The Relationship Between Emotional Eating Behavior and Internet Addiction in Junior High School Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: With the rapid development of digital technology, the risk of internet addiction among adolescents has increased. However, the influence mechanism of emotional eating behavior on internet addiction remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the association pathway of emotional eating o...

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Publicado en:Nutrients Vol. 18; no. 5; pp. 800 - 815
Autores principales: Li, Xinru, Xue, Benli, Wu, Haoran, Luo, Anfei, Yang, Lingli, Xu, Xinyi, Chen, Zhaodi, Lin, Huang, Zhang, Chichen
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: MDPI Mar2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Mar2026
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        atl: The Relationship Between Emotional Eating Behavior and Internet Addiction in Junior High School Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.
      aug:
        au:
          Li, Xinru
          Xue, Benli
          Wu, Haoran
          Luo, Anfei
          Yang, Lingli
          Xu, Xinyi
          Chen, Zhaodi
          Lin, Huang
          Zhang, Chichen
        affil: School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
      sug:
        subj:
          Sleep Quality Evaluation
          Depression
          Emotional Eating Evaluation
          Internet Addiction Psychosocial Factors
          Students, Middle School Psychosocial Factors
          Human
          Funding Source
          China
          Male
          Female
          Adolescence
          Cross Sectional Studies
          Random Sample
          Questionnaires
          Scales
          Data Analysis Software
          Descriptive Statistics
          Mann-Whitney U Test
          Kruskal-Wallis Test
          Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient
          Logistic Regression
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Objectives: With the rapid development of digital technology, the risk of internet addiction among adolescents has increased. However, the influence mechanism of emotional eating behavior on internet addiction remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the association pathway of emotional eating on internet addiction in junior high school students and test the chain-mediating effects of sleep quality (sleep quality was measured using the PSQI, with higher scores indicating poorer sleep quality) and depression. Methods: Based on data from 3245 junior high school students in Shenzhen, China, internet addiction was measured using Young's questionnaire, and emotional eating was assessed via the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire's subscale. The PROCESS macro (Model 6) was used to test the chain-mediating effects. Results: Emotional eating was positively but modestly associated with internet addiction (β = 0.024, p < 0.01). Three significant mediating pathways were identified: (1) emotional eating → sleep quality → internet addiction (β = 0.0062, 14.52% of total effect); (2) emotional eating → depression → internet addiction (β = 0.0084, 19.67%); and (3) emotional eating → sleep quality → depression → internet addiction (β = 0.0041, 9.60%). Conclusions: Based on cross-sectional data, this study found that emotional eating is associated with internet addiction through the independent and chain-mediating effects of sleep quality and depression, revealing a statistical mediation pathway of "maladaptive emotion regulation → circadian disruption → psychopathology → addictive behavior." These findings provide a basis for interventions targeting sleep management and emotional regulation.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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