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

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, M_age = 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.