Parent–adolescent attachment and peer attachment associated with Internet Gaming Disorder: A longitudinal study of first-year undergraduate students

Abstract

The findings of the present study did not show a bidirectional association between parental attachment and IGD, but they did show a negative bidirectional association between peer attachment and IGD. The results suggested previous cross-sectional associations between IGD and attachment, with larger links among males than females at the first measurement point. We found that peer attachment negatively predicted subsequent IGD, which indicates that peer attachment plays an important role in preventing addictive gaming behaviors for university students.