Maybe you should blame your parents: Parental attachment, gender, and problematic Internet use

Background and aims Prior research has generally established parental attachment as a predictor of problematic Internet use (PIU). However, findings across studies are inconsistent as to which factor(s) of attachment style (i.e., attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) contributes to PIU. Another gap in the literature is that as most studies highlight the importance of maternal (over paternal) attachment security in inhibiting PIU, little research has examined the possibility of a gender difference, where maternal and paternal attachment securities may exert different influences on males and females. Methods An anonymous survey was completed by 243 undergraduate students in a public university in the U.S. Midwest. In addition to demographic information, the survey contained measurement scales to assess PIU and parental attachment (both maternal and paternal). Results Survey data show that (a) attachment anxiety, but not attachment avoidance, is significantly related to PIU and (b) gender significantly moderates this relationship, where paternal attachment anxiety leads to PIU in female students while maternal attachment anxiety contributes to PIU in male students. Conclusions This study deepens our understanding in the relationship between family upbringing, particularly parental attachment, and PIU. More specifically, attachment anxiety is found to be a significant predictor of PIU, but attachment avoidance is not. Also, contributing to the research literature is the finding of a significant gender effect in this relationship

Computer Playfulness, Personal Innovativeness, and Problematic Technology Use: A New Measure and Some Initial Evidence

Considerable research in the technology adoption and use literature has focused on two user traits, i.e., computer playfulness and personal innovativeness with IT, and how they lead to various positive adoption and usage outcomes. However, little work to date has empirically investigated the possibility that these traits may also lead to undesirable usage outcomes. Building on recent psychology research on problematic technology use, this study fills this gap in the literature by testing these relationships with two samples. Data from 267 undergraduate students indicated that these user traits are indeed associated with problematic use, manifested as pathological dependency on technology (dependency) and procrastination and avoidance of social and occupational responsibilities (distraction). Preliminary results from a sample of 184 working adults are consistent with findings from the student sample. Implications of these findings are discussed

Finite volume corrections to the binding energy of the X(3872)

The quark mass dependence of hadrons is an important input for lattice calculations. We investigate the light quark mass dependence of the binding energy of the X(3872) in a finite box to next-to-leading order in an effective field theory for the X(3872) with perturbative pions (XEFT). At this order, the quark mass dependence is determined by a quark mass-dependent contact interaction in addition to the one-pion exchange. While there is only a moderate sensitivity to the light quark masses in the region up to twice their physical value, the finite volume effects are significant already at box length as large as 20 fm.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, REVTe