A network analysis of early life trauma, parent-adolescent communication, parental warmth, and parental monitoring among adolescents with behavioral addictions

Whereas some adolescents with early life trauma develop behavioral addictions, others manage to avoid such outcomes by leveraging protective parental factors such as communication, warmth, and monitoring to shield themselves from these behaviors. This study aims to examine the association between early life trauma (i.e., abuse/neglect), parent-adolescent communication, parental warmth, and parental monitoring among Israeli-Arab adolescents, both with and without behavioral addictions, using a network analysis approach. The study includes 828 Israeli-Arab adolescents (36 % boys, 64 % girls; ages 14-18). Israeli-Arab adolescents from the general community (age 14-18), who were asked about parental communication, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, parental warmth, parental monitoring, religiosity, economic status, and age. First, we calculated the differences between participants with a behavioral addiction (n = 515) and those without an addiction (n = 313) in the research measures. Second, by using network analysis we detected two sub-networks: (i) abuse and (ii) parenting-related. The findings highlighted that emotional abuse and parental warmth had been significant factors influencing the structure and dynamics of the network among adolescents with behavioral addictions. This research enhances our understanding of these dynamics by offering a nuanced perspective on the interplay between early life trauma and parental influences among Israeli-Arab adolescents.