The Impact of Long-Term Online Learning on Internet Addiction Symptoms among Depressed Secondary School Students: Insights from a Cross-Panel Network Analysis

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to online learning have increased the risk of Internet addiction (IA) among adolescents, especially those who are depressed. This study aims to identify the core symptoms of IA among depressed adolescents using a cross-lagged panel network framework, offering a fresh perspective on understanding the interconnectedness of IA symptoms. Methods: Participants completed the Internet addiction test and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. A total of 2415 students were initially included, and after matching, only 342 students (a cutoff score of 8) were retained for the final data analysis. A cross-lagged panel network analysis was conducted to examine the autoregressive and cross-lagged trajectories of IA symptoms over time. Results: The incidence rate of depression rose remarkably from 14.16% (N = 342) to 17.64% (N = 426) after the four-month online learning. The symptom of “Anticipation” exhibited the highest out-expected influence within the IA network, followed by “Stay online longer” and “Job performance or productivity suffer”. Regarding the symptom network of depression, “Job performance or productivity suffer” had the highest in-expected influence, followed by “Life boring and empty”, “Snap or act annoyed if bothered”, “Check email/SNS before doing things”, and “School grades suffer”. No significant differences were found in global network strength and network structure between waves 1 and 2. Conclusion: These findings prove the negative effects of online learning on secondary students’ mental health and have important implications for developing more effective interventions and policies to mitigate IA levels among depressed adolescents undergoing online learning.