Internet addiction and nonsuicidal self-injury in adolescence: Associations with offline and online social support

Sihan Liu, Min Pei Lin*, Yueh Ting Lee, Jo Yung Wei Wu, Wei Hsuan Hu, Jianing You*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: Both nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and Internet addiction (IA) are important health issues for adolescents, and social support has been extensively examined as a protective factor for both. This study aims to compare the effect of offline and online social support on IA, and that on NSSI as well. Method: A total of 1911 Chinese adolescents (53.27% females, Mage = 16.83 ± 0.37) completed self-report questionnaires assessing offline social support, online social support, IA, and NSSI. Results: The structural equation modeling analysis showed that offline social support was negatively associated with IA and NSSI, while online social support was positively associated with IA and NSSI; IA was positively associated with NSSI. Furthermore, implications for preventions and interventions of IA and NSSI were discussed. The indirect model explained a relatively small variance of NSSI, indicating the possibility of additional factors in the development of NSSI that should be further investigated. Conclusion: This study indicated the differences between offline and online social support, and their different associations with IA and NSSI.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)971-982
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Clinical Psychology
Volume78
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022 May

Keywords

  • Internet addiction
  • adolescent
  • nonsuicidal self-injury
  • offline social support
  • online social support

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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