The relationship between problematic Internet use, God attachment, and psychological functioning among adults at a Christian university

Abstract

In the present study, we utilised structural equation modelling (SEM) to investigate the relationship between God attachment and problematic Internet use, mediated by emotional distress. Findings supported the proposed hypothesis that anxious God attachment (i.e., anxiety about God's abandonment) predicts both problematic Internet use (i.e., obsessing about the Internet, neglecting tasks and relationships due to the Internet, struggling to control Internet use) and psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress, worry). In addition, weak-to-moderate correlations emerged between depression, anxiety, stress, and worry and problematic Internet use. Further research is needed to generalise and replicate these preliminary results.

Keywords:

• Internet
• addiction
• problematic Internet use
• God
• attachment
• distress

Acknowledgement

The first author would like to thank Robert Crosby for his help with data analyses.

Notes

Notes: Ns ranged from 165 to 179 due to missing scores among participants. PIUQ = Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire; AGI = Attachment to God Inventory; DASS = Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales; PSS = Perceived Stress Scale; PSWQ = Penn State Worry Questionnaire; SIAS = Social Interaction Anxiety Scale;

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

1. Throughout the article, we used the term “anxious God attachment” to signify AGI-Anxiety and “avoidant God attachment” for AGI-Avoidance.