Effects of resourcefulness on internet game addiction among college students: The mediating role of anxiety and the moderating role of gender

Front Public Health. 2023 Feb 13:11:986550. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.986550. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Introduction: The mechanism of internet game addiction is unclear. Whether anxiety mediates between resourcefulness and internet game addiction and whether gender affect its mediation role have not been studied previously.

Methods: A total of 4,889 college students from a college in southwest China were included in this study to complete the investigation, in which three questionnaires were used for evaluation.

Results: Pearson's correlation analysis indicated a remarkable negative correlation between resourcefulness with internet game addiction and anxiety, as well as a significant positive correlation between anxiety and this addiction. The structural equation model confirmed the mediation role of anxiety. The multi-group analysis confirmed the moderating role of gender in the mediation model.

Discussion: These findings have advanced the results of existing studies, indicating the buffering effect of resourcefulness on internet game addiction and revealing the potential mechanism of this relationship.

Keywords: anxiety; college students; gender; internet game addiction; resourcefulness.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Anxiety* / epidemiology
  • Behavior, Addictive* / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Internet
  • Students

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the Funding Project of the Bureau of Science and Technology and Intellectual Property of Nanchong City (Nos. NSMC20170420 and 19SXHZ0023), the project of the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for Social Science Research of Nanchong City in 2022 (No. NC22C344), the Key Cultivation Project of University-Level Scientific Research Development Plan of North Sichuan Medical College (No. CBY20-ZD-03), and the Scientific Project of Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College (ZX-51130001-2022-260).