Abstract
Background
Problematic Internet Use (PIU) has many adverse effects on youth mental health and development. However, few studies have systematically investigated the internal heterogeneity of PIU symptoms among rural Chinese adolescents. This study collected two waves of data (T1: October 2022; T2: April 2023) from 5,271 rural Chinese adolescents from two secondary schools in Guizhou and Sichuan provinces.
Methods
A Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was conducted to first identify PIU symptom profiles. Then, a “three-step” logistic regression mixed model was conducted to explore the association between PIU patterns and demographic correlates. Anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms collected at the second wave were compared across PIU profiles.
Results
The study found that (1) The patterns of PIU among rural adolescents could be divided into four subgroups: low PIU group (57.18%), medium PIU group (15.65%), high PIU group (9.01%), and self-blame group (18.16%), which is a uniquely identified group. (2) Being female, an ethnic minority, living off-campus, having left-behind experiences, and having fewer siblings were risk factors for high PIU group membership. (3) The order of severity for anxiety, depression, and stress was as follows: high PIU, medium PIU, self-blame, and low PIU groups.
Conclusions
Addressing the dimension of internet obsession of PIU is vital for rural Chinese adolescent mental health, necessitating tailored interventions involving families and schools.