Cross-lagged analysis of upward social comparison and online aggressive behavior among college students / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To explore the longitudinal relationship between upward social comparison and online aggressive behavior among college students, in order to provide an empirical evidence for educators to carry out mental health promotion for college students.@*Methods@#From December 2021 to March 2022, 539 college students from one university in Inner Mongolia were recruited to complete the Upward Social Comparison Questionnaire (USCQ) and Online Aggressive Behavior Scale (OABS) in a 4 month follow-up study. The structural equation model was used to conduct cross-lagged analysis.@*Results@#The mean scores of upward social comparison for college students tracked at baseline (T1) and 4 months follow-up (T2) were (2.77±0.93, 2.70±1.00) points, and the mean scores of online aggressive behavior were (1.06±0.13, 1.05±0.11) points. There were positive relations between upward social comparison and online aggressive behavior of college students at both cross-sectional levels ( r=0.14-0.19, P <0.05). In the autoregression, T1 upward social comparison could positively predict T2 upward social comparison ( β =0.66), and T1 online aggressive behavior could positively predict T2 online aggressive behavior ( β =0.47)( P <0.01); In the cross-lagged regression, T1 upward social comparison could positively predict T2 online aggressive behavior ( β=0.10, P <0.01), whereas T1 online aggressive behavior could not predict T2 upward social comparison ( β=0.04, P >0.05).@*Conclusion@#Upward social comparison is the cause of online aggressive behavior among college students. The probability of online aggressive behavior among college students should be reduced by guiding students to correctly view the gap between themselves and others.