Association between problematic internet use and behavioral/emotional problems among Chinese adolescents: the mediating role of sleep disorders

Wanxin Wang; Xueying Du; Yangfeng Guo; Wenyan Li; Sheng Zhang; Lan Guo; Ciyong Lu

doi:10.7717/peerj.10839

Association between problematic internet use and behavioral/emotional problems among Chinese adolescents: the mediating role of sleep disorders

PeerJ. 2021 Feb 22:9:e10839. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10839. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Wanxin Wang¹, Xueying Du², Yangfeng Guo², Wenyan Li¹, Sheng Zhang¹, Lan Guo¹, Ciyong Lu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
² Health Promotion Centre for Primary and Secondary Schools of Guangzhou Municipality, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: Studies that focus on the relationships of problematic Internet use (PIU), sleep disorders, and behavioral/emotional problems were limited. This study aimed to explore (1) the relationship between PIU and behavioral/emotional problems among Chinese adolescents and (2) whether sleep disorders mediate the relationship between PIU and behavioral/emotional problems.

Methods: A total of 1,976 adolescents were recruited by cluster sampling from ten secondary schools in Guangzhou between January and April 2019, and 1,956 of them provided valid information (response rate: 98.9% ). Among them, 50.8% were males and the mean age was 13.6±1.5 years, ranging from 11 to 18 years. Data on behavioral/emotional problems, sleep disorders, and PIU were collected using a self-reported questionnaire. Linear regression models and mediation analyses were performed.

Results: Of the participants, 14.5% (284/1,956) reported moderate to severe PIU, and their average score for total difficulties was significantly higher than the score for average users (14.9±5.5 Vs 9.8±4.7). After adjusting for controlled variables, PIU was further proven to be positively related to elevated levels of behavioral/emotional problems (unstandardized β = 0.16, p < 0.05). In addition, sleep disorders partially mediated the forgoing associations.

Conclusions: Adolescents with problematic Internet habits were at higher risk of developing behavioral and emotional problems than their normal-use peers, and sleep disorders partially mediated the effect. Close attention and effective guidance for adolescents with PIU and behavioral/emotional problems were recommended for parents and schools.

Keywords: Emotional problems; Adolescents; Behavioral problems; Problematic Internet use; Sleep disorders.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81761128030), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81903339), and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2018A0303130331; Grant No. 2019A1515011091). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.