Internet addiction and psychological distress: Evidence from path analyses in Greek adolescents at different developmental stages

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Abstract
As internet use among adolescents increases, internet addiction has become a crucial public mental health issue, putting adolescents at risk of psychological distress. Research indicates a bidirectional association between internet addiction and adolescents’ development of depressive symptoms. Although current evidence shows that anxiety can predict internet addiction, which subsequently predicts depression, the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between internet addiction and mental distress remain unclear, while the role of age differences in internet addiction warrant further research. The present cross-sectional study explores how internet addiction and stress mediate the relationship between anxiety and depression, and how the association between depression and internet addiction varies with the developmental stage of adolescence. A convenient sample of 215 Greek adolescents, aged from 11 to 20 years, were sourced from internet forums, including social media, and completed the Internet Addiction Test (IAT-20) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). Middle stage adolescents (ages 15-17), showed increased levels of internet addiction (Mdn = 52) compared to early (Mdn = 44) and late (Mdn = 49.5) stage adolescents. The results from path analyses revealed that internet addiction and stress serially mediate the relationship between anxiety and depression. Furthermore, depression was found to be moderated by the stage of adolescence with the strongest relationship observed in early adolescence (ages 11-14). These findings contribute to a more thorough understanding of how internet addiction is related to psychological distress among adolescents that may assist clinicians with designing age-specific interventions to address both internet addiction and psychological distress.

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