Zhao Yue, Qu Diyang, Chen Shiyun, Chi Xinli
School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518061, China.
Center for Mental Health, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518061, China.
Comput Human Behav. 2023 Jan;138:107424. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2022.107424. Epub 2022 Aug 5.
There has been growing evidence of comorbidity between internet addiction and depression in youth during the COVID-19 period. According to the network theory, this may arise from the interplay of symptoms shared by these two mental disorders. Therefore, we examined this underlying process by measuring the changes in the central and bridge symptoms of the co-occurrence networks across time.
A total of 852 Chinese college students were recruited during two waves (T1: August 2020; T2: November 2020), and reported their internet addiction symptoms and depressive symptoms. Network analysis was utilized for the statistical analysis.
The internet addiction symptoms "escape" and "irritable," and depression symptoms "energy" and "guilty" were the central symptoms for both waves. At the same time, "guilty" and "escape" were identified as bridge symptoms. Notably, the correlation between "anhedonia" and "withdrawal" significantly increased, and that between "guilty" and "escape" significantly decreased over time.
This study provides novel insights into the central features of internet addiction and depression during the two stages. Interestingly, "guilty" and "escape," two functions of the defense mechanism, are identified as bridge symptoms. These two symptoms are suggested to activate the negative feedback loop and further contribute to the comorbidity between internet addiction and depression. Thus, targeting interventions on these internalized symptoms may contribute to alleviating the level of comorbidity among college students.
在新冠疫情期间，越来越多的证据表明青少年网络成瘾与抑郁症之间存在共病现象。根据网络理论，这可能源于这两种精神障碍所共有的症状之间的相互作用。因此，我们通过测量共现网络的核心症状和桥梁症状随时间的变化来研究这一潜在过程。
在两个时间段（T1：2020年8月；T2：2020年11月）共招募了852名中国大学生，他们报告了自己的网络成瘾症状和抑郁症状。采用网络分析进行统计分析。
网络成瘾症状“逃避”和“易怒”以及抑郁症状“精力”和“内疚”在两个时间段都是核心症状。同时，“内疚”和“逃避”被确定为桥梁症状。值得注意的是，随着时间的推移，“快感缺失”和“退缩”之间的相关性显著增加，而“内疚”和“逃避”之间的相关性显著降低。
本研究为两个阶段的网络成瘾和抑郁的核心特征提供了新的见解。有趣的是，防御机制的两个功能“内疚”和“逃避”被确定为桥梁症状。这两种症状被认为会激活负反馈回路，并进一步导致网络成瘾和抑郁之间的共病。因此，针对这些内化症状的干预措施可能有助于减轻大学生的共病程度。
