A study of 7,353 college freshmen found that is associated with increased levels.
Internet addiction is positively correlated with and insomnia (all p < 0.01).
is negatively correlated with internet addiction, anxiety, and insomnia.
Internet addiction predicts insomnia, with emotion regulation and anxiety acting as mediators (β = 0.039).
Gender moderates the relationship between internet addiction and both emotion regulation and insomnia.
Males exhibit a stronger direct effect of internet addiction on insomnia compared to females.
Females show a stronger indirect effect of internet addiction on insomnia through anxiety than males.
Simplified
BACKGROUND: The advancement of the information age has led to the widespread use of the internet, accompanied by numerous internet-related issues that often correlate with various physical and mental health conditions, particularly among college freshmen. We examined the relationship between (IA) and among these students, using (ER) and as mediators and gender as a moderating variable.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 7,353 freshmen from a university in Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, China. Data were collected through an online self-administered questionnaire, including the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Emotion Regulation subscale (ER), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 21.0 and PROCESS version 4.1 to test the hypothesized relationships among variables.
RESULTS: In our survey, correlation analysis showed that ER was significantly negatively correlated with IA, anxiety, and insomnia; IA was significantly positively correlated with anxiety and insomnia (all p < 0.01). The mediating effect analysis indicated that IA was a significant positive predictor of insomnia. ER and anxiety played a chain - mediating role in the development of insomnia (β = 0.039, 95% confidence interval = 0.035-0.043). The moderating effect analysis showed that the interaction term of IA and gender had a significant negative predictive effect on ER (β = -0.014, 95% confidence interval [-0.027, -0.001]) and insomnia (β = -0.022, 95% confidence interval [-0.036, -0.007]). Males (direct effect: β = 0.048, 95% confidence interval = [0.037, 0.059]) had a stronger predictive ability for the level of insomnia than females (direct effect: β = 0.026, 95% confidence interval = [0.014, 0.037]). Females (indirect effect 1: β = 0.015, 95% confidence interval = [0.010, 0.020]; indirect effect 2: β = 0.041, 95% confidence interval = [0.037, 0.045]) had a stronger predictive ability for the level of insomnia through the level of IA than males (indirect effect 1: β = 0.014, 95% confidence interval = [0.009, 0.018]; indirect effect 2: β = 0.037, 95% confidence interval = [0.033, 0.041]).
CONCLUSION: IA can exacerbate insomnia in college freshmen by compromising their ER, subsequently triggering anxiety symptoms. The process differs by gender, suggesting tailored strategies for each. These findings may play crucial roles in promoting the physical and mental well-being of college freshmen.
Key numbers
11.9%
Total Effect of on
Total effect size in predicting severity from .
7353
Participants
Total number of college freshmen surveyed.
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