ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
Longitudinal analysis of behavioral addictions among children and adolescents in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Introduction: Behavioral addictions in childhood and adolescence remain understudied, particularly beyond digital media use. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced substantial disruptions to youths' daily routines, social functioning, and emotional well-being, potentially increasing vulnerability to maladaptive behavioral patterns. This three-wave longitudinal study examined trajectories and correlates of gambling, shopping, exercise, and eating addiction symptoms among children and adolescents across the pandemic period. Methods: The study included 1,665 Israeli students aged 9-16.7 years assessed before the COVID-19 pandemic (October 2019), after the first wave (November 2020), and after the fifth wave and return to regular schooling (April 2022). Participants completed validated measures of behavioral addiction symptoms, psychiatric symptoms, negative and positive affect, sensation seeking, life satisfaction, social support, secure attachment, hope, future orientation, grit, and gratitude. Structural equation modeling tested indirect effects of protective factors on behavioral addictions via risk factors at baseline, and linear growth-curve models estimated change in addiction symptoms over time. Results: Symptoms of exercise, gambling, and shopping addictions increased significantly across the three time points, whereas eating addiction symptoms remained stable. Negative affect, psychiatric symptoms, and sensation seeking predicted higher levels of behavioral addiction, and social support was unexpectedly associated with higher exercise, gambling, and eating addiction symptoms. In contrast, future orientation, life satisfaction, hope, positive emotions, and secure attachment were linked to fewer symptoms. Protective factors were related to lower behavioral addiction symptoms only indirectly, through their associations with reduced negative affect and psychiatric symptoms, indicating full mediation. Girls reported more shopping and eating addiction symptoms, whereas boys reported more gambling and exercise symptoms; older age was linked to fewer shopping, exercise, and eating symptoms but more gambling symptoms. Discussion: These findings suggest that youth behavioral addictions intensified during and after the pandemic, even when most symptoms remained subclinical. Emotional and social resources functioned as resilience factors primarily by shaping mental health, highlighting negative affect and psychiatric distress as key intervention targets to prevent behavioral addictions in children and adolescents.
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