Highlights
- •The negative effects of the epidemic as in the whole over the world COVID-19 continues in Turkey.
- •Internet use has increased during the COVID-19 epidemic process in Turkish adolescents.
- •The COVID-19 outbreak among Turkish adolescents increases the intolerance to uncertainty.
- •Increasing intolerance to uncertainty negatively affected internet addiction and happiness.
- •Intolerance to uncertainty in the interaction between the events of the COVID-19 period with internet addiction and happiness is a mediator.
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
- Baturay M.H.
- Toker S.
- Zhang S.X.
- Wang Y.
- Rauch A.
- Wei F.
- Shanafelt T.
- Ripp J.
- Trockel M.
- Lambert D'raven L.T.
- Moliver N.
- Thompson D.
- Tejada-Gallardo C.
- Blasco-Belled A.
- Torrelles-Nadal C.
- Alsinet C.
- Karataş Z.
- Tagay Ö.
- Luo R.
- Li Q.
- Meng G.
- Zheng Y.
- Hu K.
- Zhang X.
- Liu X.
Current study
Materials and methods
Participants and Procedure
Data collection forms
Impact of Event Scale (IES)
Short Form of Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS-12)
Young's Internet Addiction Test Short Form (YIAT-SF)
Oxford Happiness Questionnaire Short Form (OHQ-SF)
- Hills P.
- Argyle M.
Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)
Statistical analysis

The hypotheses of the study
H1: Events during COVID-19 affect intolerance of uncertainty in adolescents.
H2: Intolerance of uncertainty affected by events during COVID-19 affects internet addiction in adolescents.
H3: Intolerance of the uncertainty affected by events during the COVID-19 period affects happiness in adolescents.
H4: Intolerance of uncertainty affected by events of the COVID-19 period affects life satisfaction in adolescents.
H5: Intolerance of uncertainty is the mediator in the interaction between events during the COVID-19 period and internet addiction in adolescents.
H6: Intolerance of uncertainty is a mediator in the interaction between events of the COVID-19 period and happiness in adolescents.
H7: Intolerance of uncertainty is a mediator in the interaction between events during the COVID-19 period and life satisfaction in adolescents.
Results
Descriptive statistics and correlations
Variables | 1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Age | – | ||||||
2. TSID | 0.146 | – | |||||
3. IE | 0.213 | 0.071 | – | ||||
4. IU | 0.217 | 0.127 | 0.541 | – | |||
5. YIA | 0.209 | 0.426 | 0.306 | 0.325 | – | ||
6. H | −0.266 | −0.281 | −0.192 | −0.250 | −0.381 | – | |
7. SL | −0.243 | −0.204 | −0.070 | −0.080 | −0.278 | 0.692 | – |
Mean ± SD | 16.03 ± 2.76 | 4.75 ± 3.01 | 31.26 ± 17.99 | 37.68 ± 10.74 | 27.19 ± 9.39 | 24.04 ± 5.55 | 15.90 ± 4.77 |

Results on structural equation model analysis
Variables | Estimate | S.E. | t | P | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unstandardized β | Standardized β | ||||||
IU | <--- | IE | 0.535 | 0.619 | 0.055 | 9.813 | 0.001 |
YIA | <--- | IU | 0.779 | 0.373 | 0.113 | 6.906 | 0.001 |
SL | <--- | YIA | −0.111 | −0.218 | 0.028 | −3.985 | 0.001 |
H | <--- | YIA | −0.165 | −0.279 | 0.030 | −5.398 | 0.001 |
H | <--- | IU | −0.265 | −0.215 | 0.068 | −3.882 | 0.001 |
SL | <--- | IU | −0.052 | −0.049 | 0.061 | −0.841 | 0.400 |
SMC | |||||||
IU | 0.383 | ||||||
YIA | 0.139 | ||||||
H | 0.168 | ||||||
SL | 0.058 |
Impact status | Bias‐corrected 95% effect value (lower/upper) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
IE | IU | YIA | ||
Direct effects | IU | 0.619 (0.507/0.710) | – | – |
YIA | – | 0.373 (0.276/0.477) | – | |
H | – | −0.215 (−0.331/−0.092) | −0.279 (−0.392/−0.163) | |
Indirect effects | SL | – | −0.049 (−0.181/0.099) | −0.218 (−0.333/−0.113) |
IU | – | – | – | |
YIA | 0.231 (0.156/0.317) | – | – | |
H | −0.197 (−0.275/−0.130) | −0.104 (−0.156/−0.062) | – | |
SL | −0.080 (−0.152/−0.004) | −0.081 (−0.134/−0.043) | – |
Discussion
- Koffman J.
- Gross J.
- Etkind S.N.
- Selman L.
- Satici B.
- Saricali M.
- Satici S.A.
- Griffiths M.D.
- Satici B.
- Saricali M.
- Satici S.A.
- Griffiths M.D.
- Phelan A.L.
- Katz R.
- Gostin L.O.
- Zhang S.X.
- Wang Y.
- Rauch A.
- Wei F.
- Yang H.
- Ma J.
- Zhang S.X.
- Wang Y.
- Rauch A.
- Wei F.
- Yang H.
- Ma J.
Research limitations and future orientations
Conclusion and recommendations
Declaration of competing interest
Acknowledgement
Funding
Contributors
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