The Relationship Between Emotional Eating Behavior and Internet Addiction in Junior High School Students: A...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Digital Technology Impact

Background:

• Adolescent internet addiction is a growing concern with increasing digital technology use.
• The specific mechanisms linking emotional eating to internet addiction require further investigation.
• Understanding these pathways is crucial for developing targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the association pathway between emotional eating and internet addiction in junior high school students.
• To examine the chain-mediating effects of sleep quality and depression in this relationship.
• To elucidate the statistical mediation pathway: maladaptive emotion regulation → circadian disruption → psychopathology → addictive behavior.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 3245 junior high school students in Shenzhen, China.
• Internet addiction assessed using Young's questionnaire.
• Emotional eating measured by the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire subscale.
• Chain-mediating effects analyzed using PROCESS macro (Model 6).

Main Results:

• A modest positive association was found between emotional eating and internet addiction (β = 0.024, p < 0.01).
• Significant mediating pathways identified: emotional eating → sleep quality → internet addiction (14.52% of total effect).
• Emotional eating → depression → internet addiction (19.67% of total effect).
• Emotional eating → sleep quality → depression → internet addiction (9.60% of total effect).

Conclusions:

• Emotional eating is significantly associated with internet addiction in adolescents.
• Sleep quality and depression act as independent and chain mediators in this association.
• Findings support interventions focusing on sleep management and emotional regulation for preventing internet addiction.