AI Insight
This study examined the relationship between internet addiction and academic stress in 230 college students from Chinese universities, finding that internet addiction is associated with higher academic stress through two mediating factors: reduced self-control and increased social anxiety. The research used sequential mediation analysis to demonstrate that these factors can operate both independently and in combination, where internet addiction relates to lower self-control, which then contributes to social anxiety, ultimately affecting academic stress levels.
Why it matters
The findings suggest potential intervention targets for reducing academic stress among college students, indicating that programs focused on improving self-control and reducing social anxiety while addressing internet use patterns could help alleviate academic pressures in university populations.
Understand the Science
ObjectivesTo explore how Internet addiction is associated with college students’ academic stress and how self-control and social anxiety play a mediating role in this relationship.MethodsUsing stratified sampling, 230 college students aged 18–22 years old from multiple universities in Hefei, Anhui Province, were recruited. All participants completed four standardized questionnaires. Serial mediation analysis based on SPSS PROCESS Model 6 with bias-corrected percentile Bootstrap (5,000 resamples) was adopted to test the hypothesized mediating effects.ResultsThe findings of this research indicate that Internet addiction is correlated with multiple indicators of college students’ academic stress. (1) Self-control and social anxiety each statistically mediate the association between Internet addiction and academic stress. (2) Social anxiety and self-control form a sequential pathway that statistically mediates the association linking Internet addiction and academic stress.ConclusionThese correlational results suggest that greater offline social engagement and stronger self-control may be related to lower levels of academic stress and less Internet addiction among university students.