Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 10610, Taiwan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Nov 18;17(22):8547. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17228547.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has significantly disrupted normal activities globally. During this epidemic, people around the world were expected to encounter several mental health challenges. In particular, Internet addiction may become a serious issue among teens. Consequently, this study aimed to examine the prevalence of Internet addiction and identify the psychosocial risk factors during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study was constructed using a cross-sectional design with 1060 participants recruited from among junior high school students around Taiwan using stratified and cluster sampling methods. Taiwan's first COVID-19 case was diagnosed on 28 January 2020. New cases exploded rapidly in February, and as a result, participants were surveyed during March 2 through 27 March 2020. The prevalence of Internet addiction was found to be 24.4% during this period. High impulsivity, high virtual social support, older in age, low subjective well-being, low family function, and high alexithymia was all independently predictive in the forward logistic regression analyses. The prevalence rate of Internet addiction was high among junior high school students during the COVID-19 outbreak. Results from this study can be used to help mental health organizations and educational agencies design programs that will help prevent Internet addiction in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）疫情在全球范围内严重扰乱了正常活动。在此期间，全世界人民预计会面临一些心理健康挑战。特别是，网络成瘾可能成为青少年中的一个严重问题。因此，本研究旨在探讨 COVID-19 大流行期间网络成瘾的流行率，并确定其社会心理风险因素。本研究采用横断面设计，使用分层和聚类抽样方法，从台湾各地的初中生中招募了 1060 名参与者。台湾首例 COVID-19 病例于 2020 年 1 月 28 日确诊。2 月病例迅速激增，因此，于 2020 年 3 月 2 日至 3 月 27 日对参与者进行了调查。在此期间，网络成瘾的流行率为 24.4%。多元逻辑回归分析显示，高冲动性、高虚拟社交支持、年龄较大、主观幸福感较低、家庭功能较低和高述情障碍均为独立预测因素。在 COVID-19 大流行期间，初中生网络成瘾的发生率较高。本研究的结果可用于帮助心理健康组织和教育机构设计方案，以帮助预防 COVID-19 大流行期间青少年的网络成瘾。
