BMC Psychol. 2025 Nov 14;13(1):1263. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-03611-1.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that family relationships are closely related to internet gaming disorder (IGD) in adolescents. There are also neurological mechanisms that correlate spontaneous brain activity with adolescent family relationships and IGD. Therefore, this study explores the mediating role of spontaneous brain activity between family relationships and IGD in adolescents.
METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional design. It recruited 52 IGD adolescents as the IGD group and 51 normal adolescents as the healthy control (HC) group. The study included adolescents aged 12-18 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 45:7 in the IGD group and 41:10 in the HC group. The diagnosis of IGD was established based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria. The Young Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) was used to assess the severity of internet addiction among adolescents, and the Chinese version of the Family Environment Scale (FES-CV) was used to evaluate family relationships. Resting-state functional MRI was utilized to assess adolescents’ spontaneous brain activity, specifically measuring the mean amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (mALFF) and functional connectivity (FC). MRI data were collected using a Siemens Magnetom Prisma 3.0T MRI scanner. The specific scan sequence and parameters are as follows: BOLD sequence, repetition time (TR) = 1000 ms, echo time (TE) = 30 ms, flip angle = 70°, slice thickness = 2.2 mm, number of slices = 52, matrix size = 64 × 64, voxel size = 3 mm × 3 mm × 3 mm, scan duration = 360 s. The steps of data preprocessing included data format conversion, exclusion of time points, slice timing correction, head motion correction, spatial normalization, removal of linear drift, regression of covariates, band-pass filtering, and data cleaning. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 22.0. Gaussian random field (GRF) correction was applied in the DPABI toolbox, with voxel-level p < 0.005 and cluster-level p < 0.05 indicating statistical significance. Pearson correlation was employed to analyze the relationships between various scales and between these scales and brain spontaneous activity. Mediation analysis was performed using the SPSS Process program.
RESULTS: (1) Compared to the HC group, the IGD group had significantly higher YIAS scores (t = 21.571, P < 0.05). For the FES-CV scores, the IGD group scored higher in conflict (t = 4.228, P < 0.05) and lower in cohesion (t=-3.768, P < 0.05), with statistically significant differences. (2) Pearson correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between cohesion in family relationships and middle frontal gyrus (MFG) (r = – 0.443, p < 0.01), a negative correlation between cohesion and internet addiction (r = – 0.474, p < 0.01), and a positive correlation between internet addiction and MFG (r = 0.557, p < 0.01) in the IGD group. The MFG mediated the relationship between family relationships and internet addiction, with a mediation effect value of -0.183 (95% CI=-0.403 ~ -0.037), accounting for 38.77% of the total effect (-0.183/-0.472). (3) In the IGD group, the FC value from the MFG to the right insula was positively correlated with conflict in family relationships (r = 0.349, P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION: Family relationships are related to internet addiction in adolescents, and the MFG mediates this relationship. Additionally, the FC value from the MFG to the right insula in the IGD group is positively correlated with conflict. This suggests that the MFG may serve as a neurobiological marker through which family relationships influence IGD development in adolescents.
PMID:41239403 | DOI:10.1186/s40359-025-03611-1
