Liu Qing, Gao Bin, Wu Yuedong, Ning Bo, Xu Yufei, Zhang Fuyou
School of Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China.
Lab for Educational Big Data and Policymaking, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Aug 3;14(8):675. doi: 10.3390/bs14080675.
The COVID-19 outbreak has profoundly affected the psychological well-being of university students globally. Previous studies have found a positive longitudinal link between fear of COVID-19 (FoC-19) and internet addiction. However, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding COVID-19-specific predictors and underlying mechanisms of internet gaming addiction (IGA).
Integrating the compensatory internet use theory and social role theory as frameworks, a three-wave longitudinal approach was used in this study to test the hypothesized model. Data spanning a duration of one year were gathered from undergraduate students in China. From 2021 to 2022, we conducted online self-report surveys in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to obtain participants' levels of FoC-19, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and IGA.
FoC-19 showed a longitudinal positive relationship with IGA. The longitudinal link between FoC-19 and IGA was mediated by loneliness and depression. Gender moderated the direct effect of FoC-19 on IGA, with this effect being significant only among male students and not among their female counterparts.
These findings advance our comprehension of the mechanisms and gender differences underlying the link between FoC-19 and IGA, and provide a novel perspective for interventions to reduce IGA.
新冠疫情的爆发对全球大学生的心理健康产生了深远影响。此前的研究发现，对新冠病毒的恐惧（FoC-19）与网络成瘾之间存在正向的纵向联系。然而，关于特定于新冠疫情的网络游戏成瘾（IGA）预测因素及潜在机制的文献存在显著空白。
本研究以补偿性网络使用理论和社会角色理论为框架，采用三波纵向研究方法来检验假设模型。收集了中国本科生一年期间的数据。在2021年至2022年新冠疫情期间，我们进行了在线自我报告调查，以获取参与者的FoC-19水平、孤独感、抑郁症状及IGA水平。
FoC-19与IGA呈纵向正相关。FoC-19与IGA之间的纵向联系由孤独感和抑郁介导。性别调节了FoC-19对IGA的直接效应，这种效应仅在男学生中显著，而在女学生中不显著。
这些发现增进了我们对FoC-19与IGA之间联系的潜在机制及性别差异的理解，并为减少IGA的干预措施提供了新视角。
