Research On Psychological Mechanism Model Of Internet Addiction Disorder In Middle School Students

Objectives: This study was designed to: a) find out the epidemiology of Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) in middle-school students and analyze the social psychological factors of IAD; b) identify and quantify the relative contributions of these factors to the probability of an internet addition disorder and seek after the mechanism that these factors work; c) offer an useful model for further research and prevention and control on IAD of middle-school students.Methods: Cluster random sampling and stratified random sampling were used to select the samples. 1106 students were selected from three urban normal middle schools. The all students picked out were investigated by classes with these scales: a) Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT); b) Parental Education Style(EMBU); c) Social Support Questionnaire; d) Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List(ASLEC); e) Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale(CES-D); f) UCLA Loneliness Scale; g) The Self-esteem Inventory. Software SPSS 11.5 was used for descriptive analysis, single-factor analysis and unconditional Logistic stepwise regression analysis. Software LISREL was used for Structural Equation Model analysis to establish effect model for IAD.Results: Of the middle school students investigated, 8.99% were diagnosed IAD, 13.06% in male students and 4.81% in female students. There was a remarkable difference between the male and female. The single-factor analysis and unconditional stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that negative parental education style, life events, depression, loneliness and male were the risk factors of IAD. Positive parental education style, social support and self-esteem were the protective factors. Structural equation model analysis confirmed power and direction of the social and psychological factors and showed that parental education style, gender, life events, social support made greater contribution to the effect model of IAD.Conclusions: Structural Equation Modeling is a powerful statistical modeling technique by which the relationship between the IAD and social psychological factors was well explained. In one hand, the IAD psychology mechanism forecasting model approved parental education style, social support, life events, depression, loneliness, self-esteem were the exterior and internal influential factors of IAD, in the other hand, it affirmed that others factors'effect out of the model were existing. The multiple-factor mechanism showed that IAD's prevention and control was a social system project involving many subject fields. The society should pay more attention to it. The preventing project should be implemented from mutiple angles and by many means.