The difference of adolescent's problematic internet use between boys and girls / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate how internet using (both time and activities)and effortful control would contribute to the sex difference of problematic internet use (PIU).Methods A total of 844 adolescents aged 9-20 years old were selected from Chinese Academy of Sciences twin-sample by simple random sampling,with boys accounting for 45.6％ and girls accounting for 54.4％.The internet using and effortful control were measured using self-report questionnaires in the first time(T1),the problematic internet use were measured after one and half years (T2).The difference and relation of Internet using,effortful control and problematic internet use between boys and girls were measured with Chi-square test,t test and correlation analysis.The moderating effect of sex between internet using and PIU were explored by utilizing regression analysis.The mediation effect of effortful control between sex and PIU were explored with Sobel test.Results The anverage internet time of working day and weekend in boys were 1.52 h and 2.12 h respectively.The average internet time of working day and weekend in girls were 1.49 b and 2.05 h respectively.Significant difference between boys and girls is not existed in the internet time (t=0.541,0.907,P＞0.05).And the boy was inclined to game(x2 =47.669,P＜0.01).The effortful control of boys and girls were 54.09 and 55.76 respectively.The score of boys' and girls' PIU were 22.48 and 20.72 respectively.Boys' effortful control was significantly lower than that of girls (t=-2.879,P＜0.01).The score of boys' PIU was significantly higher than that of girls' (t=3.612,P＜0.01).Adolescents' PIU were significantly correlated with the time,entertainment and social activities (r=0.249,0.175,0.140,P＜0.01).The moderating effect of sex was significant in the relation between internet time and PIU.Significant mediation effect of effortful control existed in the PIU difference between boys and girls(Z=-2.54,P＜0.05).Conclusion Significant mediation effect of effortful control exists in gender and PIU.