Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
Singapore Ministry of Social and Family Development, Singapore, Singapore.
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2021 Aug;24(8):558-565. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2020.0054. Epub 2020 Dec 24.
Despite the escalating public concern about pathological use of the Internet among youth, little research has investigated the longitudinal trajectory of the problem and the role of peer support in it. This study aimed to determine the growth trajectory of pathological Internet use (PIU), identify latent subgroups presenting heterogeneous growth trajectories of PIU, and examine the initial status of and the rate of change in peer support as predictors of the growth trajectory of PIU among children and adolescents. Using four-wave longitudinal data from 3,079 Singaporean youth at ages 7-19, we performed Latent Growth Curve Modeling, Latent Class Growth Analysis and Latent Growth Mixture Modeling. Results revealed a downward trajectory of PIU among youth. We identified six latent subgroups, three of which were in pathological status for at least a year. The more rapid improvement in peer support, but not the initial level of peer support, predicted the faster reduction of PIU symptoms during the 3-year period. Findings suggest that although the symptoms of PIU among children and adolescents would decline over time, improving peer support could further alleviate youth PIU. We recommended that intervention programs include a peer support component to mitigate PIU among youth.
尽管公众对青少年病理性互联网使用的关注度不断上升，但很少有研究调查该问题的纵向轨迹及其同伴支持的作用。本研究旨在确定病理性互联网使用（PIU）的增长轨迹，确定呈现 PIU 异质增长轨迹的潜在亚组，并检验同伴支持的初始状态和变化率作为儿童和青少年 PIU 增长轨迹的预测指标。本研究使用了来自 3079 名新加坡青少年在 7 至 19 岁时的四轮纵向数据，采用潜在增长曲线建模、潜在类别增长分析和潜在增长混合建模。结果显示，青少年的 PIU 呈下降趋势。我们确定了六个潜在的亚组，其中三个在至少一年的时间里处于病理性状态。同伴支持的改善速度（而非初始水平）预测了在 3 年期间 PIU 症状的更快减轻。研究结果表明，尽管儿童和青少年的 PIU 症状会随着时间的推移而下降，但改善同伴支持可以进一步减轻青少年的 PIU。我们建议干预计划包括同伴支持部分，以减轻青少年的 PIU。
