The relationship between social support and Internet addiction among Chinese college freshmen: A mediated moderation model

PurposeInternet addiction has become a worldwide mental health problem, and this problem is particularly prominent in China. Although current studies have shown that social support is closely related to Internet addiction, the mechanism of the relationship between the two is not clear at present. Th...

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Main Authors: Xiaoman Lu, Mengnan Zhang, Jingqiu Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1031566/full
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author Xiaoman Lu
Mengnan Zhang
Jingqiu Zhang
author_facet Xiaoman Lu
Mengnan Zhang
Jingqiu Zhang
author_sort Xiaoman Lu
collection DOAJ
description PurposeInternet addiction has become a worldwide mental health problem, and this problem is particularly prominent in China. Although current studies have shown that social support is closely related to Internet addiction, the mechanism of the relationship between the two is not clear at present. This study aimed to find out the influencing factors and the mechanism of Internet addiction among college freshmen, and to form scientific prevention and intervention plan on this basis.MethodThis study adopts the cluster sampling method to select 322 college freshmen in a typical postsecondary school in Shandong Province, using Chinese Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS), Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and Network-related Maladaptive Cognition Scale (NRMCS) to investigate the relationship between social support, network-related maladaptive cognition, gender, and the degree of Internet addiction.ResultsThe findings of this study are as follows: (1) After controlling age and family location, social support had a significant negative predictive effect on Internet addiction; (2) Gender acted as a moderator between the relationship of social support and Internet addiction; and (3) Additionally, the moderating effect of gender was completely mediated by network-related maladaptive cognition.ConclusionThere is a mediated moderating effect between social support and Internet addiction. That is, gender plays a moderating role between social support and Internet addiction, and this moderating effect is mediated by network maladaptive cognition.
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spelling doaj.art-9eccd10fa5db430091947fa5dc3ae5f02023-01-06T23:37:07ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-01-011310.3389/fpsyg.2023.10315661031566The relationship between social support and Internet addiction among Chinese college freshmen: A mediated moderation modelXiaoman LuMengnan ZhangJingqiu ZhangPurposeInternet addiction has become a worldwide mental health problem, and this problem is particularly prominent in China. Although current studies have shown that social support is closely related to Internet addiction, the mechanism of the relationship between the two is not clear at present. This study aimed to find out the influencing factors and the mechanism of Internet addiction among college freshmen, and to form scientific prevention and intervention plan on this basis.MethodThis study adopts the cluster sampling method to select 322 college freshmen in a typical postsecondary school in Shandong Province, using Chinese Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS), Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and Network-related Maladaptive Cognition Scale (NRMCS) to investigate the relationship between social support, network-related maladaptive cognition, gender, and the degree of Internet addiction.ResultsThe findings of this study are as follows: (1) After controlling age and family location, social support had a significant negative predictive effect on Internet addiction; (2) Gender acted as a moderator between the relationship of social support and Internet addiction; and (3) Additionally, the moderating effect of gender was completely mediated by network-related maladaptive cognition.ConclusionThere is a mediated moderating effect between social support and Internet addiction. That is, gender plays a moderating role between social support and Internet addiction, and this moderating effect is mediated by network maladaptive cognition.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1031566/fullsocial supportInternet addictionnetwork-related maladaptive cognitiongender differencecollege freshmen
spellingShingle Xiaoman Lu
Mengnan Zhang
Jingqiu Zhang
The relationship between social support and Internet addiction among Chinese college freshmen: A mediated moderation model
Frontiers in Psychology
social support
Internet addiction
network-related maladaptive cognition
gender difference
college freshmen
title The relationship between social support and Internet addiction among Chinese college freshmen: A mediated moderation model
title_full The relationship between social support and Internet addiction among Chinese college freshmen: A mediated moderation model
title_fullStr The relationship between social support and Internet addiction among Chinese college freshmen: A mediated moderation model
title_full_unstemmed The relationship between social support and Internet addiction among Chinese college freshmen: A mediated moderation model
title_short The relationship between social support and Internet addiction among Chinese college freshmen: A mediated moderation model
title_sort relationship between social support and internet addiction among chinese college freshmen a mediated moderation model
topic social support
Internet addiction
network-related maladaptive cognition
gender difference
college freshmen
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1031566/full
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