Intergenerational effects of parental childhood maltreatment on children’s smartphone addictive behavior: the mediating role of children’s perceived parental support and parental smartphone addictive behavior

Childhood maltreatment has been a key issue in psychological research due to its severe and persistent negative effects on the abused. Smartphone addictive behavior, as a typical problematic behavior, is a significant threat to children's mental health. This study aimed to investigate the intergenerational effects of parental childhood maltreatment and children's smartphone addictive behavior, and the mediating roles of parental smartphone addictive behavior and children's perceived parental support in the relationship between the two. We recruited 334 children and their parents totaling 1002 as participants. Parents reported their own experiences of childhood maltreatment and smartphone addictive behavior, and children reported their perceived parental support and smartphone addictive behavior. Mediation modeling was conducted to test intergenerational effects and mediating mechanisms. The findings suggest that (1) mother's smartphone addictive behavior and children's perceived parental support mediate the role between mother's childhood maltreatment and children's smartphone addictive behavior. (2) father's childhood maltreatment could not influence children's smartphone addictive behavior through father's smartphone addictive behavior and children's perceived parental support. We found a significant intergenerational effect of childhood maltreatment experienced by mothers on children's smartphone addictive behavior. Mothers who have endured childhood maltreatment exhibit higher susceptibility to smartphone addictive behavior and are less prone to providing emotional support to their children. Consequently, this may contribute to an increased likelihood of smartphone addictive behavior among their children.