Dose-Response Relationship of Loneliness and Internet Addiction With Depression Among College Students: A Multicenter Survey.

Background: Depression in young people especially among college students is a growing concern. Both loneliness and Internet addiction are found to be linked to depression. Aims: This study explored the dose-response relationship of loneliness and Internet addiction with depression, and examined how...

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Publicado en:International Journal of Social Psychiatry Vol. 72; no. 3; pp. 571 - 582
Autores principales: Chen, Meng-Yi, A, Li-Ya, Jiang, Yuan-Yuan, Huang, Hui-Ting, Liu, Shou, Ma, Yi, Su, Zhaohui, Cheung, Teris, Ungvari, Gabor S., Ng, Chee H., Xiang, Yu-Tao
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. May2026
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Dose-Response Relationship of Loneliness and Internet Addiction With Depression Among College Students: A Multicenter Survey.
      aug:
        au:
          Chen, Meng-Yi
          A, Li-Ya
          Jiang, Yuan-Yuan
          Huang, Hui-Ting
          Liu, Shou
          Ma, Yi
          Su, Zhaohui
          Cheung, Teris
          Ungvari, Gabor S.
          Ng, Chee H.
          Xiang, Yu-Tao
        affil:
          Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
          Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Public Health and Medicinal Administration, & Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macao SAR, China
          Faculty of Health, Zhuhai College of Science and Technology, Zhuhai, China
          Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macao SAR, China
          School of Nursing and Health, Nanfang College, Guangzhou, China
          Department of Public Health, Medical College, Qinghai University, Xining, China
          Faculty of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao SAR, China
          School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
          School of Nursing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
          Section of Psychiatry, University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, Australia
          Division of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
          Department of Psychiatry, The Melbourne Clinic and St Vincent's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Richmond, Australia
      su:
        China
        Mental depression risk factors
        Internet addiction
        Cross-sectional method
        Health status indicators
        Exercise
        Socioeconomic factors
        Loneliness
        Age distribution
        Economic status
        Psychology of college students
        Risk assessment
        Research funding
        Statistical sampling
        Questionnaires
        Logistic regression analysis
        Severity of illness index
        Multivariate analysis
        Descriptive statistics
        Dose-response relationship in biochemistry
        Surveys
        Odds ratio
        Research
        Statistics
        Disease susceptibility
        Confidence intervals
        Data analysis software
      sug:
        subj:
          Mental depression risk factors
          Internet addiction
          Cross-sectional method
          Health status indicators
          Exercise
          Socioeconomic factors
          Loneliness
          Age distribution
          Economic status
          Psychology of college students
          China
          Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling
          Risk assessment
          Research funding
          Statistical sampling
          Questionnaires
          Logistic regression analysis
          Severity of illness index
          Multivariate analysis
          Descriptive statistics
          Dose-response relationship in biochemistry
          Surveys
          Odds ratio
          Research
          Statistics
          Disease susceptibility
          Confidence intervals
          Data analysis software
      keyword:
        college students
        depression
        loneliness
        nonlinear relationship
        college students
        depression
        loneliness
        nonlinear relationship
      ab: Background: Depression in young people especially among college students is a growing concern. Both loneliness and Internet addiction are found to be linked to depression. Aims: This study explored the dose-response relationship of loneliness and Internet addiction with depression, and examined how the severity of loneliness and Internet addiction influence the susceptibility to depression. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between September and December 2023 in China. Depression was evaluated using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Loneliness and Internet addiction were assessed using the 20-item University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (UCLA-20) and Young's 20-item Internet Addiction Test (IAT-20), respectively. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore the correlates of depression. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis was employed to examine the potential dose-response relationships between the continuous exposure variables (loneliness and Internet addiction) and depression. Results: Among 6,514 college students included in the study, the prevalence of depression was 18.2% (95% confidence intervals, CI [17.3%, 19.1%]). After adjusting for confounders, a positive linear relationship was observed between loneliness and the risk of depression; while a J-shaped nonlinear relationship was found with an inflection point of 41 between Internet addiction and the risk of depression. Poor health and economic status also increased the risk of depression for college students with Internet addiction. Conclusions: Loneliness and Internet addiction both predicted the high risk of depression among college students. Mental health screening and interventions should be tailored to address loneliness and Internet addiction in this population to prevent the onset of depression among at-risk individuals.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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