The Effect Mechanism And Intervention Of Childhood Emotional Maltreatment On Problematic Social Network Sites Use In Adolescents

More and more people are building and maintaining interpersonal relationship through social networking sites,thanks to the developing of Internet and smart mobile terminal.However,social network sites are not always beneficial to people.Sometimes they bring trouble to people,such as problematic social network sites use.Moreover,adolescents are susceptible to problematic social network sites use due to their poor self-control ability.Growing empirical evidence has identified childhood maltreatment associated with problematic social network sites use.Nonetheless,the potential direct and indirect impact of childhood emotional maltreatment on problematic social network sites use largely unexplored.Consequently,the purpose of the present study was to test the relationship between emotional abuse and problematic social network sites use,as well as the mediating role of self-esteem and depression in the relationship.In this study,the sample comprised 476 adolescent students who completed questionnaire that included Child Psychology Abuse and Neglect Scale,The Problematic Social Network Sites Use Scale,The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale,The Center for Epidemologic Studies Depression Scale.According to the survey result,20 eligible students were selected from the sample and randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group.Eight group counseling were performed on the experimental group,and no treatment was performed on the control group.Finally,this study explores the effectiveness of group counseling for student intervention in problematic social network sites use and analyzes the reasons why group counseling works.Results indicated that(1)male adolescents had higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of problematic social network sites use compared to females,and(2)senior two students had higher levels of emotional maltreatment,depression and problematic social network sites use and lower levels of self-esteem compared to senior one.Correlation coefficient indicated(3)significant positive relationship between emotional maltreatment and problematic social network sites use.Moreover,(4)depression mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and problematic social network sites use,but the mediating effect of self-esteem was not significant.(5)Self-esteem and depression in series mediated the relationship between emotional maltreatment and problematic social network sites use.(6)After the group counseling,there was a significant difference between the pretest and posttest results of experimental group in the scores of depression and problematic social network sites use.The results revealed that the group counseling can better interfere with the problematic social network sites use level.The results reveal the mechanism of emotional maltreatment to problematic social network sites use,and provide theoretical support and effective suggestions for the intervention and prevention of problematic social network sites use among high school students.