No abstract

The present study examined the longitudinal association among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 481 Chinese university students (247 men; mean age = 20.31 years) were surveyed three times (interval of 1 month) by using the Chinese version of the Big Five Personality Traits Scale, Maladaptive Cognitions Scale, and Internet Addiction Scale. The results of a cross-lagged panel analysis highlighted that (i) extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were negatively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction, whereas neuroticism was found to be positively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction across time; (ii) associations among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction were dynamic and bidirectional; and (iii) maladaptive cognitions played mediating roles in extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and Internet addiction across time. The Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction predicted each other across time, and maladaptive cognitions were likely to be the key mediating factor in the associations between the Big Five personality traits and Internet addiction, which supported and expanded the Davis’ cognitive–behavioral model.

Research has revealed that child abuse experience can increase pathological Internet use; however, few studies have focused on the influence of child abuse experience on pathological Internet use. This study examined the mediating roles of security and maladaptive cognitions in the association between child abuse and pathological Internet use. A total of 918 Chinese university students participated in the study, with measurements of child abuse, security, maladaptive cognitions, and pathological Internet use being employed. Structural equation modeling results indicated that child abuse could positively predict (i) pathological Internet use, (ii) pathological Internet use through the mediating role of security, (iii) pathological Internet use through the mediating role of maladaptive cognitions, and (iv) pathological Internet use through the chain mediating role of security and maladaptive cognitions. These results indicated that security and maladaptive cognitions were the primary factors in the association between child abuse and pathological Internet use.

This study had two aims: to test the effect and the effect size of specific problematic Internet use (SPIU) [online shopping, online pornography, social network site (SNS) usage, and Internet gaming] on generalized problematic Internet use (GPIU) and to reveal the gender differences in GPIU and SPIU for students from the elementary school level to the university level. In total, 5,215 Chinese students (2,303 males, mean age = 16.20 years, range = 10–23 years) from four types of schools (elementary school, junior high school, senior high school, and university) provided self-report data on demographic variables (gender and educational levels), online shopping, online pornography, SNS usage, Internet gaming, and GPIU. After calculations had been controlled for demographic variables, the results indicated that (i) online shopping, online pornography, SNS usage, and Internet gaming positively predicted GPIU—and Internet gaming was the most critical predictor of GPIU—and that (ii) gender differences were revealed in Internet gaming and GPIU in all educational levels, except at senior high school where the gender differences in GPIU were not significant. Significant gender differences were found for online shopping and online pornography for all educational levels above elementary school. These results provided further understanding of the association between GPIU and SPIU and gender differences in PIU, which suggested that gender differences across different educational levels should be considered in interventions of PIU.