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Published: Mar 6, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.12849
Issue: Vol. 52 No. 3 (2024)
Keywords:
maladaptive cognition, relative deprivation, internet addiction, longitudinal association

Longitudinal associations among relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction: A four-wave study

Main Article Content

Hui Guo

Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment Toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University

Yuetian Ma

Department of Marxism, Shandong Normal University

Shuchang Chen

Department of Clinical Medicine, Jining Medical College

Yanfang Li

Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment Toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University

Yu Tian

Department of State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Cite this article:  Guo, H., Ma, Y., Chen, S., Li, Y., & Tian, Y. (2024). Longitudinal associations among relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction: A four-wave study. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 52(3), e12849.


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We investigated the longitudinal associations among relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction in Chinese university students. We gave 912 university students assessments at four time points (every 6 months) over the first 2 years of their enrollment at college. Cross-lagged panel analysis revealed the presence of positive correlations among relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction. Moreover, these associations were dynamic and bidirectional across the four time points. Furthermore, maladaptive cognition played a bidirectional mediating role in the association between relative deprivation and internet addiction across the time points. Relative deprivation and internet addiction appeared to generate a positive feedback loop, which formed a vicious cycle. The exaggeration of the advantages of using the internet may lead to internet addiction, while an exaggeration of one’s supposedly disadvantaged circumstances may lead to increased relative deprivation.

Article Highlights

  • Relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction were found to be positively associated with each other across time.
  • The associations among relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction were dynamic and bidirectional across time.
  • Maladaptive cognition played a bidirectional mediating role in the association between relative deprivation and internet addiction over a 2-year period.

The number of internet users in China was approximately 1.032 billion by December 2021; among them, university students constituted a prominent group (China Internet Network Information Center, 2022). However, excessive internet use may lead to internet addiction, which is characterized by an individual’s preoccupation with the internet, failure to control one’s desire to access the internet, and continual use of the internet despite it leading to functional impairment (Kuss et al., 2014; Yang et al., 2021). Several studies have reported that internet addiction is positively correlated with poor academic performance, interpersonal problems, and emotional disorders (Bozoglan & Kumar, 2021; Galczyk et al., 2021). Considering the negative effects of internet addiction, we focused on investigating the predictive factors for internet addiction and the process of its development.
 
Relative deprivation is the sense of being treated unjustly or compensated inadequately, and refers to the failure to meet a certain standard (e.g., social status or income; Crosby, 1976). Relative deprivation may be a predictor of internet addiction as it is positively correlated with escapism (Callan et al., 2015). The internet has diminished the importance of an individual’s real-world social status and income due to the anonymity and alternative virtual world that it offers (Ding et al., 2018; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). Thus, individuals with a sense of relative deprivation may resort to the internet to escape from reality (Ding et al., 2018). Furthermore, studies have indicated there is a positive correlation between relative deprivation and emotional disorders, such as anxiety and depression (Eibner et al., 2004; Mummendey et al., 1999). High levels of relative deprivation may lead to increased internet use to alleviate negative emotions (Ding et al., 2018). Considering these findings, we expected relative deprivation would be a key predictor of internet addiction.
 
Notably, relative deprivation may be an outcome of internet addiction. Individuals use the internet to escape from reality to decrease their relative deprivation, but its use also leads to a greater tendency toward escapism, which may lead to higher relative deprivation (Tian et al., 2017). This may indicate a reciprocal and bidirectional association between relative deprivation and internet addiction, constituting a positive feedback loop, thus creating a vicious cycle. Extended internet use negatively affects an individual’s life at home and at work or school (Bozoglan & Kumar, 2021), and these effects lead to decreased socioeconomic status, which increases relative deprivation (Davis, 2001). In addition, we believe individuals may expect to receive the same high recognition in real life as they do online, and the mismatch between both increases relative deprivation.
 
According to the cognitive behavioral model of internet addiction (Davis, 2001), maladaptive cognition (distorted cognition about the internet, e.g., the perception that one receives greater recognition on the internet than in real life) is the proximal factor, while depression or social anxiety are distal factors responsible for internet addiction, and these distal factors could influence internet addiction through the proximal factor (Davis, 2001; Ding et al., 2018). Crosby (1976) found that relative deprivation is positively associated with depression and social anxiety, which indicates that relative deprivation is a distal factor of internet addiction. According to the cognitive behavioral model of internet addiction, people with high levels of relative deprivation tend to develop internet addiction through maladaptive cognition (Tian et al., 2017). These individuals use the internet to alleviate their negative emotions; although such emotions are temporarily alleviated, these people may develop maladaptive cognition, such as a perception that life on the internet is better than life in the real world, which further increases their internet addiction. Therefore, we predicted that maladaptive cognition may play the role of a mediator in the association between relative deprivation and internet addiction.
 
