A structural equation model of the impact of maladaptive personality traits on problematic internet use: the serial mediating effects of metacognitions and emotion dysregulation

Zemestani, M, Jafari, A, Ahmadi, SM, Casale, S and Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, 2025. A structural equation model of the impact of maladaptive personality traits on problematic internet use: the serial mediating effects of metacognitions and emotion dysregulation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 390: 119824. ISSN 0165-0327

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Abstract

Background: Although the relationship between personality traits and problematic internet use (PIU) has been established, the underlying mechanisms that may account for this association remains unclear. Metacognitions and emotion dysregulation may partly explain this association. Therefore, the present study examined the serial mediating role of metacognitions and emotion dysregulation in the association between DSM-5 pathological personality domains and PIU.

Method: A total of 610 university students completed the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5-Brief Form (PID-5-BF), Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized model.

Results: The structural model provided a good fit to the data. Significant positive correlations were found between DSM-5 pathological personality domains and PIU. Metacognitions and emotion dysregulation neglibly and serially mediated the association between DSM-5 pathological personality domains and PIU symptoms.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Affective Disorders
Creators:	Zemestani, M., Jafari, A., Ahmadi, S.M., Casale, S. and Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
Date:	1 December 2025
Volume:	390
ISSN:	0165-0327
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.jad.2025.119824 DOI 2468250 Other
Rights:	© 2025. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	16 Jul 2025 13:47
Last Modified:	16 Jul 2025 14:29
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53960

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