The role of affect reactivity to daily negative parent and peer events in the development of adolescents' internet addiction

Abstract Affect reactivity to negative events is considered a vulnerability factor for mental health problems; however, its role in internet addiction has been less explored. Based on the Interaction of Person‐Affect‐Cognition‐Execution model, this study investigated whether affect reactivity to negative events in two key interpersonal domains—parents and peers—contributes to the development of internet addiction during the transition from Grade 8 to Grade 9 among Chinese adolescents. A 12‐day daily diary combined with a 6‐month longitudinal design was used to collect data from 244 Chinese adolescents ( M age = 13.87, SD age = 0.51, 42.6% girls). Results revealed that internet addiction remained relatively stable but demonstrated significant individual differences over the 6‐month transition from Grade 8 to Grade 9. At the within‐person level, daily negative parent and peer events were associated with higher levels of negative affect. Moreover, daily affect reactivity to negative peer events, but not negative parent events, predicted a faster increase in internet addiction over 6 months. The findings highlight the critical role of affect reactivity to negative peer events in the development of internet addiction and offer insights for targeted prevention strategies.