Associations Between Problematic Internet Use and Externalizing Problem Behaviors Among Chinese Rural Adolescent

ABSTRACT

This study aims to provide a new perspective on the relationship between problematic Internet use and externalizing problem behaviors among adolescents. Some studies have focused on the relationship between problematic Internet use and externalizing problem behaviors. However, research on the underlying mechanism is still insufficient. Additionally, peer relationship, mental health and parental knowledge has been ignored as a crucial factor. Altogether, 7101 Chinese rural adolescents aged 13–19 years completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire. The results show that: (1) problematic Internet use has a negative effect against the development of externalizing problem behaviors; (2) peer relationship and mental health both have a mediating role in the relationship between problematic Internet use and externalizing problem behaviors; (3) problematic Internet use can indirectly affect externalizing problem behaviors through the chain mediation of peer relationship and mental health; (4) parental knowledge has the potential to moderate the indirect impact by diminishing the association between problematic Internet use and externalizing problem behaviors; and (5) the impact of problematic Internet use on externalizing problem behaviors has significant gender differences. The negative impact was greater on boys than on girls. In relation to these findings, this study has discussed the possible reasons and made some practical suggestions to improve Internet use among rural adolescents.

Acknowledgements

Ethical approval was granted by the Research Committee of Liaoning Normal University. Written informed consent was obtained from the participants.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Xingchen Zhu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing; Wencan Li: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.Shuping Yang: Writing – review & editing.

Data availability statement

The data used in this research are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to restrictions.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the National Education Sciences Planning of China [grant ID: BEA230082].

Notes on contributors

Xingchen Zhu

Xingchen Zhu is a postdoctoral researcher at the College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University. His research focuses on psychological well-being and behavioral intervention.

Wencan Li

Wencan Li is a master student at the School of Education, Liaoning Normal University. Her research focuses on sociology of education.

Shuping Yang

Shuping Yang is a professor at the School of Education, Liaoning Normal University. Her research focuses on sociology of education and moral education.