Depression, stress, and anxiety versus internet addiction in early and middle adolescent groups: the mediating roles of family and school environments.

BACKGROUND: Family and school environment play a crucial role across the different developmental stages of adolescence. This paper investigates the potential mediating role of family and school environments in the relationship between the three psychosocial predictors of depression, anxiety, stress, and Internet addiction (IA). Specifically, it focuses on the two stages of early and middle adolescence. METHODS: The study involved a survey of 407 adolescents from Qatar, comprising 250 early adolescents and 157 middle adolescents. Inclusion criteria for the study included adolescents between the ages of 10 to 17 years old, residents of Qatar and studying in a Qatar-based school. To assess the constructs of the three psychosocial predictors, IA, family environment, the study utilized the Depression, Stress, and Anxiety Scale (DASS), the Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire (IADQ), and the Brief Family Relationship Scale, respectively. School environment was measured using questions from the "Health Behavior in School-aged Children: WHO Collaborative Cross-National survey/study (HBSC) 2013-2014. The study applied standard mediation analysis between the DASS components and IA with family and school environment as the mediators. RESULTS: Results from the mediation analysis reveal insights into the relationships between psychosocial predictors and IA. The findings indicate that family and school environments partially mediated the relationship with regards to depression, stress, and anxiety in early adolescents. In middle adolescents, family environment partially mediated the relationship with depression and stress and fully mediating the relationship with anxiety. Meanwhile, school environment only exhibited partial mediation in the relationship with anxiety in middle adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight the crucial role parents and schools play in addressing problematic technology usage that develops as a response to depression, anxiety, and stress among adolescents. Moreover, the study reveals nuances in the mediating role of family and school environment in early and middle adolescence. This highlights the evolving nature of these influences across the different stages of development. Notably, this study contributes to the literature by moving beyond the conventional focus on the so-called WEIRD population, and offering valuable insights from a region that is underrepresented in current research.

The influence of adolescents essential and non-essential use of technology and Internet addiction on their physical and mental fatigues.

This study explores the impact of Internet addiction (IA), age, and essential and non-essential technology usage time on the physical and mental fatigue of adolescents. The research surveyed 477 adolescents from Qatar and employed the Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire (IADQ) and Chalder's Fatigue Scale for data collection. Multiple linear regression and Mann-Whitney U tests were utilized for analysis. The findings indicate that IA, non-essential usage time, and age are positively associated with overall fatigue among adolescents. IA and non-essential usage time are positively linked to physical fatigue, while IA, non-essential usage time, and age are positive predictors of mental fatigue. However, essential usage time is negatively associated with mental fatigue. These results highlight the importance of distinguishing technology usage based on intent and necessity, as well as differentiating between physical and mental fatigue when examining problematic technology usage. This study is among the few conducted in the Middle Eastern context.

Adolescents' Internet addiction: Does it all begin with their environment?

BACKGROUND: This is one of the few studies that examines adolescent Internet addiction (IA) among Middle Eastern population. The purpose of this study is to determine whether adolescents' family and school environments play a role in their Internet Addiction. METHODS: We conduced a survey that included 479 adolescents in Qatar. The survey collected demographic data, the Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire (IADQ), the Brief Family Relationship Scale (BFRS) and questions from the WHO Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey that assess school environment, academic performance, teacher support, and peer support of the adolescents. Factorial analysis, multiple regression, and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Family environment and school environment were negative and significant predictors of adolescent Internet addiction. The prevalence rate was 29.64%. CONCLUSION: Results imply that interventions and digital parenting programs should not only target adolescents, but also include entities in the developmental environment of adolescents, i.e. their family and school.