Concurrent and Longitudinal Relationships between Positive Youth Development Attributes and Adolescent Internet Addiction Symptoms in Chinese Mainland High School Students.

Diya Dou,Daniel T L Shek

doi:10.3390/ijerph18041937

Abstract

In view of growing adolescent Internet addiction (IA) in the global context, there is a great need to understand the predictors of IA and design related evidence-based intervention and prevention programs. This longitudinal study investigated the relationships between Positive Youth Development (PYD) attributes and IA problems and the mediating role of life satisfaction using a large sample of Chinese high school students (N = 2648). Separated by one academic year, students completed a questionnaire evaluating their adolescent psychosocial adjustment, including validated PYD and IA measures. Multiple regression and structural equation modeling analyses were used. Consistent with the theoretical predictions of PYD models, results revealed a significant negative influence of PYD attributes on IA symptoms concurrently and longitudinally. In particular, general PYD attributes, such as emotional competence, spirituality, and resilience, showed strong and stable protective effects against IA. Life satisfaction also served as a mediator of the influence of all measures of PYD attributes on IA symptoms. The study underlines the importance of PYD attributes in promoting adolescents’ life satisfaction and preventing IA, and thus contributes to the design and implementation of evidence-based intervention and prevention programs.

Highlights

The Internet is widely used in business and household sectors in contemporary society.The number of Internet users in China reached 940 million by June 2020, and among them were 172 million youths under 19 years [1]
This study examined the predictive effects of Positive Youth Development (PYD) attributes on adolescent Internet addiction (IA) and the mediating effect of life satisfaction using two waves of longitudinal data
Based on the previous findings [66,74], we proposed that PYD attributes would be negatively associated with IA concurrently (Hypothesis 1a) and longitudinally (Hypothesis 1b)

Summary

Introduction

The Internet is widely used in business and household sectors in contemporary society. The number of Internet users in China reached 940 million by June 2020, and among them were 172 million youths under 19 years [1]. The top five online activities that Chinese youths frequently engaged in included online learning, listening to music, playing video games, online chatting, and watching short videos [1]. The Internet is beneficial for adolescents in accessing information and building social relationships, Internet addiction (IA) among adolescents has become a serious social and mental health issue. IA is defined as a “maladaptive pattern of Internet use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress” [2].

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