Associations Among the Big Five Personality Traits, Maladaptive Cognitions, and Internet Addiction Across Three Time Measurements in 3 Months During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Yu Tian,Peipei Chen,Ningbo Qin,Fengling Lv,Yanli Zhao

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.654825

Yu Tian, Peipei Chen + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.654825

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Abstract

The present study examined the longitudinal association among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 481 Chinese university students (247 men; mean age = 20.31 years) were surveyed three times (interval of 1 month) by using the Chinese version of the Big Five Personality Traits Scale, Maladaptive Cognitions Scale, and Internet Addiction Scale. The results of a cross-lagged panel analysis highlighted that (i) extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were negatively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction, whereas neuroticism was found to be positively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction across time; (ii) associations among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction were dynamic and bidirectional; and (iii) maladaptive cognitions played mediating roles in extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and Internet addiction across time. The Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction predicted each other across time, and maladaptive cognitions were likely to be the key mediating factor in the associations between the Big Five personality traits and Internet addiction, which supported and expanded the Davis’ cognitive–behavioral model.

Highlights

According to the 45th China Statistical Report on Internet Development, more than 904 million Chinese people spent an average of 30.8 h every week on the Internet to shop, play games, communicate with others, and perform other daily life activities (China Internet Network Information Center [CNNIC], 2020)
Extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were negatively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction, whereas neuroticism was positively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction
The results suggested that the associations among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction were dynamic and bidirectional

Summary

Introduction

According to the 45th China Statistical Report on Internet Development, more than 904 million Chinese people spent an average of 30.8 h every week on the Internet to shop, play games, communicate with others, and perform other daily life activities (China Internet Network Information Center [CNNIC], 2020). Previous studies have suggested that the Big Five personality traits, namely, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness, are significantly associated with Internet addiction (Zhou et al, 2017; Hou et al, 2018; Kircaburun and Griffiths, 2018; Agbaria and Bdier, 2020; Arpaci and Unver, 2020). Some studies have highlighted coping style (Zhou et al, 2017), self-liking (Kircaburun and Griffiths, 2018), and family function (Hou et al, 2018) to mediate associations between the Big Five personality traits and Internet addiction, more mediating factors should be investigated. Considering the aforementioned limitations, the present study provided an in-depth exploration of this topic

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