Abstract
This study had two aims: to test the effect and the effect size of specific problematic Internet use (SPIU) [online shopping, online pornography, social network site (SNS) usage, and Internet gaming] on generalized problematic Internet use (GPIU) and to reveal the gender differences in GPIU and SPIU for students from the elementary school level to the university level. In total, 5,215 Chinese students (2,303 males, mean age = 16.20 years, range = 10–23 years) from four types of schools (elementary school, junior high school, senior high school, and university) provided self-report data on demographic variables (gender and educational levels), online shopping, online pornography, SNS usage, Internet gaming, and GPIU. After calculations had been controlled for demographic variables, the results indicated that (i) online shopping, online pornography, SNS usage, and Internet gaming positively predicted GPIU—and Internet gaming was the most critical predictor of GPIU—and that (ii) gender differences were revealed in Internet gaming and GPIU in all educational levels, except at senior high school where the gender differences in GPIU were not significant. Significant gender differences were found for online shopping and online pornography for all educational levels above elementary school. These results provided further understanding of the association between GPIU and SPIU and gender differences in PIU, which suggested that gender differences across different educational levels should be considered in interventions of PIU.
Highlights
In the past decade, an increasing body of research has been conducted on problematic Internet use (PIU) in both adolescents and adults (Assunção and Matos, 2017; Lai and Kwan, 2017; Schimmenti et al, 2017)
Gender was positively associated with online shopping, and social network site (SNS) usage, whereas it was negatively associated with online pornography and Internet gaming
The present study evaluated the association between specific problematic Internet use (SPIU) and generalized problematic Internet use (GPIU) and found that the effect of Internet gaming on GPIU was bigger than the effects of online shopping, online pornography, and SNS usage, which was an important finding
Summary
An increasing body of research has been conducted on problematic Internet use (PIU) in both adolescents and adults (Assunção and Matos, 2017; Lai and Kwan, 2017; Schimmenti et al, 2017). PIU can be defined as excessive or compulsive Internet usage that causes negative personal, social, and professional consequences (Davis, 2001; Han et al, 2017; Tian et al, 2017). Problematic Internet Use and anxiety disorder) (Fayazi and Hasani, 2017; Zhao et al, 2017), and maladaptive cognitions (Tian et al, 2017), which could cause PIU. A large number of studies have declared the predictors of PIU, such as personality factors, environmental factors, and cognitive factors (e.g., Davis, 2001; Sariyska et al, 2017; Tian et al, 2017), more studies are still needed to further explore the potential predictors of PIU
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