Does adolescents’ Internet addiction trigger depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior, or vice versa? The moderating roles of peer relationships and gender

Abstract

This longitudinal cross-lagged research attempts to examine the directions of relations between Internet addiction and both internalizing and externalizing problems, with attention to the potential moderating effects of peer relationships and gender. 897 Chinese junior middle school students (56.97% boys, Mage = 12.73 years, SD = 0.42) completed self-reported Internet addiction, depressive symptoms, and peer-nominated aggressive behavior at two time points, one year apart, as well as self-reported friend support/conflict and positive/delinquent peers at baseline. Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed that adolescents’ Internet addiction would elevate both depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior over time, rather than vice versa. Furthermore, friend conflict (rather than support) moderated these unidirectional relationships that when individuals perceived lower friend conflict, these links were no longer significant. Moreover, similar results were found for adolescents who possessed more positive peers or fewer delinquent peers. In addition, gender differences were found that addicted boys were more vulnerable to aggressive behavior, while addicted girls were more vulnerable to depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that establishing and maintaining good peer social networks would help adolescents keep away from the harmful impacts of Internet overuse on maladjustment.