Cumulative family risk and problematic internet use among adolescents: The mediating roles of basic psychological need satisfaction and maladaptive cognition.

OBJECTIVE

Family risk factors frequently cluster together and play important roles in adolescent problematic internet use (PIU). However, the longitudinal association between cumulative family risk and PIU among adolescents and its potential mediation mechanisms are largely unexplored. Grounded in motivational theories, this study aims to examine the longitudinal association between cumulative family risk and adolescent PIU 2 years later and to determine whether this association is mediated by internal need (i.e., basic psychological need satisfaction) and external incentive (i.e., maladaptive cognition).

METHOD: Participants were 1,365 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 14.68 years, SD = 1.56; 46.8% girls) involved in this three-wave longitudinal study between 2015 and 2017.

RESULTS

After controlling for demographic covariates and baseline core variables, cumulative family risk was significantly associated with the increase in adolescent PIU over time. Furthermore, the relationship was mediated by basic psychological need satisfaction and maladaptive cognition. Multigroup analyses confirmed that the mediation model remained invariant across gender and schooling periods.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that cumulative family risk may impair adolescents' basic psychological need satisfaction and increase their maladaptive cognition over internet use, thereby increasing the risk of PIU. These findings provide valuable implications for preventing and intervening in adolescent PIU. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).