The Relationship Between Behavioral Brain Systems and Internet Addiction: The Mediating Role of Social Anxiety

Subject Areas : روان‌شناسی تحولی

Soodabe  Jafarinasab ¹ (MA in Educational Psychology Islamic Azad University Mobarakeh Branch)
Maryam  Kadkhodaee ² (PhD Islamic Azad University Mobarakeh Branch)

Received: 2023-03-06 Accepted : 2023-03-06 Published : 2022-09-23

Keywords: internet addiction, Social anxiety, behavioral brain systems,

Abstract :

This study has been conducted to determine the mediating role of social anxiety in the relationship between behavioral brain systems and Internet addiction. For this purpose, in descriptive research, 346 students (129 males and 217 females) were selected by convenience sampling of students of the non-profit Shahid Ashrafi University of Isfahan. The participants were requested to fill out Gary-Wilson (1989) Personality Questionnaire, Social Anxiety Inventory (Connor et al., 2000), and Internet Addic- tion Test (Young, 1998). Data were analyzed using path analysis. The findings showed that the direct and indirect effect of behavioral activation system on internet addiction is negative and the direct and indirect effect of behavioral inhibition and fight-flight systems on internet addiction is positive. Likewise, the direct effect of behavioral activation system on social anxiety is negative and the direct effect of behavioral inhibition and fight-flight systems on social anxiety is positive. Also, the direct effect of social anxiety on internet addiction is also positive. In addition, the amount of explained variance (R2) is 0.48, which means that behavioral brain systems and social anxiety have the ability to explain 48% of the variance of Internet addiction. Therefore, in order to prevent Internet addiction, in addition to paying attention to behavioral brain systems, it is necessary to provide the necessary grounds to reduce social anxiety.

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