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Social Anxiety May Modify the Relationship Between Internet Addiction and Its Determining Factors in Chinese Adolescents

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore Internet addiction (IA) and its associated factors among Chinese adolescents. Ten thousand one hundred fifty-eight Chinese adolescents were selected in this study by using random cluster sampling. The prevalence rate of IA among Chinese adolescents was 10.4%. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed gender, the only child, father-adolescent relationship, annual family income, academic performance, physical exercise, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES) score, and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) score were significantly associated with IA among adolescents in social anxiety group (P < 0.05). In addition, gender, parental control, annual family income, academic performance, physical exercise, RSES score, and LSAS score were significantly associated with Internet addiction among adolescents in non-social anxiety group (P < 0.05). The mediating effects of social anxiety between multiple factors and IA were also significant. These findings can provide guidance aimed at reducing IA among Chinese adolescents.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to particularly thank the students who gave of their time to participate in the project.

Funding

This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (no.81202224) and the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (no.1208085QH148).

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Author notes

  1. Bao Dong and Feng Zhao contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, No. 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China

    Bao Dong, Xiao-Shuang Wu, Wen-Jing Wang, Yi-Feng Li, Zhi-Hua Zhang & Ye-Huan Sun

  2. Department of Preventive Medicine, Community Health Center of Jiading Industrial Zone, Jiading, Shanghai, 201815, China

    Feng Zhao & Ye-Huan Sun

  3. Centre for Evidence-Based Practice, Anhui Medical University, No. 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China

    Ye-Huan Sun

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  1. Bao Dong
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Correspondence to Zhi-Hua Zhang or Ye-Huan Sun.

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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

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Dong, B., Zhao, F., Wu, XS. et al. Social Anxiety May Modify the Relationship Between Internet Addiction and Its Determining Factors in Chinese Adolescents. Int J Ment Health Addiction 17, 1508–1520 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-9912-x

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