This study was carried out to identify main variables and meditating process that influences internet-game addiction among the upper graders in public elementary school. The study was aimed at providing information that helps elementary school student...
This study was carried out to identify main variables and meditating process that influences internet-game addiction among the upper graders in public elementary school. The study was aimed at providing information that helps elementary school students grow up healthy, mentally and physically, by examining how communication style with parents which is a presumptive main variable of internet-game addiction among the 5th and 6th graders in public elementary school influence their internet-game addiction through self-control.
The subjects of this study included totally 274 students of four elementary schools placed in Busan. As the tools, the scale of communication style with parents, the scale of internet-game addiction and self-control scale were used. Structural equation modeling using AMOS 7.0 were utilized for data analysis.
The outcome of the study was summarized as follows. First, open communication style with parents was found to be significantly negatively related to internet-game addiction, and dysfunctional communication style with parents was found to be significantly passively related to internet-game addiction. Second, open communication style with parents was found to be significantly passively related to self-control, and dysfunctional communication style with parents was found to be significantly negatively related to self-control. Third, self-control was found to be significantly negatively related to internet-game addiction, providing that elementary school students have lower internet-game addiction as they have more self-control. Fourth, communication style with parents was found to influence elementary school students' internet-game addiction through self-control. Self-control was found to serve as a total intermediary between communication style with parents and internet-game addiction.
In conclusion, this study has confirmed that elementary school students' self-control has a total intermediary effect on the relationship between communication style with parents and internet-game addiction. It also suggests that a strategy and various program that enhance elementary school students' self-control during the treatment of internet-game addiction should be developed.