How computer and Internet use influences mental health: a five-wave latent growth model

The study used a five-wave latent growth model to compare two sets of competing hypotheses about the influence of overall computer and Internet use on mental health. The secondary data set from the Korean Youth Panel Survey (KYPS) with a valid sample size of 2,003 respondents was used for the analysis. The mediating role of friendship–closeness was examined to compare the social augmentation hypothesis with the social displacement hypothesis. The mediating role of academic stress was tested to compare the mood enhancement hypothesis with the problematic Internet use (PIU) model. The study was consistent with the social displacement hypothesis, where a higher initial computer and Internet use predicted a lower initial friendship–closeness, which, in turn, resulted in a faster decrease in mental health. The study provided reconciliation for the mood enhancement hypothesis and the PIU model. Although a higher initial computer and Internet use predicted lower initial mental health levels through academic stress, schoolchildren and adolescents with more computer and Internet use experienced a slower decrease in mental health because of the mediating role of academic stress.