The Relationship between Basic Psychological Needs and Internet Addiction with the Moderating Role of Problem-oriented Coping Style

Failure to satisfy the basic psychological needs may cause Internet addiction for the adolescents. Heterogeneity of outcomes may originate from individual characteristics such as coping style. Therefore, the present study aimed to look at whether the problem-oriented coping style can play a moderating role in the relationship between basic psychological needs and Internet addiction.
This research was a descriptive-correlational study. For this purpose, 361 students were selected from Yasouj University by cluster random sampling. Three questionnaires were used to collect data: Basic Psychological Needs Questionnaire, Internet Addiction Questionnaire, and Stress Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and the Partial Least Squares (PLS) were used to process the data.
According to the findings of the present study, there was a negative relationship between satisfying the basic psychological needs and Internet addiction. The results also showed problem-oriented coping style as a moderating and influential variable between the basic psychological needs and Internet addiction.
Overall, the most important contribution of this study is to explain a correlation and moderation model that is consistent with both stress management and self-determination theory. As a result, interventions based on self-determination theory (e.g., informing programs that enhance adolescent autonomy, relatedness, and competence) may be effective in reducing Internet addiction.