Attachment representations and generalized problematic Internet use in a sample of high school students in transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood

The present study was conducted to explore the unique associations of different attachment representations to generalized problematic Internet use (GPIU) within a community sample of middle-school students that are in transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood. 180 youths (72 girls, mean age = 18.29 years, DS = .46 years) took part to the study. In line with expectations from extant literature, dimensions of insecure-anxious attachment were uniquely associated to the total score of GPIU, as well as to its subcomponents (with the exception of negative outcomes). Importantly, there also emerged the unique role of insecure-avoidant attachment, that was positively associated to the total score of GPIU, as well as to its specific subscales related to the preference for online social interaction and the deficient self-regulation in using the Internet. These results consolidate the suggestion that GPIU occurs within a context in which youths perceive the Internet as a medium to regulate stress and anxiety that derives from face-to-face social interactions; moreover, they also suggest that GPIU occur within a context in which youths choose a social approach that is more distancing than traditional face-to-face relationships.