Table 4.
Results of mixed-effect models in explaining the association between COVID-19-related distress and problematic internet use
| Coefficient (SE) | |||
| SABAS | BSMAS | IGDS9-SF | |
| Group 1 (VIF from 1.01 to 2.39) | |||
| Age | 0.002 (0.043) | −0.011 (0.024) | 0.008 (0.021) |
| Gender (Ref: boys) | 0.002 (0.053) | 0.004 (0.038) | −0.052 (0.034) |
| Current sick (Ref: no) | 0.138 (0.096) | 0.194 (0.096)* | 0.067 (0.037) |
| Worry concerning COVID | 0.000 (0.016) | 0.013 (0.011) | −0.002 (0.006) |
| Time (Ref: Time 1) | −0.506 (0.103) *** | −0.176 (0.068)* | −0.093 (0.047) |
| Worry concerning COVID *Time FCV-19S*Time |
−0.046 (0.027) 0.304 (0.086) ** |
−0.027 (0.017) 0.144 (0.057)* |
−0.016 (0.012) 0.128 (0.042)** |
| Group 2 (VIF from 1.01 to 2.22) | |||
| Age | 0.024 (0.034) | 0.004 (0.026) | −0.016 (0.071) |
| Gender (Ref: boys) | −0.034 (0.055) | −0.049 (0.041) | −0.027 (0.037) |
| Current sick (Ref: no) | −0.160 (0.157) | −0.087 (0.107) | −0.019 (0.071) |
| Worry concerning COVID | 0.033 (0.018) | 0.034 (0.014) | 0.014 (0.009) |
| Time (Ref: Time 1) | −0.199 (0.104) | 0.139 (0.078) | 0.049 (0.006) |
| Worry concerning COVID *Time FCV-19S*Time |
−0.039 (0.027) 0.188 (0.061) ** |
−0.034 (0.021) 0.106 (0.049)* |
−0.020 (0.016) 0.111 (0.048) * |
| Group 3 (VIF from 1.09 to 2.49) | |||
| Age | −0.072 (0.143) | 0.002 (0.108) | −0.013 (0.105) |
| Gender (Ref: boys) | −0.007 (0.2937) | 0.004 (0.222) | 0.350 (0.217) |
| Current sick (Ref: no) | −0.421 (0.872) | −0.129 (0.661) | 0.348 (0.645) |
| Worry concerning COVID | −0.009 (0.052) | 0.005 (0.040) | 0.016 (0.039) |
| Time (Ref: Time 1) | 1.151 (0.265)*** | −0.078 (0.201) | 0.429 (0.197)* |
| Worry concerning COVID *Time FCV-19S*Time |
−0.009 (0.073) 0.384 (0.172)* |
0.027 (0.055) 0.013 (0.130) |
0.007 (0.054) 0.122 (0.127) |
| All participants (VIF from 1.01 to 3.72) | |||
| Group 1 (Ref: Group 3) | 0.978 (0.075)*** | 0.454 (0.064)*** | 0.614 (0.057)*** |
| Group 2 (Ref: Group 3) | 0.810 (0.074)*** | 0.298 (0.065)*** | 0.491 (0.057)*** |
| Age | 0.007 (0.025) | 0.001 (0.018) | −0.011 (0.015) |
| Gender (Ref: boys) | −0.012 (0.037) | −0.020 (0.028) | −0.012 (0.026) |
| Current sick (Ref: no) | −0.078 (0.114) | 0.001 (0.079) | 0.020 (0.049) |
| Worry concerning COVID | 0.012 (0.013) | 0.022 (0.009)* | 0.007 (0.007) |
| Time (Ref: Time 1) | −0.206 (0.074)** | 0.000 (0.053) | 0.024 (0.042) |
| Worry concerning COVID *Time FCV-19S*Time |
−0.037 (0.02) 0.289 (0.053) *** |
−0.025 (0.014) 0.119 (0.038)** |
−0.016 (0.011) 0.126 (0.034)*** |
SABAS = Smartphone Application Based Addiction Scale; BSMAS = Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale; IGDS9-SF = Nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form; FCV-19S = Fear of COVID-19 Scale; VIF = variance inflation factor.
Group 1 = Having the lowest level of problematic internet use; Group 2 = Having the middle level of problematic internet use; Group 3 = Having the highest level of problematic internet use.