The Impact of Loneliness on Internet Addiction in Rural Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Core Self-Evaluations and the Moderating Influence of Social Support

Background and Purpose: Rural adolescents in China face unique challenges, including social isolation and limited access to mental health resources, which may contribute to feelings of loneliness and increased vulnerability to internet addiction. This study explores the relationship between loneliness and internet addiction among rural adolescents, examining the mediating role of core self-evaluation and the moderating role of social support. The research aims to address the following questions: (1) How does loneliness influence internet addiction? (2) Does core self-evaluation mediate this relationship? (3) Does social support moderate the mediating effect of core self-evaluation?

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 347 rural adolescents in Anhui, China. Participants were selected through stratified random sampling to ensure representation across different schools and grades. Among all participants, 47.0% were male, and 53.0% were female. The participants’ ages ranged from 9 to 17 years, with a mean age of 12.84 years (SD = 1.6). The largest group of participants were middle school students (grades 7–9), accounting for 55.9%, while elementary school students (grades 4–6) constituted 44.1%. Regarding living arrangements, 215 participants (62.0%) lived with both parents, 88 participants (25.4%) lived with one parent, and 44 participants (12.7%) did not live with their parents, categorized as left-behind children.

Self-report questionnaires were used, including the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), Children’s Loneliness Scale (CLS), Core Self-Evaluations Scale (CSES), and Internet Addiction Test-10 (IAT-10). SPSS Process Macro (Model 7) was used to analyze the mediating role of core self-evaluations and the moderating effect of social support. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results: Loneliness was negatively correlated with both self-evaluations and social support (r = -0.473, p < 0.01; r = -0.506, p < 0.01, respectively) and positively correlated with internet addiction (r = 0.213, p < 0.01). Core self-evaluations fully mediated this relationship, accounting for a significant portion of the variance in internet addiction (indirect effect = -0.1134, p < 0.01). Social support moderated the mediating effect of core self-evaluations, with the indirect effect being stronger for adolescents with low social support (b = -0.0038, p < 0.05) compared to those with high social support. However, the interaction between loneliness and social support did not directly affect internet addiction.

Conclusions and Implications: This study highlights the critical role of core self-evaluation and social support in mitigating the impact of loneliness on internet addiction among rural adolescents. Findings suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing core self-evaluation and strengthening social support networks could be effective in reducing internet addiction in this population. These results have important implications for developing targeted mental health programs and policies to support rural adolescents, emphasizing the need for resilience-building strategies and community-based interventions. Further research is needed to explore longitudinal relationships and test the effectiveness of proposed interventions.

Keywords: Loneliness, Internet Addiction, Core Self-Evaluation, Social Support, Rural Adolescents