Anxiety-Related Coping Styles, Social Support, and Internet Use Disorder

Understanding the relationships among adolescents' internet dependence, reward, cognitive control processing, and learning burnout: a network perspective in China

Alterations in the reward and cognitive control systems are commonly observed among adolescents with internet dependence (ID), and this impairment is often accompanied by social dysfunctions, such as academic burnout. However, the intercorrelations among ID, reward, cognitive control processing, and learning burnout remain unclear. We recruited 1074 Chinese adolescents to investigate the complex interrelationships among these variables using network analysis. The resulting network revealed patterns that connected ID to the behavioral inhibition/activation system (BIS/BAS), self-control, and learning burnout; these results exhibited reasonable stability and test-retest consistency. Throughout the network, the node of BAS-drive was the critical influencing factor, and the node of self-control was the protection factor. In addition, several symptoms of learning burnout and ID were positively associated with sensitivity to punishment. As revealed by the network comparison test, the network constructed among internet dependent (ID) group differed from the network constructed among internet nondependent (IND) group not only in the edges between BIS and learning burnout but also in terms of the edges associated with learning burnout. In conclusion, this study provides insights into the complex mechanisms underlying ID among adolescents from the perspective of the network relationships between core influencing factors and negative consequences. It validates the dual-system model of risky behavior among adolescents and offers a foundation for early warning and interventions for ID in this context.

The effect of social anxiety on teenagers' internet addiction: the mediating role of loneliness and coping styles

BACKGROUND & AIM

There is a lack of understanding of how social anxiety may affect Internet addiction among adolescents. Based on several theories, the purpose of this study was to investigate the multiple mediating roles of loneliness and coping styles in the association between social anxiety and Internet addiction in Chinese adolescents.

METHODS

This study used the Social Anxiety Scale, Internet Addiction Test, Loneliness Scale, and Simple Coping Style Questionnaire to investigate 1188 students in two junior high schools and senior high schools in Henan Province, China. We adopted Pearson's correlation analysis and the PROCESS Macro Model 81 in regression analysis to explore the relationships among social anxiety, loneliness, coping styles, and Internet addiction.

RESULTS

We found that social anxiety not only directly affects teenagers' Internet addiction, but also affects teenagers' Internet addiction through loneliness and coping styles.

CONCLUSIONS

These results emphasize the importance of improving social anxiety to reduce Internet addiction among adolescents. At the same time, it also emphasizes the need to reduce adolescents' loneliness and cultivating positive coping styles. In addition, this study has certain theoretical significance for teenagers' mental health and intervention studies on Internet addiction.

Impact of Learning Burnout on Mobile Phone Dependence Among Adolescents in Western China Under the "Double Reduction" Policy: The Mediating Role of Social Support

Purpose

This paper investigated the prevalence of mobile phone dependence (MPD) and its associated with learning burnout under the "double reduction" policy among adolescents in Guizhou Province in western China. In addition, the influence of the mediating mechanism of social support on this relationship was investigated.

Methods

The sample was collected from 16,216 adolescents in West China's Guizhou province, from December 2021 to January 2022 via multistage stratified random sampling. The Self-rating Questionnaire for Adolescent Problematic Mobile Phone Use (SQAPMPU) was used to assess the MPD, the Adolescent Student Burnout Scale (ASBI) was used to assess the learning burnout, and the Social Support Scale (SSS) was used to assess the social support. A hierarchical linear regression model was used to analyze the relationship between MPD, learning burnout, and social support. The mediating effect of social support between MPD and learning burnout was analyzed by structural equation model.

Results

Prevalence of MPD was 26.4% among adolescents in Guizhou province in western China. After adjusting for confounding variables like demographics, multiple linear regression model has revealed that learning burnout positively predicted MPD and social support negatively predicted MPD. The structural equation model showed that 10.9% of the effect was explained by the mediating effect of social support.

Conclusion

These findings could inform service delivery and policy formulation to reduce learning and avoid MPD in adolescents.

A Double-Edged Impact of Social Smartphone Use on Smartphone Addiction: A Parallel Mediation Model

Evidence supports predictive roles of non-social smartphone use for smartphone addiction, but the relationship of social smartphone use and smartphone addiction is unclear. This study explored whether social smartphone use has a double-edged impact on smartphone addiction. Using data from a sample of 909 Chinese undergraduates, we tested a parallel mediation model that considered online social support and realistic social support as mediators. As predicted, social smartphone use weakened smartphone addiction through realistic social support and contributed to smartphone addiction through online social support. Moreover, we tested the moderating role of agreeableness in the mediation path of online social support. Agreeableness only moderated the indirect effects. Specifically, the predictive effects of online social support on smartphone addiction was greater for lower rather than higher agreeableness. The results suggest that social needs play an important role in the formation of smartphone addiction. Several limitations and implications are also discussed herein.

Anxiety sensitivity mediates relations between anxiety (but not depression) and problematic smartphone use severity, adjusting for age and sex, in Chinese adolescents early in the COVID-19 pandemic

Risk factors for problematic smartphone use (PSU) have rapidly become an important area of research due to the prevalence of smartphones and functional impairment associated with PSU. Our aim was to examine relations between established predictors of PSU (depression and anxiety) and a potential mediator of PSU (anxiety sensitivity; AS). Participants (N = 4752) from junior and senior high schools in Tianjin, China completed a web‐based survey with measures of depression, anxiety, AS, and PSU. Descriptive and inferential analyses revealed significant differences between males and females on depression severity, and between junior and senior high school students on AS and PSU severity. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that anxiety was positively associated with AS when adjusting for depression; and AS was significantly associated with greater PSU severity, adjusting for age and sex. Additionally, AS mediated relations between anxiety and PSU severity. Current findings on AS are consistent with theoretical models of problematic internet use (Interaction of Person‐Affect‐Cognition‐Execution) and previous research linking AS to other kinds of behavioral addictions (e.g., smoking, alcohol use).

