The Role of Ego–Strength and Parenting Styles in Predicting Vulnerability to Addiction with the Mediating Role of Emotional Repression in Male Adolescents

The present study was performed aiming to investigate the relationships of ego-strength and parenting styles to vulnerability to addiction with the mediating role of emotional repression in adolescents.

The present research was a correlational study. The statistical population of the study included all male high school students in the city of Osko who were studying in the academic year 2019-2020 (n=1100). Among them, a total of 200 male students and their mothers were selected using multi-stage cluster sampling method. Participants answered to the identifying people in risk of addiction questionnaire, the psychosocial inventory of ego-strength, the parenting styles questionnaire, and the adjustment inventory. Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation and structural equation modeling.

The proposed model had a good fit. Ego-strength and parenting styles had significant direct effects on vulnerability to addiction. Emotional repression also played a significant mediating role in the relationships of parenting styles and ego-strength to vulnerability to addiction.

Dimensions of ego-strength and authoritative parenting style are able to explain the decreased adolescent addiction by reducing emotional repression. This can be useful as a suitable model for designing addiction prevention programs among adolescents and young people.