Internet addiction and depressive and anxious symptoms among Chinese rural left-behind adolescents: Mediating roles of resilience and friendship quality

Internet addiction and suicidal ideation in Chinese children with migrant parents: Mediating role of anxiety and moderating role of social support

INTRODUCTION

The prevalence of internet addiction among Chinese left-behind children, coupled with its potential to exacerbate anxiety and suicidal ideation, has become a critical issue. This study seeks to address the dearth of research on the psychological underpinnings of this phenomenon, particularly the mediating role of anxiety and the moderating effect of social support across different parental migration statuses. Understanding these relationships is crucial for developing targeted interventions and informing policy decisions.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional study, we administered Young's Internet Addiction Test, alongside scales for anxiety, social support, and suicidal ideation, to 2882 middle school students in China with diverse parental migration backgrounds. Utilizing an online survey approach, we ensured broad participation and participant anonymity. Advanced statistical analyses, including regression models for mediation and moderation effects, were employed to rigorously test our hypotheses.

RESULTS

Among all participants, a significant positive correlation was observed between Internet addiction and suicidal ideation. Anxiety mediated the relationship between Internet addiction and suicidal ideation across all groups, including those with mother-only migration (Effect = 0.383, 95%CI: 0.107,0.943), father-only migration (Effect = 0.806, 95%CI: 0.487-1.230), both-parent migration(Effect = 0.289, 95%CI: 0.105-0.521), and non-left-behind children (Effect = 0.469, 95%CI: 0.342-0.630). Particularly in families where only the mother was absent, the moderating role of social support was especially prominent (B = 1.174, t = 6.446, p < 0.001 for low social support), underscoring the importance of family structure in the context of Internet addiction.

CONCLUSION

Internet addiction has both direct and indirect effects on suicidal ideation, with anxiety playing a mediating role in the indirect effects. Social support moderates and alleviates the relationship between Internet addiction and anxiety specifically in the mother-only migration group. Therefore, clarifying these relationships helps in developing and implementing effective interventions to specifically improve the mental health and living conditions of left-behind children.

Exploring the relationship between resilience and internet addiction in Chinese college students: The mediating roles of life satisfaction and loneliness

Internet addiction is of great impact on college students' academic performance, life quality and mental health. Although it's well documented the association between resilience and Internet addiction among college students, the mechanism underlying it are not well acknowledged. The study applied resilience scale, the Chinese Internet Addiction Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale and the third edition of the UCLA Loneliness Scale to explore the mechanism of action between resilience and Internet addiction in college students by applied questionnaire investigation. A total of 813 college students (321 male, Mean age = 22.55) participated in the study. We found resilience and life satisfaction of college students were negatively correlated with Internet addiction (β = -0.85, t = -21.35, p < 0.001; β = -0.08, t = -2.23, p < 0.05), while loneliness was positively correlated with Internet addiction (β = 0.17, t = 7.42, p < 0.01). Furthermore, mediating analyses showed life satisfaction and loneliness played mediating role in the relationship between resilience and Internet addiction (β = -0.90, t = -58.76, p < 0.001). Measures such as strengthening the construction of college students' mental health courses to improve their resilience and life satisfaction, and providing rich community activities to reduce college students' loneliness have been put forward to reduce college students' Internet addiction.

Longitudinal Associations between Healthy Eating Habits, Resilience, Insomnia, and Internet Addiction in Chinese College Students: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis

This study aimed to explore the longitudinal associations between healthy eating habits, resilience, insomnia, and Internet addiction by using a cross-lagged panel analysis of Chinese college students. Overall, 807 Chinese college students completed questionnaires on healthy eating habits, resilience, insomnia, and Internet addiction from August 2020 (time 1, T1) to November 2020 (time 2, T2), and were selected for the data analyses. Healthy eating habits (T1) had significant effects on resilience (T2; β = 0.064, p < 0.05) and insomnia (T2; β = -0.064, p < 0.05), but not Internet addiction (T2; β = -0.028, p > 0.05). Insomnia (T1) negatively predicted resilience (T2; β = -0.098, p < 0.01). Insomnia was bidirectionally associated with Internet addiction (Internet addiction at T1 to insomnia at T2: β = 0.085, p < 0.01; insomnia at T1 to Internet addiction at T2: β = 0.070, p < 0.05). Additionally, Internet addiction (T1) significantly predicted resilience (T2; β = -0.075, p < 0.05). This study further expanded the understanding of the longitudinal associations between healthy eating habits, resilience, insomnia, and Internet addiction, which provided higher-level evidence and important implications for the interventions for reducing college students' Internet addiction, developing healthy eating habits, and improving resilience and sleep health.

A latent class analysis of depressive symptoms among rural Chinese adolescents and their association with psychological resilience

Numerous studies have demonstrated the heterogeneity of depressive symptoms, but few studies have focused on the heterogeneity of depressive symptoms among rural Chinese adolescents. In November to December 2022, multistage sampling was employed to administer questionnaires to 1,816 rural adolescents aged 11-19 years from six schools in Henan Province, China. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Chinese version of the Children's Depression Inventory Scale. Latent class analysis (LCA) was utilized to identify subgroups of depressive symptoms. The investigation of subgroup characteristics and associated factors was conducted through χ2 tests, ANOVA, and multinomial logistic regression analyses. The findings revealed a 24.24 % detection rate of depressive symptoms among Chinese rural adolescents. LCA analysis of responses to the 27 items in the Depressive Symptoms Scale led to the classification of depressive symptoms into four subgroups based on severity: "no depressive symptoms group" (22.5 %), a "low depressive symptoms group" (35.7 %), a "transition group" (31.6 %), and a "high depressive symptoms group" (10.2 %). Gender, grade level, academic performance, academic stress, family environment, and level of psychological resilience are associated factors for subgroups of depressive symptoms among rural adolescents. There should be increased training of rural educators to enable early recognition of depressive characteristics and risk factors, facilitating targeted prevention and intervention strategies.