Impulsivity, Social Support and Depression Are Associated With Latent Profiles of Internet Addiction Among Male College Freshmen

Background: The rate of internet addiction is increasing in college students. The first year at college is a particularly vulnerable period for internet addiction. Students' psychological characteristics are likely to play an important role in internet addiction. Our study aimed to assess the relationship between impulsivity, social support, depression and internet addiction among male college freshmen. Materials and Methods: The current study utilized latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify at-risk profiles among 734 college freshmen (100% male) based on their Internet Addiction Test item ratings. We compared the levels of impulsivity, social support and depression among different profiles and investigated whether these variables could predict each latent internet addiction class. Results: LPA resulted in three distinct profiles: the low internet addiction group (42.10%), the moderate internet addiction group (35.70%) and the high internet addiction group (22.20%). Impulsivity and depression increased with internet addiction severity levels, whereas social support was inversely related to the severity of internet addiction. Male freshmen with high impulsivity, low social support and high depression were more likely to be included in the high internet addiction group. Conclusion: This study highlights that impulsivity, social support and depression may predict internet addiction in male college freshmen. Our findings have important practical implications for college educators and counselors in developing interventions for internet addiction.

Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and social media's impact on daily-life and productivity at work: Do WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat Use Disorders mediate that association?

Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) is the tendency to experience anxiety over missing out on rewarding experiences of others. It has been associated with daily-life disruptions, such as distractions during driving. FoMO has also consistently been a predictor of Internet, smartphone, and social networks use disorders. In the current work, we investigated the association between FoMO and social media use's impact on daily-life and productivity at work. In addition, we aimed to determine whether WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat Use Disorders mediate that relationship. The effective sample comprised 748 German-speaking study participants from the general population (age M = 38.63, SD = 12.10; 336 men, 412 women) who took part in an online survey study. Bivariate analyses showed that severity of all social networks use disorders were positively correlated with FoMO and social media's negative impact on daily-life and productivity at work. Furthermore, controlling for age and gender, mediation analyses showed that out of all platforms, only Snapchat Use Disorder did not mediate the association between FoMO and social media's negative impact on daily-life and productivity at work. These results provide further evidence about FoMO's central role in digital technology use-related disorders.

A pilot study using ecological momentary assessment via smartphone application to identify adolescent problematic internet use

For some youth, pathologic Internet use can cause significant distress and dysfunction, a phenomenon known as Problematic Internet Use (PIU). PIU has been associated with poorer health outcomes in adolescents with existing psychiatric illness but understanding PIU has been challenging due to research methodologies using cross-sectional, self-report data. This study assessed the feasibility of using app-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to provide more ecologically-valid data to identify and characterize the relationship between mood symptoms and PIU in adolescents in active mental health treatment. 25 youth (aged 12-23) were recruited to use an EMA app for 6 weeks. 96% of participants completed the study and the majority of participants completed surveys at least once weekly. Youth with anxiety disorders endorsed significantly greater benefit from using the app to monitor PIU. While PIU severity was positively correlated with worsened anxiety and depression, analyses of the temporal relationships between PIU and mood symptoms showed that anxiety symptoms were significantly improved after episodes of PIU. Overall results suggest that app-based EMA may be both acceptable and feasible to understand PIU in this population. Follow-up studies should consider personalization of study protocols and use of digital phenotyping methodology to collect more objective measurements of behavior.

Financial Awards and Their Effect on Football Players' Anxiety and Coping Skills

OBJECTIVE

Financial awards can be an important factor affecting athletes' mental preparation and various skills to manage stress. Since such a link has not yet been studied, the study has been designed to evaluate the moderation effect of financial awards in relation to football players' anxiety and coping skills.

METHODS

The study consists of 110 male football players aged 18-32 years old (mean ± SD: 23.98 ± 3.01 years) who were divided into two groups: financial awarded (n = 48) and financial unawarded for sports performance (n = 62). The anxiety of football players was measured by the Sport Anxiety Scale SAS-2. Coping strategies to manage stress were assessed by the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory ACSI-28. The effect of financial awards in relation to football players' anxiety and coping skills was evaluated by the mediators' model using the PROCESS software (Hayes, 2018).

RESULTS

The results suggest that financial awards are important factors that influence football players' anxiety and coping skills. The financial awards increase the motivation of football players to better prepare for sports performance, which has been proven, through better setting of performance goals and more careful mental preparation. Financially awarded football players seem to respect the coach and follow his instructions to a greater extent than unawarded football players, which may be due to the financial benefits and the commitment they have confirmed by signing to the football club. In another aspect, the financial awards are likely to increase the cognitive trait of the anxiety of football players. It seems that financial players are more concerned about the failure of the match, which increases their anxiety, especially since it is a cognitive part and affects their sports performance.

CONCLUSION

For this reason, we encourage sports organizations to focus more on the mental preparation of football players. It is important to provide football players the opportunity to graduate from short- or long-term mental training conducted by a trained sports psychologist not only at the time of the athlete's failure but also as a preventive measure against increasing cognitive anxiety. We recommend sports organizations to train coaches in the field of mental training, preferably through annual short training sessions with a sports psychologist, to influence the development of desirable athletes' coping skills.