The effect of stress on internet addiction among university students: the mediating role of self-control

Abstract

Earlier investigations have revealed that internet addiction among college-goers is a burgeoning issue, but there has been a dearth of inquiry into the correlation between stress, self-command, and internet addiction.In addition, some studies have neglected the tendency of females and minority college student towards Internet addiction. To bridge this research gap, the present study endeavored to examine the influence of stress on internet addiction in college students, as well as the moderating role of self-control in this connection. To attain our objective, we utilized the Stress Scale for College Students, the Self-Control Scale for College Students, and the Internet Addiction Test to conduct surveys among a sample of 316 college students. The outcomes of our study revealed that stress exhibited a positive association with internet addiction, while displaying a negative association with self-control.Additionally, our results indicated that self-control partially mediated the relationship between stress and significant internet addiction. In summary, our investigation revealed that stress can predict internet addiction both directly and indirectly, by influencing self-control.There are also shortcomings in our own study. Given the insufficient participation of minority college students, there is presently no pertinent research on the adverse association between stress and internet addiction in this population. Consequently, forthcoming research can investigate how diverse factors impact different kinds of internet addiction, in order to more effectively intervene and prevent various types of internet addiction among college students.