Impulsivity mediates associations between problematic internet use, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in students: a cross-sectional COVID-19 study
Author | Affiliation | |||
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Gečaitė-Stončienė, Julija | ||||
Date | Volume | Start Page | End Page |
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2021 | 12 | 1 | 8 |
Background: Problematic internet use (PIU) is a serious global mental health issue that especially manifested during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Engagement in PIU as an impulsive coping with mental distress may pose a long-lasting threat to develop anxiety and depressive disorders. The first aim of our study was to investigate the prevalence of PIU and mental distress symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Lithuania. The second aim was to test the hypothesis that PIU affects anxiety and depressive symptoms through the mediating role of impulsivity. Methods: The cross-sectional study was comprised of 619 university students (92.9% females and 7.1% males) with a mean age of 22 ± 3 years who participated in an online survey from May to November, 2020. Participants completed the following scales: the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-7, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11. K-means cluster analysis and one-way multivariate analysis of variance were used for group comparison in terms of internet use time and habit change during COVID-19 pandemic. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the mediating effect of impulsivity in association between PIU and mental distress, while controlling for age. Results: In sum, 45.1% of the participants reported PIU and 38.1% had markedly expressed symptoms of anxiety while 43.6% of the students reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms. During the COVID-19 pandemic 76% of the students reported at least moderate increase in their internet use time. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were significantly higher in the group of frequent internet users.[...]
Article Number: 634464
Journal | IF | AIF | AIF (min) | AIF (max) | Cat | AV | Year | Quartile |
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Frontiers in Psychiatry | 5.435 | 5.918 | 5.726 | 6.111 | 2 | 0.918 | 2021 | Q2 |
Journal | IF | AIF | AIF (min) | AIF (max) | Cat | AV | Year | Quartile |
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Frontiers in Psychiatry | 5.435 | 6.111 | 6.111 | 6.111 | 1 | 0.889 | 2021 | Q2 |
Journal | IF | AIF | AIF (min) | AIF (max) | Cat | AV | Year | Quartile |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Frontiers in Psychiatry | 5.435 | 5.726 | 5.726 | 5.726 | 1 | 0.949 | 2021 | Q2 |
Journal | Cite Score | SNIP | SJR | Year | Quartile |
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Frontiers in Psychiatry | 4.6 | 1.522 | 1.279 | 2021 | Q2 |