Psychological flexibility as a mediator between type-D personality and pathological internet use in university students

Objective To explore the mediating effect of psychological flexibility in the relationship between the two dimensions of type-D personality (negative affect and social inhibition) and pathological internet use. Methods 592 university students were sampled from central China district and were administered with Adolescent Pathological Internet Use Scale (APIUS), Type-D personality scale (DS14) and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-Second Edition (AAQ-Ⅱ). Results Pathological internet use (2.56±0.61) positively correlated with negative affect (1.58±0.78) and social inhibition (1.96±0.61) (r=0.37, 0.25) respectively, and negatively correlated with psychological flexibility (4.69±1.15) (r=-0.40). Path analysis with latent variables showed psychological flexibility partially but significantly mediated the predictive effect of negative affect and social inhibition on pathological internet use.The mediation rates were 56% for negative affect and 62% for social inhibition. Conclusion Psychological flexibility has significant incremental validity beyond two dimensions of type-D personality, and partially mediated the effect of negative affect and social inhibition on pathological internet use.These results suggest the intervention focus of PIU can be psychological flexibility. Key words: Pathological internet use; Type D personality; Acceptance and action questionnaire-second edition; Psychological flexibility