Education Commons^™

Adolescent Internet Use, Academic Performances, And Problem Behaviors: Findings From A National Sample Of Rural And Urban China, Yunqi Wang

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adolescent internet use in non-western countries and its association with behavioral problems are understudied. Informed by Bronfenbrenner’s socioecological framework and displacement hypothesis, the present study explored adolescent internet use in rural and urban China, and examined the mediation of academic performances between internet use and problem behaviors. Drawn from a nationally representative program, samples for this study included 3,379 adolescents aged between 9-17 years from 29 provinces. Results showed that rural adolescents had less access to mobile phones and internet, as well as a lower frequency of internet use than urban peers. Hybrid structural equation modeling results revealed that academic …