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Internet addiction among college students in a Chinese population: Prevalence, correlates, and its relationship with suicide attempts
Author(s) -
Shen Yanmei,
Meng Fanchao,
Xu Huiming,
Li Xia,
Zhang Yaru,
Huang Chunxiang,
Luo Xuerong,
Zhang Xiang Yang
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
depression and anxiety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.634
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6394
pISSN - 1091-4269
DOI - 10.1002/da.23036
Subject(s) - addiction , anxiety , suicidal ideation , psychiatry , clinical psychology , the internet , logistic regression , psychology , depression (economics) , medicine , poison control , suicide prevention , medical emergency , world wide web , computer science , economics , macroeconomics
Background Internet addiction is common, but its relationship with suicide attempts is rarely reported among Chinese college students. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and correlates of internet addiction among Chinese college students. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted among 8,098 college students in Hunan province, China. We collected the following data: demographic variables, suicidal behaviors, internet addiction (Revised Chinese Internet Addiction Scale), depression (Self‐reporting Depression Scale), and anxiety (Self‐Rating Anxiety Scale). Results The prevalence of internet addiction was 7.7% in these Chinese college students. Logistic regression analysis showed that good relationship with mother (1.730 [1.075, 2.784]), good relationship with father (0.615 [0.427, 0.885]), family history of mental disorders (2.291 [1.122, 4.676]), anxiety (1.987 [1.382, 2.857]), depression (2.016 [1.384, 2.937]), suicidal ideation (2.266 [1.844, 2.784]), and suicide attempts (1.672 [1.258, 2.224]) were independent correlates for internet addiction, the adjusted R square for this model is 13.7%. Furthermore, the prevalence of suicide attempts among internet addiction participants was 21.4%, and anxiety (3.397 [1.058, 10.901]), suicidal ideation (26.984 [11.538, 63.112]), and suicide plans (8.237 [3.888, 17.451]) were the independent predictors for suicide attempts, the adjusted R square for this model is 51.6%. Conclusion Our results show that internet addiction is common among Chinese college students. In addition, suicide attempts are very common among internet addicts, suggesting that special measures and attention should be provided to these students according to risk factors to prevent their suicidal behavior.