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      Impact factor 6.6 (Q1)    Scopus CiteScore 12.3 (Q1)        Scimago SJR 2.188 (Q1)

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      Problematic Internet use among residential college students during the COVID-19 lockdown: A social network analysis approach

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          Abstract

          Background and aims

          During the COVID-19 lockdown, problematic Internet use (PIU) has become a serious issue among residential college students, who remain physically isolated from off-campus society. This study constructs an integrated model to investigate the influencing mechanisms of internal locus of control (LOC) and objective peer effects.

          Methods

          Residential college students ( n = 494) were surveyed from a single department of a Chinese university. An item from the World Value Survey was employed to measure internal LOC, while objective peer effects were assessed via friends’ mutual nominations. Finally, PIU was measured using Young’s Internet Addiction Tests, while a social network analysis and logit regression were combined to estimate various factors’ effects on PIU.

          Results

          In our sample, the prevalence rate of PIU was 30.6%, and while internal LOC was a protective factor for PIU, its protective role was diluted when exposed to a peer environment with high PIU prevalence. Furthermore, indegree performed contrasting roles on PIU under various network conditions. It acted as a protective factor when exposed to a low prevalence of PIU in a peer environment; however, it became a risk factor when PIU peers were prevalent. Lastly, the protective efficacy of betweenness was activated when individuals had more than one PIU friend.

          Discussion and conclusions

          Further intervention studies focusing on individuals with a weak internal LOC are recommended during the lockdown. Additionally, interventions that consider the network structures carefully, may enhance the prevention of PIU.

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          Most cited references60

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          Mental Health and the Covid-19 Pandemic

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            Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.

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              Graph drawing by force-directed placement

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                J Behav Addict
                J Behav Addict
                JBA
                Journal of Behavioral Addictions
                Akadémiai Kiadó (Budapest )
                2062-5871
                2063-5303
                20 May 2021
                July 2021
                July 2021
                : 10
                : 2
                : 253-262
                Affiliations
                [1 ]School of Law, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics , Chengdu 611130, China
                [2 ]School of Political Science and Public Administration, Huaqiao University , Quanzhou 362021, China
                [3 ]Computational Communication Collaboratory, School of Journalism and Communication, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023, China
                Author notes
                [* ]Corresponding author. E-mail: redclass@ 123456163.com
                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7983-4136
                Article
                10.1556/2006.2021.00028
                8996801
                34019485
                ed050d53-eae3-4371-9db7-91dfedc136e5
                © 2021 The Author(s)

                Open Access. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial purposes, provided the original author and source are credited, a link to the CC License is provided, and changes – if any – are indicated.

                History
                : 19 February 2021
                : 06 April 2021
                : 27 April 2021
                Page count
                Figures: 2, Tables: 3, Equations: 0, References: 60, Pages: 10
                Funding
                Funded by: Major Project of The National Social Science Fund of China
                Award ID: 19ZDA324
                Funded by: Huaqiao University
                Award ID: 605-50Y190420002
                Categories
                Article

                problematic internet use,residential college students,internal locus of control,objective peer effects,covid-19,social network analysis

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