Internet addiction and social support in the association between learning burnout and emotional behavioral problems among returned migrant middle school students: a serial multiple mediations analysis.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to explore emotional behavioral problems (EBP) associated with learning burnout (LB) among returned migrant middle school students. In addition, the mediating mechanism of internet addiction (IA) and social support (SS) in this relationship was investigated. We also verified the chain-mediating effect of IA and SS on the EBP of returned migrant middle school students and LB.

Methods: This study used the sample data collected from the "Health Status Survey of Middle School Students in Guizhou Province, China" conducted by the research group. The baseline survey of 36 secondary schools from December 2021 to January 2022 in Guizhou Provine, China. Based on this sample data, middle school students who met the following conditions were selected as study subjects. 2020 returned migrant secondary school students were finally obtained as the subjects of this study. The Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ), Adolescent Student Burnout Scale (ASBI), Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and Social Support Scale (SSS) were used to assess EBP, LB, IA, and SS among returned migrant secondary school students. Serial multiple mediation analysis and the bootstrap method were used to investigate the mediation effects of IA and SS (PROCESS model 6).

Results: Prevalence of EBP was classified in the abnormal (11.9%) or borderline (17.1%) categories based on the total difficulties scores among returned migrant middle school students. A serial multiple mediation model was generated. The mediation effect of IA and SS on the pathway from LB to EBP was 31.25% (direct effect = 0.373, total indirect effect = 0.170). The association between LB and SS was partially mediated by IA (direct effect=-0.356, indirect effect=-0.065). The proposed model fits the data well.

Conclusion: This study found that lower IA and higher SS can effectively reduce EBP caused by LB among returned migrant middle school students. It is suggested that parents, schools, and government departments pay attention to IA and SS problems caused by LB in returned migrant middle school students, and prevent and avoid EBP. Returned migrant middle school students should take the initiative to identify the factors that harm their physical and mental health for self-regulation, and establish reliable SS, rather than meet psychological needs through IA, to reduce the occurrence of EBP.