Subjective well-being and internet overuse: A meta-analysis of mainland Chinese students
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Subjective well-being and internet overuse: A meta-analysis of mainland Chinese students Hao Lei 1 & Ming Ming Chiu 2 & Shunyu Li 3
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract This meta-analysis tested whether (a) internet overuse was linked to subjective well-being, life satisfaction, positive emotion, or negative emotion and (b) whether participants’ geographical region, age, or gender moderated these links. Meta-analysis of 70 primary studies with 68,964 participants showed that students with internet overuse had more negative emotions, less subjective well-being, less life satisfaction, and less positive emotions. Geographic region, age, and gender moderated these links. The link between negative emotions and internet overuse was stronger in studies of participants in Central China and Western China than those of participants in Eastern China. In addition, internet overuse’s links to subjective well-being and positive emotions were stronger in studies of younger students than in studies of university students. Lastly, internet overuse’s negative links with subjective well-being, life satisfaction, and positive emotion were stronger in samples with more females than with more males. Keywords Internet addiction . Life satisfaction . Negative emotion . Positive emotion . Subjective well-being . Meta-analysis
Introduction The rapid development of internet technology has increased the convenience of many tasks for many people, but it has also enticed many people to have an excessive, poorly-controlled preoccupation with internet use (Park et al. 2014). As past studies did not apply clinical diagnoses, we use the phrase internet overuse rather than internet addiction, pathological internet use, compulsive internet use, or internet dependence (Starcevic and Aboujaoude 2017). Internet overuse is linked
to many psychological disorders (e.g., depression, social anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Weinstein and Lejoyeux 2010). Hence, understanding the factors that contribute to it (e.g., personality, parenting, alcohol use, Burnay et al. 2015; Lei et al. 2018, Li et al. 2018a; Shaw and Black 2008; Weinstein and Lejoyeux 2010) or protect against it is crucial to developing suitable interventions to reduce internet overuse and its harmful consequences. In this study, we examine the relation between subjective well-being (SWB, Diener and Ryan 2009) and internet
Paper originality • Meta-analysis of 70 studies of 68,964 students • Students with internet overuse had more negative emotions, less subjective well-being, less life satisfaction, and less positive emotions. • Results reject uses and gratification theory • Results are consistent with social displacement, social engagement, mood enhancement • Age, geographic region, and gender moderate these links • Proposed moderation mechanisms: population density, income, entertainment options * Shunyu Li [email protected]
1
Institute of Curriculum and Instruction, East China Normal University, Shanghai
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