The temporary experience of just treatment or adequate compensation on the internet may lead to a belief that the internet can be an outlet of escape or means to alleviate negative emotions, which is defined as maladaptive cognition (Davis, 2001). We believe internet addiction may increase an individual’s sense of relative deprivation by leading to the development of maladaptive cognition. However, individuals with internet addiction tend to spend more time on the internet, which indicates internet addiction could increase the level of maladaptive cognition (Tian et al., 2017). Therefore, we predicted that maladaptive cognition may increase relative deprivation because the individual exaggerates the desirability of life online and the unfairness of life in the real world.
 
In this longitudinal study we used a four-wave design to explore the reciprocal associations among relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction. We proposed the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction will predict the development of each other across the four time points.
Hypothesis 2: Maladaptive cognition will play a bidirectional mediating role in the association between relative deprivation and internet addiction across the four time points.
 

Method

Participants and Procedure

We used cluster sampling to recruit students from two departments of a university in China. The participants responded to online questionnaires using the Questionnaire Star platform; the total response time was 20 minutes. Four assessments were performed throughout the study period. Of those whose data were used in the later analysis, 912 students, including 396 (43.4%) men and 516 (56.6%) women, participated in this study. Of these, 601 (65.9%) resided in rural areas and 311 (34.1%) resided in urban areas during the study. At the time of the first assessment, the mean age of the participants was 18.36 years (SD = 0.82, range = 16–26).

Measures

Relative Deprivation

We assessed relative deprivation using the four items of the Relative Deprivation Questionnaire (Ma, 2012). The scale was developed in Chinese and responses are recorded on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). This scale has been shown to be valid and reliable (Gao et al., 2017). In this study Cronbach’s alpha values calculated at the four time points from earliest to latest were .70, .78, .83, and .84, indicating the questionnaire was reliable.
 

Maladaptive Cognition

We assessed maladaptive cognition using the 14-item Maladaptive Cognition Scale (Liang, 2008), which is written in Chinese and consists of three dimensions: online comfort, weak impulse control, and avoidance and withdrawal. Responses are recorded on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). In this study Cronbach’s alpha values for the scale at the four time points from earliest to latest were .91, .93, .94, and .94, indicating the scale was reliable.
 

Internet Addiction

We assessed internet addiction using the 19-item Chinese version (Bai & Fan, 2005) of the Internet Addiction Scale (Young, 1996). In this study Cronbach’s alpha values for the scale at the four time points from earliest to latest were .95, .96, .97, and .97, indicating the scale was reliable.

Data Analysis

We filled missing data points (84.87%) using the sequence mean. The data were analyzed using SPSS 19.0 and Amos 24.0 for testing mediation effects. The skewness values for the studied variables were larger than 0, suggesting the data in this study had a normal distribution.

Results

Descriptive Statistics and Correlations Among Study Variables

Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations, and correlations for the study variables. Relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction were positively correlated across the four time points.

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics and Correlations Among Study Variables

Table/Figure
Note. T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2; T3 = Time 3; T4 = Time 4; RD = relative deprivation; MC = maladaptive cognition; IA = internet addiction.
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.

Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis Results

On the basis of a previous study (Yao & Zhong, 2014) we developed a cross-lagged panel analysis model for this study. The fit statistics we checked for the cross-lagged panel analysis model were chi-square/degrees of freedom ratio (χ2/df), comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker–Lewis index (TLI), normed fit index (NFI), and root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA). The model has good fit when χ2/df is < 5; CFI, TLI, and NFI are > .90; and RMSEA is < .08 (Browne & Cudeck, 1993). In our study the model had a good fit to the data, χ2/df = 4.72, CFI = .96, TLI = .91, NFI = .95, and RMSEA = .06. The results revealed that all paths were significant, except the path from T1 relative deprivation to T2 maladaptive cognition and the path from T1 internet addiction to T2 relative deprivation (see Table 2). Therefore, relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction positively predicted the development of each other across the time points, and Hypothesis 1 was supported.

Table 2. Longitudinal Associations Among the Variables Across the Time Points

Table/Figure
Note. T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2; T3 = Time 3; T4 = Time 4; RD = relative deprivation; MC = maladaptive cognition; IA = internet addiction.
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.

