Do adolescents addict to internet games after being phubbed by parents? The roles of maladaptive cognition and self-esteem

Phubbing is a social exclusion, which indicates a person being phubbed can feel neglected during a face-to-face conversation. The present study examined how parental phubbing is related to adolescent Internet gaming disorder (IGD), and the role of self-esteem and maladaptive cognition. We recruited 813 Chinese adolescents to participate in the current study. Participants completed measures of parental phubbing, self-esteem, maladaptive cognitions, and IGD. Results indicated that maladaptive cognition mediated the relationship between parental phubbing and IGD. Our studies also found out the sequential mediation effect of self-esteem and maladaptive cognition on the relationship between parental phubbing and IGD. Surprisingly, unlike what was predicted, our findings didn’t support the moderator role of self-esteem. This unanticipated orientation and other results are discussed. The findings contributed to the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of adolescent IGD and its possible association with parental phubbing.