Internet addiction and subjective well-being: the mediating role of social support and meaning in life

Although Internet addiction has become a mental health problem worldwide, little is known about the relationship between Internet addiction and subjective well-being. To fill this gap, we recruited 681 Chinese college students using the online convenience sampling method, who were asked to answer the questions about Internet addiction, subjective well-being, social support, and meaning in life. The results showed that Internet addiction could significantly predict subjective well-being and, importantly, that social support and meaning in life mediated the relationship between Internet addiction and subjective well-being. These findings support the cognitive-behavioral model and shed light on the adverse effect of Internet addiction on subjective well-being.