AUTHOR=Zhao Mengmeng , Wang Ruixin , Zhao Zhenyu , Li Lina , Luo Hongge , Wu Lei 

TITLE=The relationship between boredom proneness, the behavioral inhibition system, and anxiety in college students: variable-centered and person-centered analytic approaches

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1414736

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1414736

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Objective</title><p>To explore the relationship among boredom proneness, the behavioral inhibition system, and anxiety among college students based on variable-centered and person-centered analytic approaches.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>A questionnaire survey was conducted on 1,102 college students from a university in Hebei Province using the Boredom Proneness Questionnaire (BPQ) for College Students, the Behavioral Inhibition System Scale (BIS), and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7).</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>The results reveal that boredom proneness was negatively correlated with scores on the behavioral inhibition system (<italic>r</italic> = −0.100, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01), and positively correlated with anxiety (<italic>r</italic> = 0.457, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), while the behavioral inhibition system was positively correlated with anxiety (<italic>r</italic> = 0.086, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01). In the variable-centered analyses study, it was found that the behavioral inhibition system partially mediated the association between boredom proneness and anxiety. In the person-centered analyses study, three subtypes were identified: the high boredom-low inhibition group (9.35%), the moderate boredom-inhibition group (66.70%), and the low boredom-high inhibition group (23.95%). Individuals in these subtypes showed significant differences in anxiety scores (<italic>F</italic> = 4.538, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), with the low boredom-high inhibition group scoring the highest.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>The results showed that the behavioral inhibition system partially mediates the relationship between boredom proneness and anxiety in college students; boredom proneness and the behavioral inhibition system exhibit group heterogeneity, with distinct classification features closely related to anxiety.</p></sec>