Associations Among the Big Five Personality Traits, Maladaptive Cognitions, and Internet Addiction Across Three Time Measurements in 3 Months During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The present study examined the longitudinal association among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 481 Chinese university students (247 men; mean age = 20.31 years) were surveyed three times (interval of 1 month) by using the Chinese version of the Big Five Personality Traits Scale, Maladaptive Cognitions Scale, and Internet Addiction Scale. The results of a cross-lagged panel analysis highlighted that (i) extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were negatively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction, whereas neuroticism was found to be positively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction across time; (ii) associations among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction were dynamic and bidirectional; and (iii) maladaptive cognitions played mediating roles in extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and Internet addiction across time. The Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction predicted each other across time, and maladaptive cognitions were likely to be the key mediating factor in the associations between the Big Five personality traits and Internet addiction, which supported and expanded the Davis’ cognitive–behavioral model.