Stress and Internet Addiction: Mediated by Anxiety and Moderated by Self-Control

Figures & data

Figure 1 Hypothetical model.

Table 1 M, SD, and Bivariate Correlation Coefficients of the Primary Variables

Variables	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5
1. Age	20.62	1.58	–
2. Stress	11.81	3.62	−0.10**	–
3. IA	39.93	11.65	−0.09**	0.63***	–
4. SC	63.97	11.68	0.12***	−0.58***	−0.61***	–
5. Anxiety	9.99	3.01	−0.13***	0.75***	0.67***	−0.54***	–

Notes: N = 861. **p < 0.01, ***p <. 001.

Abbreviations: IA, Internet addiction; SC, self-control.

Table 2 The Mediated Model of Anxiety

Dependent Variables	Independent Variables	β	SE	t	p
IA	Constant	0.06	0.04	1.56	0.119
	Gender	−0.12	0.05	−2.26	0.024
	Age	−0.03	0.03	−1.09	0.274
	Stress	0.62	0.03	23.19	< 0.001
Anxiety	Constant	−0.02	0.03	−0.78	0.437
	Gender	0.05	0.05	1.13	0.261
	Age	−0.05	0.02	−2.28	0.023
	Stress	0.74	0.02	32.57	< 0.001
IA	Constant	0.07	0.03	2.04	0.042
	Gender	−0.14	0.05	−2.95	0.003
	Age	−0.01	0.03	−0.20	0.843
	Stress	0.27	0.04	7.42	< 0.001
	Anxiety	0.47	0.04	12.75	< 0.001

Note: N = 816.

Abbreviations: SE, standard errors; IA, Internet addiction.

Table 3 The Stress-IA Moderated Mediation Model

Model/Effect	β	SE	t	p
Model for predicting anxiety
Constant	−0.08	0.03	−2.59	0.010
Gender	0.07	0.04	1.63	0.103
Age	−0.05	0.02	−2.20	0.028
Stress	0.61	0.03	21.34	< 0.001
SC	−0.18	0.03	−6.51	< 0.001
Stress × SC	−0.09	0.02	−4.40	< 0.001
Model for predicting IA
Constant	0.02	0.03	0.63	0.527
Gender	−0.08	0.05	−1.77	0.078
Age	−0.01	0.02	0.33	0.740
Stress	0.18	0.04	4.73	< 0.001
SC	−0.31	0.03	−10.67	< 0.001
Stress × SC	0.07	0.03	2.11	0.035
Anxiety	0.34	0.04	8.17	< 0.001
Anxiety × SC	−0.11	0.04	−2.83	0.005
Conditional effect analysis (direct)	β	SE	LLCI	ULCI
M - 1 SD	0.11*	0.04	0.03	0.19
M + 1 SD	0.25***	0.06	0.14	0.37
Conditional effect analysis (indirect)	β	SE	LLCI	ULCI
M - 1 SD	0.31***	0.04	0.24	0.39
M + 1 SD	0.12**	0.04	0.04	0.20

Notes: N = 861. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: SE, standard errors; SC, self-control; IA, Internet addiction; LL, low limit; UL, upper limit; CI, confidence interval.

Figure 2 Moderating role of SC on Stress-Anxiety relationship.

Note: ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviation: SC, self-control.

Figure 3 Moderating role of SC on Stress-IA relationship.

Notes: *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: SC, self-control; IA, Internet addiction.

Figure 4 Moderating role of SC on Anxiety-IA relationship.

Notes: **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: SC, self-control; IA, Internet addiction.

Data Sharing Statement

The data can be obtained by contacting the corresponding author for reasonable requests.