How Does Problematic Internet Use Mediate The Relation Between Belongingness And Mental Well-Being?

The present study examined whether problematic internet use mediate the links between belongingness and mental well-being. This study recruited 373 (57.4% female and 42.6% male) university students and the data collected via Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, General Belongingness Scale, and Young’s Internet Addiction Test-Short Form. The data were analyzed by structural equation modeling and bootstrapping. Results showed that belongingness significantly predicted mental well-being and this relation was mediated by problematic internet use. Consequently, results highlight the significance of identifying the mechanisms that mediate the path between belongingness and university students' mental well-being.

___

  • Adler, A. (1964). Social interest: A challenge to mankind. New York: Capricorn books.
  • Alptekin, D. (2011). Toplumsal aidiyet ve gençlik: Üniversite gençliğinin aidiyeti üzerine sosyolojik bir araştırma (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), Selçuk Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Konya.
  • Çağır, G., & Gürgan, U. (2010). The relationship between the levels of high school and university students’ problematic use of internet and their perceived wellness and loneliness levels. Balikesir University Journal of Social Sciences Institute, 13, 75-85.
  • Caplan, S. E. (2005). A social skill account of problematic internet use. Journal of Communication, 55, 721–736.
  • Carlsson, F., Lampi, E., Li, W., & Martinsson, P. (2014). Subjective well-being among preadolescents and their parents–Evidence of intergenerational transmission of well-being from urban China. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 48, 11-18.
  • Çetin Dağlı, M., & Gündüz, B. (2017). Üniversite öğrencilerinde yalnızlık ve psikolojik iyi oluş ilişkisinde problemli internet kullanımının aracı rolü. Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 44, 339-357.
  • Ceyhan, A. A., & Ceyhan, E. (2008). Loneliness, depression, and computer self-efficacy as predictors of problematic internet use. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 699-701.
  • Chen, X., Li, F. H.,& Long, L. L. (2007). Prospective study on the relationship between social support and internet addiction. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 21(4), 240-243.
  • Demirtaş, A. S., Baytemir, K., & Güllü, A. (2018). Pedagojik formasyon öğrencilerinde umut ve mental iyi oluş: Yapılandırmacı düşünmenin aracı rolü. Mersin Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 14(1), 317-331.
  • Diener, E. (2009). Subjective well-being. In The science of well-being (pp. 11-58). Springer, Dordrecht.
  • Duru, E. (2015). Genel Aidiyet Ölçeğinin psikometrik özellikleri: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Türk Psikolojik Danışma ve Rehberlik Dergisi, 5(44), 37-47.
  • George, D., & Mallery, M. (2010). SPSS for Windows Step by Step: A Simple Guide and Reference, 17.0 update (10 ed.) Boston: Pearson.
  • Glasser, W. (1999). Choice theory: A new psychology of personal freedom. Harper Perennial.
  • Gök, E., & Kocayörük, E. (2019). Temel psikolojik ihtiyaçlar, aile aidiyeti ve ebeveyn algısı değişkenlerinin öznel iyi oluş üzerindeki etkisi. Aile Psikolojik Danışmanlığı Dergisi, 2(2), 21-51.
  • Goldberg, I. (1996). Goldberg's message. Retrieved 05 December 2019 http://users.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/supportgp.html
  • Gönener, A., Öztürk, A., & Yılmaz, O. (2017). Kocaeli Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Fakültesi öğrencilerinin mental (psikolojik) iyi olma düzeylerinin mutluluk düzeylerine etkisi. Sportif Bakış: Spor ve Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, 4(1), 44-55.
  • Hietalahti, M., Rantanen, J., & Kokko, K. (2016). Do life goals mediate the link between personality traits and mental well-being. The Journal of Happiness & Well-Being, 4(1), 72-89.
  • Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural equation modeling: a multidisciplinary journal, 6(1), 1-55.
  • Kaya, Ö. S. (2018). Romantik ilişkilerde problem çözme becerilerinin empati ve mental iyi oluş açısından incelenmesi. Journal of Higher Education & Science/Yüksekögretim ve Bilim Dergisi, 8(1).
  • Keldal, G. (2015). Warwick-Edinburgh Mental İyi Oluş Ölçeği’nin türkçe formu: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. The Journal of Happiness & Well-Being, 3(1), 103-115.
  • Keser-Özcan, N. ve Buzlu S. (2007). Internet use and its relation with the psychosocial situation for a sample of university students. Cyberpsychology and Behaviour, 10, 6-9.
  • Keyes, C. L. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of health and social behavior, 207-222.
  • Kutlu, M., Savcı, M., Demir, Y., & Aysan, F. (2016). Turkish adaptation of Young’s Internet Addiction Test-Short Form: a reliability and validity study on university students and adolescents. Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry, 17, 69-76.
