Longitudinal relationships between school assets, traditional bullying, and internet gaming disorder: the role of self-control and intentional self-regulation among Chinese adolescents

Abstract

IntroductionAlthough developmental assets have been proven to be enabling factors for both adolescent traditional bullying and internet gaming disorder (IGD), there is a lack of empirical evidence that has investigated the direct relationship between school assets and both of these problematic behaviors concurrently. Based on the positive youth development (PYD) perspective, the present study aimed to explore the relationship between school assets, intentional self-regulation (ISR), self-control, traditional bullying, and IGD among Chinese adolescents.MethodsA total of 742 middle school students (Mage = 13.88 years, SD = 1.99 years) were followed up to measure school assets, ISR, self-control, traditional bullying, and IGD in two waves that were separated by 5 months.ResultsStructural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that T1 school assets negatively predicted T2 traditional bullying and T2 IGD. T1 self-control significantly mediated the relationships between T1 school assets and T2 traditional bullying, as well as between T1 school assets and T2 IGD. Additionally, T1 ISR strengthened the positive effect of T1 school assets on T1 self-control and further moderated the two mediating paths.DiscussionThese findings show that plentiful school assets support the development of self-control and are more successful in reducing traditional bullying and IGD, particularly among students with higher ISR. As a result, schools should take measures to provide superior-quality assets for the positive development of youth, which will help to prevent and relieve traditional bullying and IGD in the school context.

Unpacking the Myth in the Associations Between Self-control and Gaming Disorder in Children and Adolescents: A Comparison Between Traditional and Random Intercept Cross-lagged Panel Model Analyses

“…It is unknown whether low self-control causes gaming disorder, whether gaming disorder causes impaired self-control, or whether they are just associated with common causes. In the few extant longitudinal studies, only the predictive effect of self-control on gaming disorder later has been revealed (Jeong et al, 2019(Jeong et al, , 2020Qin & Gan, 2023;Xiang et al, 2022), with no investigation of how gaming disorder might influence individuals' future self-control levels. However, it is highly plausible that individuals with gaming disorder might experience frustration and distress when controlling their game use, which might further damage their ability to exert self-control resources.…”