Problematic Internet use in Adults: The Role of Happiness, Psychological Resilience, Dispositional Hope, and Self-control and Self-management

Abstract

There is increasing literature examining the use of problematic internet in the context of psychological factors. Most of these studies are focused on the young population. On the other hand, the prolongation of human life and the increasing rate of adult individuals in society’s population cannot be ignored. It is seen that the number of research examining the use of problematic internet in the context of psychological factors is quite limited. In this current study, the problematic internet usage of primary and secondary school students’ parents was examined in happiness, psychological resilience, dispositional hope, self-control and self-management. The research was conducted on 1123 parents. Path analysis was performed to discover the relations between the structures. As a result of the path analysis, it was determined that there is a significant negative relationship between problematic internet use and happiness, problematic internet use and psychological resilience, problematic internet use, and dispositional hope. According to these findings, adults’ high happiness levels, psychological resilience, and hope levels will reduce their problematic internet use. It has been determined that there is a significant indirect relationship between self-control and self-management and problematic internet use. Happiness, psychological resilience, and dispositional hope mediating role in this relationship. Increasing parents’ happiness levels, developing psychological resilience, increasing dispositional hope levels, and developing self-control and self-management skills will reduce problematic internet use. In line with the findings, what can be done to reduce the use of problematic internet has been discussed. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10942-022-00482-y.

Examining the role of cyberloafing, narcissism, locus of control, and social appearance anxiety on the Internet gaming disorder in university students

“…Therefore, individuals can be helped to realize their choices and make informed decisions. In this sense, the self‐efficacy of individuals in decision making can be developed (Yilmaz & Karaoglan Yilmaz, 2022). Establishing self‐efficacy can enable individuals to take responsibility for the consequences of their behavior and to feel confident in this regard.…”

Adverse childhood experiences predict internet gaming disorder in university students: the mediating role of resilience

“…First, influenced by traditional beliefs, female undergraduates are more likely to underestimate their own abilities, and when faced with fierce campus competition and heavy academic pressure, male students will adapt to the environment more easily than female students [32]. Second, when encountering adversity and negative events, postgraduates are more flexible and experience easy resolution, which may be related to cognitive level and self-control [33,34 ▪ ]. Finally, the family economic environment and support structure has a great impact on psychological resilience, so students of urban origin perform better in terms of potential cognitive ability or psychological traits [35 ▪ ,36 ▪ ].…”

Problematic Internet Use and Resilience: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“… Effect size for the relationship between PIU and resilience [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ]. …”