Abstract
This prospective study evaluated the predictive effect of difficulty in emotion regulation on the occurrence and remission of Internet addiction (IA) and determined whether IA has a role in changing emotion regulation among college students during a follow-up period of 1 year. A total of 500 college students (262 women and 238 men) were recruited. In baseline and follow-up investigations, the levels of IA and difficulty in emotion regulation were evaluated using the Chen Internet Addiction Scale and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), respectively. The results indicated that the subscale of impulse control difficulties on the DERS predicted the incidence of IA during the follow-up period of 1 year in male participants (t = −2.875, p = 0.005), whereas no subscale on the DERS predicted the remission of IA. IA did not predict the change in difficulties in emotion regulation. The subscale of impulse control difficulties on the DERS predicted the occurrence of IA in the college students and warrants early intervention.
Highlights
The Internet has become a key resource in society and everyday life
We evaluated whether changes in the difficulty of emotion regulation during the one-year period were different between the college students with and without Internet addiction (IA) at Stage 1
Results being without IA at Stage 2, indicating a one-year remission rate of 46.4%
Summary
The Internet has become a key resource in society and everyday life. At social and individual levels, the Internet facilitates interpersonal communication, provides entertainment, and helps individuals create new social networks [1,2]. Inappropriate or excessive Internet use may result in Internet addiction (IA) and negative life outcomes [3]. People who have IA may have difficulties in controlling their Internet usage and develop problems in occupational or academic performance and in. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 4766; doi:10.3390/ijerph17134766 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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