  • MacCallum, R. C., Browne, M. W., & Sugawara, H. M. (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychological methods, 1(2), 130-149.
  • Malone, G. P., Pillow, D. R., & Osman, A. (2012). The general belongingness scale (GBS): Assessing achieved belongingness. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(3), 311-316.
  • Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological review, 50(4), 370.
  • Mavili, P., Kesen, Ö., & Daşbaş, Ö. (2014). Aile Aidiyeti Ölçeği: Bir ölçek geliştirme çalışması. Sosyal Politika Çalışmaları Dergisi, 14(33),29-45.
  • McIntyre, E., Wiener, K., K., & Saliba, A., J. (2015). Compulsive Internet use and relations between social connectedness, and introversion. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 569-574.
  • Mellor, D., Stokes, M., Firth, L., Hayashi, Y., & Cummins, R. (2008). Need for belonging, relationship satisfaction, loneliness, and life satisfaction. Personality and individual differences, 45(3), 213-218.
  • Meral, D., & Bahar, H. H. (2016). Ortaöğretim öğrencilerinde problemli internet kullanımının yalnızlık ve psikolojik iyi oluş ile ilişkisinin incelenmesi. Erzincan University Journal of Education Faculty, 18(2), 1117-1134.
  • Nasser-Abu Alhija, F., & Wisenbaker, J. (2006). A Monte Carlo study investigating the impact of item parceling strategies on parameter estimates and their standard errors in CFA. Structural Equation Modeling, 13(2), 204-228.
  • Nunnally, J. C. & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc.
  • Oktan, V. (2015). Problematic internet use, loneliness and perceived social support among university students. Kastamonu Education Journal, 23(1), 281-292. Robbins, S. B., & Kliewer, W. L. (2000). Advances in theory and research on subjective well-being. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (p. 310–345). John Wiley & Sons Inc.
  • Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of personality and social psychology, 57(6), 1069.
  • Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (1998). The contours of positive human health. Psychological inquiry, 9(1), 1-28.
  • Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (2008). Know thyself and become what you are: A eudaimonic approach to psychological well-being. Journal of happiness studies, 9(1), 13-39.
  • Satici, S. A., & Gocet-Tekin, E. (2016). Psychometric properties of the general belongingness scale in Turkish youth. Current Psychology, 35(4), 625-631.
  • Savcı, M., & Aysan, F. (2017). Teknolojik bağımlılıklar ve sosyal bağlılık: İnternet bağımlılığı, sosyal medya bağımlılığı, dijital oyun bağımlılığı ve akıllı telefon bağımlılığının sosyal bağlılığı yordayıcı etkisi. Düşünen Adam, 30(3), 202-216.
  • Sawyer, M. G., Arney, F. M., Baghurst, P. A., Clark, J. J., Graetz, B. W., Kosky, R. J., ... & Rey, J. M. (2001). The mental health of young people in Australia: key findings from the child and adolescent component of the national survey of mental health and well‐being. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35(6), 806-814.
  • Seligman, M. (2018). PERMA and the building blocks of well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(4), 333-335.
  • Shapira, N. A., Lessig, M. C., Goldsmith, T. D., Szabo, S. T., Lazoritz, M., Gold, M. S., & Stein, D. J. (2003). Problematic internet use: proposed classification and diagnostic criteria. Depression and Anxiety, 17, 207-216.
  • Tennant, R., Hiller, L., Fishwick, R., Platt, S., Joseph, S., Weich, S., Parkinson, J., Secker, J., & Stewart-Brown, S. (2007). The Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS): Development and UK validation. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 5(1), 50-63.
  • Turkish Statistical Institute (2019). Hane halkı bilişim teknolojileri kullanım araştırması. Retrieved from http://www.tuik.gov.tr/PreTablo.do?alt_id=1028
  • World Health Organisation. (2004). Promoting Mental Health; Concepts Emerging Evidence and Practice (Summary report). Geneva.
  • Yeter, S. İ. (2019). Üniversite öğrencilerinin mutluluk düzeylerinin aile aidiyeti ve manevi yönelimlerine göre yordanması. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Marmara Üniversitesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü.
  • Yılmaz, M. F. (2013). Üniversite öğrencilerinin psikolojik iyi oluşlarının problemli internet kullanımı ve bazı demografik değişkenler açısından incelenmesi (Unpublished master's thesis). Anadolu Üniversitesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü.
  • Young, K. S. (1996). Internet addiction; the emergence of new clinical disorder. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1, 237-244.
  • Young, K. S. (1998). Caught in the net: How to recognize the signs of internet addiction--and a winning strategy for recovery. John Wiley & Sons.