Grit Perseverance, Not Passion, Moderates the Association Between Behavioral Inhibition/Approach System and Internet Addiction in Adolescents

Figures & data

Table 1 Different Characteristics of the Participants with IA and Non-IA

		IA (N =359)	Non-IA (N = 1,522)	Effect size Cohen’s d	Chi/t-test	p
Gender, n (%)	Male	183 (19.2)	770 (80.8)		0.002	0.966
	Female	175 (19.1)	740 (80.9)
Age, M (SD)		14.82 (1.64)	14.60 (1.85)	0.121	−2.172	0.030
BMI, M (SD)		18.82 (3.29)	18.92 (3.09)	0.031	0.563	0.574
One-child, n (%)	Yes	99 (21.1)	371 (78.9)		1.610	0.205
	No	250 (18.4)	1,109 (81.6)
Parents’ marriage, n (%)	Stable	289 (18.1)	1,310 (81.9)		5.453	0.020
	Instable	59 (24.4)	183 (75.6)
Paternal education, n (%)	University	44 (18.2)	198 (81.8)		4.021	0.259
	High school	102 (18.8)	440 (81.2)
	Middle school	161 (18.4)	712 (81.6)
	Primary or below	42 (24.9)	127 (75.1)
Maternal education, n (%)	University	33 (16.7)	165 (83.3)		8.922	0.030
	High school	78 (16.4)	398 (83.6)
	Middle school	179 (19.4)	746 (80.6)
	Primary or below	57 (25.4)	167 (74.6)
SES, M (SD)		5.86 (1.64)	6.33 (1.69)	0.280	4.741	<0.001
SSS, M (SD)		6.37 (1.84)	6.84 (1.78)	0.262	4.482	<0.001
Low intensity PA, M (SD)		2.64 (2.24)	3.05 (2.04)	0.191	3.127	0.002
Moderate to high intensity PA, M (SD)		1.62 (1.89)	2.11 (1.84)	0.263	4.493	<0.001

Abbreviations: IA, internet addiction; BMI, body mass index; SES, social economic status; SSS, school social status; PA, physical activity.

Table 2 The Associations of the Study Variables

	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6
1 Internet addiction	51.01	14.42	1
2 BIS	15.46	2.82	0.075**	1
3 BAS	38.87	6.09	0.062**	0.532***	1
4 Grit	3.06	0.58	−0.424***	−0.044	−0.037	1
5 Grit-passion	2.98	0.81	−0.308***	−0.179***	−0.181***	0.684***	1
6 Grit-perseverance	3.13	0.84	−0.280***	0.111***	0.125***	0.709***	−0.029	1

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

Abbreviations: BIS, behavioral inhibition system; BAS, behavioral approach system.

Table 3 Moderating Effects of Grit-Perseverance and Grit-Passion on BIS and Internet Addiction (n = 1,785)

Predictors	Step 1		Step 2
	β	t	β	t	Bootstrap 95% CI
					LL	UL
Age	0.153	6.556***	0.916	5.328***	0.602	1.241
Gender	0.013	0.574	−0.813	−1.311	−1.998	0.406
BIS	0.085	3.650***	0.313	2.766**	0.079	0.536
Grit-passion			−5.376	−13.908***	−6.153	−4.579
BIS × Grit-passion			0.027	0.215	−0.214	0.270
Grit-perseverance			−5.090	−13.911***	−5.845	−4.343
BIS × Grit-perseverance			−0.230	−2.102*	−0.450	−0.012
R^2	0.027		0.203
F	17.744***		64.640***

Notes: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.

Abbreviations: BIS, Behavioral inhibition system; CI, confidence interval; LL, lower confidence limits; UL, upper confidence limits.

Table 4 Moderating Effects of Grit-Perseverance and Grit-Passion on BAS and Internet Addiction (N = 1,759)

Predictor	Step 1		Step 2
	β	t	β	t	Bootstrap 95% CI
					LL	UL
Age	0.144	6.126***	0.887	5.116***	0.561	1.207
Gender	0.018	0.781	−0.645	−1.036	−1.875	0.560
BAS	0.060	2.552*	0.094	1.776	−0.013	0.207
Grit-passion			−5.467	−14.055***	−6.266	−4.694
BAS × Grit-passion			−0.102	−1.820	−0.217	0.009
Grit-perseverance			−4.948	−13.321***	−5.704	−4.182
BAS × Grit-perseverance			−0.187	−3.532***	−0.299	−0.076
R^2	0.023		0.203
F	14.746***		63.568***

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

Abbreviations: BAS, behavioral approach system; CI, confidence interval; LL, lower confidence limits; UL, upper confidence limits.

Table 5 Conditional Interaction Effects Between Grit Perseverance and Passion and BIS/BAS on Internet Addiction

	Grit-perseverance	Grit-passion	Effect sizes	SE	t	LLCI	ULCI
BIS	High	High	0.140	0.171	0.822	−0.195	0.476
		Low	0.097	0.188	0.513	−0.273	0.466
	Low	High	0.530	0.163	3.258**	0.211	0.848
		Low	0.486	0.190	2.555*	0.113	0.858
BAS	High	High	−0.147	0.083	−1.771	−0.310	0.016
		Low	0.019	0.087	0.223	−0.151	0.190
	Low	High	0.168	0.073	2.313*	0.026	0.311
		Low	0.335	0.088	3.797***	0.162	0.507

Notes: *p<0.05; **P<0.01; ***p<0.001.

Abbreviations: BIS, behavioral inhibition system; BAS, behavioral approach system; LLCI, lower limits confidence interval; ULCI, upper limits confidence interval.

Figure 1 (A) Interaction effects between behavioral inhibition system (x axis) and low (−1 SD) and high (+1 SD) levels of grit-perseverance on internet addiction (y axis). (B) Interaction effects between behavioral approach system (x axis) and low (−1 SD) and high (+1 SD) levels of grit-perseverance on internet addiction (y axis).

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.