Shen Xuwei, Wang Chenggong, Chen Caiyan, Wang Yifan, Wang Zinuo, Zheng Yanpei, Liu Hanyue
College of Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo, People's Republic of China.
Mental Health Education Center, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, People's Republic of China.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2023 May 31;16:1975-1986. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S411412. eCollection 2023.
The link between stress and Internet addiction (IA) has been confirmed. However, the mechanism underlying the correlation is poorly understood. Thus, the current study proposed a moderated mediation model to test the mediating role of anxiety and the moderating role of self-control (SC) in the link between stress and IA.
Eight hundred and sixty-one Chinese college students ( = 20.62 years; SD = 1.58; male = 47.7%) were required to complete an online questionnaire package, including a depression-anxiety-stress scale, a self-control scale, and an Internet addiction test. The PROCESS macro developed based on SPSS was used to test the moderated mediation model.
When controlling for gender and age, the results revealed that anxiety partially mediated the link between stress and IA. Specifically, the more stressed college students are, the higher their anxiety level is, and the more likely they are to become addicted to the Internet. Additionally, the direct and indirect links between stress and IA were all moderated by SC. SC buffered the effect of stress on anxiety and anxiety on IA but enhanced stress on IA.
These findings emphasized the predictor role of stress on IA and provided insights on intervening in college students' excessive Internet use behaviors for educators, such as reducing anxiety levels and improving self-control abilities.
压力与网络成瘾（IA）之间的联系已得到证实。然而，这种关联背后的机制尚不清楚。因此，本研究提出了一个有调节的中介模型，以检验焦虑的中介作用以及自我控制（SC）在压力与IA之间联系中的调节作用。
861名中国大学生（平均年龄 = 20.62岁；标准差 = 1.58；男性占47.7%）被要求完成一套在线问卷，包括抑郁 - 焦虑 - 压力量表、自我控制量表和网络成瘾测试。基于SPSS开发的PROCESS宏用于检验有调节的中介模型。
在控制性别和年龄后，结果显示焦虑部分中介了压力与IA之间的联系。具体而言，大学生压力越大，焦虑水平越高，就越有可能沉迷于网络。此外，压力与IA之间的直接和间接联系均受到SC的调节。SC缓冲了压力对焦虑以及焦虑对IA的影响，但增强了压力对IA的影响。
这些发现强调了压力对IA的预测作用，并为教育工作者干预大学生过度使用互联网行为提供了思路，如降低焦虑水平和提高自我控制能力。
