Core symptoms and symptom relationships of problematic internet use across early, middle, and late adolescence: A network analysis

Problematic Internet use (PIU) is often initiated in early adolescence and maintained or exacerbated during middle and late adolescence. Prior studies primarily focus on age differences in PIU prevalence and severity, but age differences in PIU symptom structure remain obscure. We use network analysis that conceptualizes PIU as a network of interacting symptoms to identify core symptoms (i.e., symptoms that are highly connected to other symptoms) and symptom relationships (i.e., associations among symptoms) of PIU. A total of 1375 adolescents (Mage = 14.49, SD = 2.24) who met the cutoff point of PIU were included in this study. The results reveal that increasing time for satisfaction and empty life are central symptoms in early adolescence; less sleep, failure to stop, and feeling depressed are central symptoms in middle adolescence; feeling depressed is the most central symptom in late adolescence. The core symptoms in early, middle, and late adolescence can direct differentiated interventions based on adolescent stages. The comparisons indicate that networks show similar overall structure and global strength but differ in specific symptom associations, offering nuanced insights into the essential differences in PIU symptoms across different stages of adolescence.