Factors influencing internet addiction among university students: The mediating roles of self-control and anxiety

Abstract

This study aims to explore the key factors affecting internet addiction among college students, analyzing how stress, social support, self-efficacy, self-control, and anxiety influence internet addiction and their interrelationships and mechanisms. A structured survey was administered to 538 students from Zhengzhou Vocational University of Information and Technology, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Henan Polytechnic, employing a two-stage Structural Equation Modeling-Artificial Neural Network (SEM-ANN) to uncover non-compensatory and non-linear relationships. The findings indicate stress, self-control, pleasure, anxiety, self-efficacy, and social support as significant predictors of internet addiction, providing theoretical and practical insights into mitigating internet addiction.