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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Substance Use Disorders and Behavioral Addictions
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1442852
This article is part of the Research Topic Impact of digital addiction on mental health and comorbidities in older adults View all 3 articles

The Relationship between Problematic Internet Use and Psychological Distress in Older Chinese Teachers (40+) during Different Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Three Cross-Sectional Studies

Provisionally accepted
Xiu-Mei Chen Xiu-Mei Chen 1*Lifeng Wang Lifeng Wang 1Xiao-Ling Liao Xiao-Ling Liao 2*Shuai Wang Shuai Wang 1*Lan Yang Lan Yang 3*I-Hua Chen I-Hua Chen 4*
  • 1 Shandong Youth University of Political Science, Jinan, Shandong, China
  • 2 Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
  • 3 Dali University, Dali, Yunnan, China
  • 4 China Academy of Education Big Data, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Despite a consensus on the negative implications of problematic Internet use (PIU) for mental health, there is a notable gap in research concerning older demographics, particularly older teachers. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of PIU and its impact on the mental wellbeing of this population.: Three sub-studies were conducted: Study 1 (2020) investigated how fear induced by COVID-19 influenced PIU and psychological distress among 3,929 older teachers. Study 2 (2021) examined the effects of PIU on psychological needs thwarting (the frustration of basic psychological needs) and psychological distress, involving 3,509 participants. Study 3 (2022) explored the impact of PIU on occupational burnout and psychological distress, with 1,278 participants. The Generalized Linear Model in Jamovi 2.3.23 was used to evaluate the three mediation models. Results: The three sub-studies revealed a high prevalence of PIU among older teachers (27.4% in Study 1, 27.4% in Study 2, and 24.5% in Study 3). High levels of PIU were associated with elevated psychological distress during the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 1, fear of COVID-19 indirectly influenced psychological distress through PIU as a mediator. In Studies 2 and 3, respectively, psychological needs thwarting and occupational burnout mediated the relationship between PIU and psychological distress.Conclusions: This study confirmed the high prevalence of PIU among older school teachers and the detrimental effect of PIU on psychological needs thwarting, occupational burnout, and psychological distress. Given these findings, education authorities and school management should take proactive steps to mitigate PIU and ensure the health and well-being of older teachers.

    Keywords: Problematic Internet Use1, problematic smartphone use2, fear of Covid-193, psychological need thwarting4, burnout5, mediation model6, psychological distress7

    Received: 04 Jun 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Wang, Liao, Wang, Yang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xiu-Mei Chen, Shandong Youth University of Political Science, Jinan, 250103, Shandong, China
    Xiao-Ling Liao, Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
    Shuai Wang, Shandong Youth University of Political Science, Jinan, 250103, Shandong, China
    Lan Yang, Dali University, Dali, 671000, Yunnan, China
    I-Hua Chen, China Academy of Education Big Data, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China

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