereas profitable inhibition of instantly gratifying behaviors is dependent upon enough govt management (Baumeister et al., 2007). In this sense, self-control could characterize the extra proximal mechanism by way of which existential orientation pertains to behavioral outcomes.
Taken collectively, these findings help a cautious, mechanism-focused interpretation: parenting kinds could also be related to IGD by way of a layered psychological course of during which existential orientation (PML) and self-regulatory capability are collectively concerned. This formulation helps reconcile prior work that has usually mentioned that means as a protecting issue by suggesting that the protecting function of PML could also be contingent upon its translation into efficient self-regulatory processes. Future longitudinal or experimental analysis is required to check the temporal ordering implied by this proposed sequence.
The current findings point out that gender moderated the affiliation between presence of that means in life (PML) and self-control, in addition to the conditional oblique impact linking parenting kinds to web gaming dysfunction (IGD). Specifically, the interplay between PML and self-control was stronger amongst females than males, leading to gender variations within the magnitude of the oblique impact. The vital index of moderated mediation additional means that the oblique affiliation between parenting kinds and IGD by way of PML and self-control assorted throughout gender. Previous analysis has reported gender variations in emotional processing and coping kinds (Ji et al., 2024; Zhao et al., 2020a,b; Root and Denham, 2010), which can be related to understanding how psychological sources are mobilized.
First, the research adopted a cross-sectional design, which limits the power to make causal inferences or decide the temporal order of the variables. Although the mannequin construction is predicated on theoretical assumptions, future analysis ought to validate the dynamic developmental relationships between that means in life, self-control, and Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) by way of longitudinal or experimental designs.
Second, all knowledge on this research have been collected by way of self-report questionnaires, which can be topic to social desirability bias or widespread technique bias. Although statistical exams have been carried out to look at these potential biases, future research may combine multi-source knowledge (e.g., mum or dad studies, behavioral measures, or experimental duties) to boost the robustness of the findings.
Third, though members have been drawn from two universities in japanese and western China, the pattern could not absolutely characterize the variety of upper training contexts nationwide. Therefore, future analysis ought to replicate this research throughout totally different cultural backgrounds and academic methods to enhance the exterior validity of the conclusions.
Fourth, potential confounding components weren’t absolutely explored. For instance, particular person variations in baseline psychological well being, persona traits, or different environmental influences (equivalent to peer relationships or tutorial stress) can also contribute to IGD, impartial of parenting kinds. Future research may management for these components to higher isolate the distinctive results of parenting on IGD.
Finally, whereas this research examined the moderating function of gender, it didn’t immediately measure potential socialization or developmental variables that will clarify gender variations. Future analysis may incorporate extra particular psychological and social mechanisms to deepen our understanding of the sources of gender variations.
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