Relation Between Child Psychological Maltreatment Profiles and Problematic Online Behaviors Among Chinese College Students

Psychological maltreatment is a concern linked to a variety of psychosocial and developmental adjustment problems among Chinese youth. The current study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify profiles of Chinese college students with differing patterns of childhood psychological maltreatment experience (i.e., abuse & neglect). We identified five profiles with varying degrees of maltreatment relative to one another: (1) Low Maltreatment (low abuse, low neglect), (2) Moderately Low Maltreatment (moderately low abuse, moderately low neglect), (3) Neglect (low abuse, moderately high neglect), (4) Moderate Maltreatment (moderate abuse, moderate neglect), and (5) High Maltreatment (high abuse, high neglect). Memberships in the Low Maltreatment and Neglect profile groups were associated with sex, parental education, and family income but no differences were found between the other profiles. These findings suggest that sociodemographic information alone is inadequate for accurately discriminating between moderately and highly maltreated Chinese youth and young adults. Profiles characterized by relatively high psychological maltreatment exhibited greater addiction to online gaming and cyberbullying perpetration. This presents findings relevant to how youths and young adults may seek virtual outlets to cope with their childhood maltreatment experiences amid recent government-mandated internet gaming curfews. Interventions aimed at fostering proper coping skills during critical developmental periods should be considered.