The paths indicated four mediating mechanisms of the longitudinal associations among relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction. According to Shrout and Bolger (2002), a mediating effect is significant at the .05 level if the 95% confidence interval (CI) does not include zero. Our results indicated that the following effects were significant: the indirect effect of T1 relative deprivation on T4 internet addiction through the path from T2 relative deprivation to T3 maladaptive cognition, 95% CI [0.010, 0.040], the indirect effect of T1 internet addiction on T4 relative deprivation through the path from T2 maladaptive cognition to T3 relative deprivation, 95% CI [0.001, 0.005], the indirect effect of T1 internet addiction on T4 relative deprivation through the path from T2 maladaptive cognition to T3 maladaptive cognition, 95% CI [0.000, 0.004], and the indirect effect of T1 internet addiction on T4 relative deprivation through the path from T2 internet addiction to T3 maladaptive cognition, 95% CI [0.000, 0.003]. Therefore, maladaptive cognition played a partial bidirectional mediating role in the association between relative deprivation and internet addiction across the time points. Thus, Hypothesis 2 was supported.

Discussion


Our study findings suggest that relative deprivation is not only a positive predictor of internet addiction but also a negative outcome of internet addiction; this, in turn, indicates the pathological compensation effect between relative deprivation and internet addiction. Specifically, individuals with high levels of relative deprivation tend to use the internet to compensate for their feelings of being treated unjustly or compensated inadequately in the real world, and their needs may be momentarily satisfied by the anonymity and alternative virtual world provided by the internet, which decreases the importance of social status and income in the real world (Ding et al., 2018; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). However, because of this short-lived experience, people use the internet to escape from reality and alleviate negative emotions, which often leads to the development of internet addiction (Tian et al., 2017). Prolonged internet use not only widens socioeconomic gaps but also sets new standards for comparison, which ultimately increases relative deprivation (Ding et al., 2018). Thus, internet addiction exerts the effects of pathological compensation rather than constructive compensation.

The findings in this study suggest that maladaptive cognition plays a bidirectional mediating role in the pathological compensation of the association between relative deprivation and internet addiction. On the one hand, people with high levels of relative deprivation tend to have greater internet use because of maladaptive cognition; this may result from the expectation of receiving more just treatment and adequate compensation on the internet than in real life and may even lead to internet addiction. On the other hand, people with high levels of internet addiction tend to have high levels of relative deprivation because of the development of maladaptive cognition. Although most people use the internet to play online games, access social media, listen to online music, and perform other activities to temporarily escape from reality or alleviate their negative emotions, some people exaggerate the advantages of using the internet as they find the online world to be better than the real world (Davis, 2001; Tian et al., 2017). Our findings suggest such maladaptive cognition may lead to overestimation of how good life on the internet is and how bad real life is. People may exaggerate their feelings of being treated unjustly or compensated inadequately in the real world, which can lead to increased relative deprivation.

Limitations and Directions for Future Research

This study has some limitations. First, all data were self-reported, which might have led to common method bias. We recommend that future researchers use multiple methods of data collection. Second, the findings cannot be generalized beyond Chinese students, who formed the sample in this study. Therefore, studies of other populations are recommended. Finally, the study and interval periods were short; therefore, the findings cannot be extrapolated to the entire duration of students’ university life.

Conclusion

The associations among relative deprivation, maladaptive cognition, and internet addiction were dynamic and bidirectional across the four time points during the first 2 years of the university life of the Chinese students who participated in this study. Notably, maladaptive cognition played a bidirectional mediating role in the association between relative deprivation and internet addiction across the time points. These results suggest interventions should target maladaptive cognition, which could break the vicious cycle between relative deprivation and internet addiction.

 

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Table 1. Descriptive Statistics and Correlations Among Study Variables

Table/Figure
Note. T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2; T3 = Time 3; T4 = Time 4; RD = relative deprivation; MC = maladaptive cognition; IA = internet addiction.
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.

Table 2. Longitudinal Associations Among the Variables Across the Time Points

Table/Figure
Note. T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2; T3 = Time 3; T4 = Time 4; RD = relative deprivation; MC = maladaptive cognition; IA = internet addiction.
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.

Yanfang Li, Beijing Normal University, 19 Hao, Xinjie Kouwai Road, Haidian District, Beijing City 100091, People’s Republic of China. Email: [email protected], or Yu Tian, Beijing Normal University, 19 Hao, Xinjie Kouwai Road, Haidian District, Beijing City 100091, People’s Republic of China. Email: [email protected]

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