The relationship between positive youth development and internet gaming disorder in Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation model

Xiong Gan; Ke-Nan Qin; Min Li; Hao Li; Xin Jin; Cheng-Fu Yu

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0276174

The relationship between positive youth development and internet gaming disorder in Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation model

PLoS One. 2022 Nov 3;17(11):e0276174. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276174. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiong Gan¹, Ke-Nan Qin¹, Min Li¹, Hao Li¹, Xin Jin², Cheng-Fu Yu³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, College of Education and Sports Sciences, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China.
² Department of Psychology, College of Education and Sports Sciences, Yangtze University College of Technology and Engineering, Jingzhou, China.
³ Department of Psychology and Research Center of Adolescent Psychology and Behavior, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is a social problem that cannot be ignored. Considerable research has shown that IGD can impede the healthy physical and mental development of adolescents. Based on positive youth development theory and stage-environment fit theory, the current study explored the mediating effect of depression and the moderating effect of gender to determine the association between positive youth development (PYD) and IGD. A sample of 1970 Chinese adolescents aged 11-18 years (1021 boys, 940 girls, and 10 unidentifiable individuals) completed questionnaires related to PYD, depression, IGD, and their background information. The results revealed that PYD negatively predicted IGD. After controlling for gender and age, this study found that depression mediated the relationship between PYD and IGD. Furthermore, gender moderated the relationship between depression and IGD. Boys with depressive symptoms were more likely to indulge in IGD than girls. This research contributes to a more thorough understanding of how PYD decreases the risk of IGD. These findings suggest that cultivating PYD attributes is a promising approach to prevent or reduce depression and IGD among adolescents in mainland China.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Asian People
Behavior, Addictive* / diagnosis
Behavior, Addictive* / epidemiology
China / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Internet
Internet Addiction Disorder
Male
Video Games*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Youth Project of the Ministry of Education in 2020 in the 13th Five-Year Plan of National Education Science: The heterogeneous developmental trajectory of Internet gaming disorder in adolescents: the combined action of parenting environment and genetic polymorphism [NO. EBA200391]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.