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08-04-2024 | Addiction

Anxiety/Depression and Internet Addiction: Directions, Antecedents, and Outcomes

Authors: JingJing Gu, Pingping Zhan, Zhaofei Huang, Shanfang Cheng, Jialing Liu, Wei Xu, Lan Huang, Ying Xu, Jin-Liang Wang

Published in: Current Addiction Reports

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This paper aims to review the existing literature on the relationships between anxiety/depression and Internet addiction and their common risk factors, protective factors, and developmental outcomes.

Recent Findings

In the literature, three types of relationships have been revealed between anxiety/depression and Internet addiction, namely, anxiety/depression → Internet addiction, Internet addiction → anxiety/depression, and the bidirectional directions between them. Some personal characteristics such as neuroticism, shyness, low self-esteem, and low self-control and environmental factors such as childhood maltreatment and peer victimization may place individuals at increased risks of anxiety/depression and Internet addiction, but other psychological factors may prevent individuals from this. Anxiety/depression and Internet addiction exert a negative influence on individuals’ development.

Summary

Anxiety/depression and Internet addiction have some common risk factors and outcomes and the relationships between them were unidirectional and bidirectional. Longitudinal studies with more time points are needed to examine the relationships between anxiety/depression and Internet addiction.
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Metadata
Title
Anxiety/Depression and Internet Addiction: Directions, Antecedents, and Outcomes
Authors
JingJing Gu
Pingping Zhan
Zhaofei Huang
Shanfang Cheng
Jialing Liu
Wei Xu
Lan Huang
Ying Xu
Jin-Liang Wang
Publication date
08-04-2024
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Current Addiction Reports
Electronic ISSN: 2196-2952
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-024-00565-z