IntroductionExisting data indicate that an increasing number of adolescents are becoming addicted to online games, while the prevalence of depressive symptoms within this demographic is also on the rise. Depression is a primary comorbidity associated with game addiction, but the influencing factors and mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to explore the mediating role of game addiction in the relationship between the intellectual-cultural orientation of family environment and adolescent depressive symptoms.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,105 pairs of mothers and adolescents in a high school in Henan Province, China, through online investigation from November 17, 2021 to December 11, 2021. The intellectual-cultural orientation, game addiction and adolescent depressive symptoms were measured by the subscale of Intellectual-cultural orientation in Family Environment Scale, Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents and Children’s Depression Inventory respectively. The SPSS PROCESS macro 3.3 software was used to analyze the mediating effect.ResultsThe findings revealed that Intellectual-cultural orientation was negatively correlated with both adolescent game addiction and depressive symptoms. Game addiction served as a significant mediator between Intellectual-cultural orientation and depressive symptoms in adolescents. Furthermore, gender and annual household income significantly associated with the strength of the mediating effect of game addiction on the relationship between Intellectual-cultural orientation and adolescent depressive symptoms. Specifically, boys and adolescents from low-incomefamilies were more likely to suffer from game addiction.DiscussionThese findings suggest that future family based interventions aimed at preventing adolescent depression should specifically target the reduction of game time, particularly among boys and adolescents from low-income families.
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