Problematic Internet use and academic engagement during the COVID-19 lockdown: The indirect effects of depression, anxiety, and insomnia in early, middle, and late adolescence

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition of online learning introduces challenges for adolescents to engage in learning. The increased access and persistent Internet use could heighten the risk of problematic Internet use (PIU) that has been increasingly recognized as a risk factor for academic engagement. This study aims to investigate the direct and indirect relationships between PIU and academic engagement through psychopathological symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, insomnia) in early, middle, and late adolescence. METHODS: In all, 4852 adolescents (51.5% females; M(age) = 13.80 ± 2.38) from different regions of Chinese mainland participated in the study and completed questionnaires. RESULTS: Depression and then insomnia as well as anxiety and then insomnia mediated the relationship between PIU and academic engagement. Anxiety exhibited a double-edged effect, that is, a positive relation with academic engagement directly and a negative relation with academic engagement indirectly through insomnia. Multigroup analyses showed that the indirect effects of PIU on academic engagement through depression and subsequent insomnia in middle and late adolescence were stronger than that in early adolescence, whereas the direct effect in early adolescence was stronger than that in middle adolescence. LIMITATION: This study was cross-sectional in design and relied upon self-report measures. CONCLUSION: These findings improve the understandings of how PIU relates to academic engagement through psychopathological symptoms and highlight developmental differences of adolescence.