School-based relationships and problematic internet use amongst Chinese students

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 16; no. 3; p. e0248600
• Main Authors: Hayixibayi, Alimila, Strodl, Esben, Chen, Wei-Qing, Kelly, Adrian B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 24.03.2021; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent boys; Adolescents; Biology and Life Sciences; Child psychopathology; Classrooms; Colleges & universities; Computer and Information Sciences; Counseling; Editing; Educational technology; Elementary school students; Epidemiology; Expenditures; Gender; Health aspects; Inclusive education; Industrialized nations; Internet; Interpersonal conflict; Junior high school students; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental health; Methodology; Middle school students; Middle schools; Pathological Internet Use; Pediatric research; Peers; People and Places; Perceptions; Psychological aspects; Psychology; Public administration; Public health; Risk factors; Scholarship; School environment; Social aspects; Social conflict; Social Sciences; Supervision; Teacher-student relationships; Teachers; Technology; Teenagers; China; Queensland Australia; Australia
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248600

The potential for adolescent mental health problems arising from heavy internet use is significant. There is a need to better understand the risk and protective factors related to problematic internet use (PIU) amongst adolescents. This study examined the role of adolescents’ perceptions of school-based relationships as potential contextual antecedents to problematic internet use. Specifically, 6552 adolescent students (55.9% boys, 13.51 ± 2. 93 years) from 22 primary and middle schools in southern China completed questionnaires to measure the degree of adolescent conflict with peers, teachers and other staff, school connectedness, perceived classroom atmosphere and problematic internet use. Self-reported data was collected using a two-level stratified sampling. Multiple regression analyses showed that conflict with peers and teachers was positively associated with higher levels of PIU, while school connectedness and perceived classroom atmosphere were negatively associated with PIU. An interaction effect was found for conflict with peers and grade level, such that the association between conflict with peers and PIU was stronger for secondary students compared to primary school students. The results support the need for school-based interventions for PIU to include a focus on conflict with peers and teachers, and for a focus on the enhancement of school connectedness and classroom atmosphere.