Predicting Adolescent Problematic Online Game Use from Teacher Autonomy Support, Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction, and School Engagement: A 2-Year Longitudinal Study

Problematic online game use (POGU) has become a serious global public health concern among adolescents. However, its influencing factors and mediating mechanisms remain largely unknown. This study provides the first longitudinal design to test stage-environment fit theory empirically in POGU. A total of 356 Chinese students reported on teacher autonomy support, basic psychological needs satisfaction, school engagement, and POGU in the autumn of their 7th-9th grade years. Path analyses supported the proposed pathway: 7th grade teacher autonomy support increased 8th grade basic psychological needs satisfaction, which in turn increased 9th grade school engagement, which ultimately decreased 9th grade POGU. Furthermore, 7th grade teacher autonomy support directly increased 9th grade school engagement, which in turn decreased 9th grade POGU. These findings suggest that teacher autonomy support is an important protective predictor of adolescent POGU, and basic psychological needs satisfaction and school engagement are the primary mediators in this association.

[1]  Nick Yee,et al.  Motivations for Play in Online Games , 2006, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[2]  Wen-Bin Chiou,et al.  Psychological Motives and Online Games Addiction: ATest of Flow Theory and Humanistic Needs Theory for Taiwanese Adolescents , 2006, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[3]  D. Gentile.  Pathological Video-Game Use Among Youth Ages 8 to 18 , 2009, Psychological science.

[4]  D. Mackinnon.  Introduction to Statistical Mediation Analysis , 2008 .

[5]  Christoph Klimmt,et al.  Effectance and Control as Determinants of Video Game Enjoyment , 2007, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[6]  Yufei Yuan,et al.  Online game addiction among adolescents: motivation and prevention factors , 2012, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[7]  J. Reeve,et al.  What teachers say and do to support students' autonomy during a learning activity. , 2006 .

[8]  Lin Dan-li.  Gratitude,Basic Psychological Needs,and Problematic Internet Use in Adolescence , 2012 .

[9]  Kimberly S. Young,et al.  Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment , 2010 .

[10]  Shao-I Chiu,et al.  Video Game Addiction in Children and Teenagers in Taiwan , 2004, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[11]  Marc N. Potenza,et al.  Video-Gaming Among High School Students: Health Correlates, Gender Differences, and Problematic Gaming , 2010, Pediatrics.

[12]  Belief systems and positive youth development among Chinese and American youth , 2011 .

[13]  Sara J. Finney,et al.  Measuring basic needs satisfaction: Evaluating previous research and conducting new psychometric evaluations of the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale , 2010 .

[14]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[15]  C. Midgley,et al.  Development during adolescence: The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents' experiences in schools and in families. , 1993 .

[16]  F. Dochy,et al.  Identifying Configurations of Perceived Teacher Autonomy Support and Structure: Associations with Self-Regulated Learning, Motivation and Problem Behavior. , 2012 .

[17]  Rick H. Hoyle,et al.  Handbook of structural equation modeling , 2012 .

[18]  M. Vansteenkiste,et al.  Perceived structure and achievement goals as predictors of students' self-regulated learning and affect and the mediating role of competence need satisfaction , 2013 .

[19]  Xian Li,et al.  Parental Behavioral and Psychological Control and Problematic Internet Use Among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Self-Control , 2013, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[20]  Florian Rehbein,et al.  Prevalence and Risk Factors of Video Game Dependency in Adolescence: Results of a German Nationwide Survey , 2010, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[21]  A. V. van Rooij,et al.  Online video game addiction: identification of addicted adolescent gamers. , 2010, Addiction.

[22]  J. Reeve,et al.  Longitudinal Test of Self-Determination Theory's Motivation Mediation Model in a Naturally Occurring Classroom Context , 2012 .

[23]  Peter A Creed,et al.  Relationships at school and stage-environment fit as resources for adolescent engagement and achievement. , 2006, Journal of adolescence.

[24]  J. Reeve,et al.  Enhancing Students' Engagement by Increasing Teachers' Autonomy Support , 2004 .

[25]  H. Yoshikawa,et al.  The influence of student perceptions of school climate on socioemotional and academic adjustment: a comparison of chinese and american adolescents. , 2009, Child development.

[26]  Yanhui Wang,et al.  Stressful life events and problematic Internet use by adolescent females and males: A mediated moderation model , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[27]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  The balanced measure of psychological needs (BMPN) scale: An alternative domain general measure of need satisfaction , 2012 .

[28]  Ming-Te Wang.  School climate support for behavioral and psychological adjustment: Testing the mediating effect of social competence. , 2009 .

[29]  Jerald J. Block.  Issues for DSM-V: internet addiction. , 2008, The American journal of psychiatry.

[30]  Marylène Gagné,et al.  The Role of Autonomy Support and Autonomy Orientation in Prosocial Behavior Engagement , 2003 .