1 Chinese Academy of Education Big Data, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China.
2 School of Physical Therapy and Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
J Behav Addict. 2021 Sep 15;10(3):731-746. doi: 10.1556/2006.2021.00052.
The present longitudinal study examined the changes in problematic internet use (problematic smartphone use, problematic social media use, and problematic gaming) and changes in COVID-19-related psychological distress (fear of COVID-19 and worry concerning COVID-19) across three time-points (before the COVID-19 outbreak, during the initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, and during the COVID-19 outbreak recovery period).
A total of 504 Chinese schoolchildren completed measures concerning problematic internet use and psychological distress across three time-points. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to classify participants into three groups of problematic internet use comprising Group 1 (lowest level), Group 2 (moderate level), and Group 3 (highest level).
Statistical analyses showed that as problematic use of internet-related activities declined among Group 3 participants across the three time points, participants in Group 1 and Group 2 had increased problematic use of internet-related activities. Although there was no between-group difference in relation to worrying concerning COVID-19 infection, Groups 2 and 3 had significantly higher levels of fear of COVID-19 than Group 1 during the COVID-19 recovery period. Regression analysis showed that change in problematic internet use predicted fear of COVID-19 during the recovery period.
The varied levels of problematic internet use among schoolchildren reflect different changing trends of additive behaviors during COVID-19 outbreak and recovery periods.
本纵向研究考察了在三个时间点（新冠疫情爆发前、新冠疫情爆发初期和新冠疫情恢复期），问题性互联网使用（问题性智能手机使用、问题性社交媒体使用和问题性游戏）和与新冠疫情相关的心理困扰（对新冠病毒的恐惧和对新冠病毒的担忧）的变化情况。
共有 504 名中国学童在三个时间点完成了关于问题性互联网使用和心理困扰的测量。潜类别分析（LCA）用于将参与者分为三组问题性互联网使用，包括第 1 组（最低水平）、第 2 组（中等水平）和第 3 组（最高水平）。
统计分析表明，随着第 3 组参与者在三个时间点上网相关活动的问题性使用减少，第 1 组和第 2 组参与者的上网相关活动问题性使用增加。尽管在对新冠病毒感染的担忧方面，各组之间没有差异，但在新冠疫情恢复期，第 2 组和第 3 组的对新冠病毒的恐惧程度明显高于第 1 组。回归分析表明，问题性互联网使用的变化预测了恢复期对新冠病毒的恐惧。
学童中不同程度的问题性互联网使用反映了在新冠疫情爆发和恢复期期间，附加行为的不同变化趋势。
