Investigation of emotion regulation skills and early maladaptive schemas in adolescents with internet addiction

Objective: This study examined early maladaptive schemas, emotion regulation difficulties, and symptoms of anxiety and depression in adolescents with Internet addiction (IA) compared to age- and gender-matched healthy adolescents without IA. Method: The research involved 40 adolescents diagnosed with IA, who scored a minimum of 50 points on the Young Internet Addiction Scale (YIAT), according to the criteria established by Young, and 40 healthy adolescents aged between 12 and 16 years. The participants who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and their parents responded to the Sociodemographic Data Form during the interviews. All participants completed a battery of self-report measures, including the Childhood Depression Inventory (CDI), Childhood Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), YIAT, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and Early Maladaptive Schema Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (SQS). Moreover, the Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia Scale for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version-Turkish Adaptation (K-SADS-PL-T) was administered to diagnose the presence of psychiatric disorders. Results: Adolescents with IA had higher scores on the CDI and the SCARED compared to those without IA. In IA adolescents, there was a positive correlation between CDI scores and the five main schema domains of the SQS and the total scores of the DERS. Similarly, SCARED scores were positively correlated with the five main schema domains of the SQS and the total scores of the DERS in IA adolescents. Among IA adolescents, the five main schema domains of the SQS were positively correlated with the total scores of the DERS, whereas in adolescents without IA, there was a positive correlation with the total scores of the DERS in all main schema domains except for Impaired Limits. In IA adolescents, all schema scores of the five main schema domains and sub-dimensions of the Schema Questionnaire for Children, except for Enmeshment schema, were significantly higher compared to those without IA. IA adolescents also had significantly higher total scores and sub-dimensional scores on the DERS compared to those without IA. Finally, in IA adolescents, there was a positive correlation between DERS scores and the YIAT. Conclusion: Based on the collected data, correlations were identified among early maladaptive schemas, emotion regulation difficulties, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in adolescents with IA. These findings may aid in comprehending the root causes of IA and facilitate the formulation of novel treatment strategies.