Pathway From Adverse Interpersonal Experiences to Problematic Mobile Video Gaming Among Vocational Students: The Mediating Role of Psychological Inflexibility and Gender Differences.

Based on the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution model, this study aims to explore the relationship between adverse interpersonal experiences (i.e., peer victimization and parent-child conflict) and problematic mobile video gaming (PMVG), the mediating role of psychological inflexibility, and gender differences. A sample of 3,412 vocational students (61.66% male, 16.90 ± 1.12 years) reported on peer victimization, parent-child conflict, psychological inflexibility, and PMVG. Results indicated that parent-child conflict exerted a stronger influence on PMVG among vocational students than peer victimization. Psychological inflexibility fully mediated the relationship between peer victimization and PMVG, while partially mediating the relationship between parent-child conflict and PMVG. And gender differences were observed in the peer victimization pathway but not in the parent-child conflict pathway. These findings provide new theoretical insights into understanding PMVG among vocational students and offer practical implications for developing gender- and interpersonal environment-specific intervention strategies.