The Mediator Roles of Problematic Internet Use and Perceived Stress Between Health Behaviors and Work-Life Balance Among Internet Users in Germany and China: Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Work-life balance is associated with health behaviors. In the face of digitalization, understanding this link requires a theory-based investigation of problematic internet use and perceived stress, which are so far unknown. OBJECTIVE: On the basis of the compensatory carry-over action model, this study aimed to determine whether problematic internet use and perceived stress mediate the relationship between health behaviors and work-life balance in two groups of internet users from different environments (residents in Germany and China). We also investigated whether the place of residence was a moderator. METHODS: An online questionnaire (N=877) was administered to residents from Germany (n=374) and China (n=503) in 3 languages (German, English, and Chinese). Moderated mediation analyses were run with health behaviors as the independent variable, work-life balance as the dependent variable, problematic internet use and perceived stress as the mediator variables, and place of residence as a potential moderator. RESULTS: On a mean level, individuals in Germany reported less problematic internet use and more health behaviors than individuals in China; however, they also had lower work-life balance and higher perceived stress. Results showed that health behaviors seem to be directly related to work-life balance in both groups. Among the residents of Germany, a partial mediation was revealed (β=.13; P=.01), whereas among the residents of China, a full mediation was found (β=.02; P=.61). The mediator role of perceived stress was compared with problematic internet use in all the serial models and the parallel model. Residence moderated the relationship between health behaviors and work-life balance: The interrelation between health behaviors and work-life balance was stronger in Germany (β=.19; P<.001) than in China (β=.11; P=.01) when controlling for other variables. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study are in line with the compensatory carry-over action model. To promote work-life balance, individuals should perform health behaviors to help overcome problematic internet use and perceived stress. Both problematic internet use and perceived stress mediated health behaviors and work-life balance partially in German study participants and fully in Chinese study participants.