Journal Article

The Impact of Addictive Behaviors and Online Behaviors on Adolescents’ Conflict Management Ability: A Psychosocial and Legal Perspective

Miloș, Constantina Alina Ilie, Lobonț, Florin, Rus, Mihaela, Călin, Mariana Floricica, Băluțescu, Ramona, Sandu, Mihaela Luminița, Baiceanu, Carmen-Mihaela, Pescaru, Maria, Ștefănoaia, Mihai

2025

Overview

This study explores the relationship between addictive behaviors, online behaviors, and adolescents’ ability to manage conflict. Effective conflict management is influenced by emotional self-regulation, empathy, and the digital environment. The literature suggests that deficits in these areas may exacerbate antisocial behavior and social adjustment difficulties. This study evaluates the influence of emotional intelligence, addictive behaviors, and online behaviors on conflict management. The hypotheses include adolescents with a high level of emotional adjustment who manage conflicts more effectively (H2) and that addictive and problematic online behaviors increase the risk of conflict escalation (H1, H3). The research involved 403 adolescents, selected through non-probabilistic methods using structured questionnaires. Statistical analysis included normality tests, Spearman’s correlations, and Mann-Whitney U tests to identify group differences. Adolescents with high emotional adjustment obtained significantly higher scores in conflict management and emotional self-regulation. Addictive and problematic online behaviors are associated with more significant difficulties in conflict management. Adolescents involved in minor crimes demonstrate deficits in emotion and conflict management. The results confirm the essential role of emotional intelligence in conflict management and the negative impact of addictive and problematic online behavior. Educational interventions promoting emotional intelligence development and responsible use of technology can reduce antisocial behaviors and improve adolescents’ social adjustment.

• Publisher: MDPI AG
• Subject: Addictive behaviors / Adjustment / Adolescent behavior / Adolescent behaviour / Adolescents / aggression / Aggressiveness / Antisocial behavior / Antisocial personality disorder / Behavior / Behavior problems / Child & adolescent mental health / Collaboration / Communication / conflict / Conflict management / Conflict resolution / Cyberbullying / Decision making / Drug use / emotional adaptation / Emotional behavior / Emotional intelligence / Emotional regulation / Emotions / Empathy / Escalation / Fines & penalties / Government regulation / Hate speech / Hypothesis testing / Influence / Intelligence / Internet / Internet addiction / Intervention / Laws, regulations and rules / Management / Normality / Offenses / online environment / Pathological Internet Use / Probabilistic methods / Psychological aspects / Psychosocial factors / Quantitative analysis / Regulation / Risk taking / Self control / Self regulation / Social aspects / Social behavior / Social change / Social factors / Social interactions / Statistical analysis