The relationship between internet addiction and aggressive behavior among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: Anxiety as a mediator.
Acta Psychol (Amst)
; 227: 103612, 2022 Jul.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1982446
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges for adolescents, who tended to experience more emotional instability, impulsivity, and aggressive behavior driven by the fear of infection and the uncertainty of network information. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between Internet addiction and aggressive behavior, and the mediating effects of depression and anxiety. There were differences in Internete addiction and aggressive behavior in gender, thus the moderating role of gender between them were explored. A total of 1148 middle school students were invited to complete the Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire, the Internet Addition Scale, the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) separately. The results suggested that 1) there was a significant positive correlation between Internet addiction and aggressive behavior; 2) anxiety, but not depression, mediated the effect of Internet addiction on aggressive behavior; 3) gender did not moderate the effect of Internet addiction on aggressive behavior. The practical implication of the current findings on boosting adolescents' mental health was discussed and further suggestions were provided.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Internet Addiction Disorder
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Acta Psychol (Amst)
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.actpsy.2022.103612
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