Investigating the Structural Equation Model of Perceived Social Support and Life Satisfaction with Internet Addiction: With the Mediating Role of Social Capital

Internet addiction is a broad construct that includes Internet games and other forms of Internet addictive use. The aim of the present study was to investigate the fit of the structural equation model of perceived social support and life satisfaction with Internet addiction with the mediating role of social capital.

The method of the present study is correlational and structural equation model type. The statistical population in this study includes all students of Payam-e Noor University of Mahabad in the academic year of 2019-2020 and the statistical samples were 205 students from Payam-e Noor University of Mahabad who were selected by multi-stage cluster random sampling method. The data were collected using Young Internet Addiction Questionnaire (1998), Diner & Larson (1985) Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, Perceived Social Support of Zaimat et al. (1988) and Nahapit & Gushal (1998) Social Capital Questionnaire. To analyze the data, correlation and path analysis methods were used with SPSS and Amos software.

The results showed that there is a relationship between perceived social support (r = -2.92), life satisfaction (r = -0.86) and social capital of trust (r = 0.81) and social capital of empathy (r = -0.88) with Internet addiction (p <0.001). The results of modeling analysis showed that the indirect paths of life satisfaction and social capital to Internet addiction through perceived social support have a fit (RMSEA = 0.07 and CFI = 0.99).

In the concept of Internet addiction, life satisfaction, social capital and perceived social support should be considered, and according to the results of the present study, it can be said that the low level of desirable relationships with family, friends and life satisfaction with increasing addiction to the Internet is relevant to young people