Background
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) [
1] indicates that the number of Internet users will reach to 2.7 billion by the end of 2013, which accounts for 39% of the world’s population. In the past two decades, the total number of Internet users increased from 0.62 million in 1997 to 564 million by the end of 2012 [
2].
Internet use can be likened to a double-edged sword: it provides users benefits and convenience but also brings them harm. For example, a virtual network can provide a safe region for users to relieve social anxiety and shyness [
3]; however, it can also cause social isolation and depression [
4], especially among adolescents [
5]. Among the negative outcomes of inappropriate Internet use, pathological Internet use (PIU) may be the most serious. There have been an increased number of studies on this new mental health problem in the past decades [
6]. A recent large-scale study comprised of 11,357 school-based adolescents from 11 counties revealed that the prevalence of PIU was 4.20%, and the PIU was significantly related to suicidal behaviors, depression, attitude problems, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [
7].
Additionally, the prevalence rates of PIU in adolescents of different countries were considerably high. In European studies, researchers found the rates usually ranged from 1.00% to 9.00% [
8,
9]; in Asian countries, especially in China, the prevalence rates were even up to 18.00% in adolescents [
10‐
12] and 35.00% in university students [
13]. Accordingly, of these Chinese Internet users, around 24.00% or approximately 135.36 million are adolescents [
2]; thus, it can be estimated that there are up to 24 million Chinese adolescents are pathological Internet users. This large population and the increasing trend indicated the urgency to investigate the influential factors for effective prevention intervention.
It should be noted, firstly, that there are not any official diagnosis and accepted diagnostic criteria of PIU in recognized diagnostic manuals [
14], including the latest DSM-V, and thus different researchers adopted different definitions in their studies. Some researchers defined PIU as the negative impacts of unreasonable or excessive Internet use. It emphasized the cognitive, emotional, behavioural, and physical differences between the regular users and the excessive users [
15‐
18]. Researchers also use Compulsive Computer Use [
18], Problematic Internet Use [
19], and Internet Dependency [
20] to describe the same phenomenon. Although different studies use various terms, they all include the following six core elements: salience, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict, relapse, and mood alteration [
21].
Some models were proposed to explain the causes and mechanism of PIU, such as the problem-behavior theory [
22], which focused on the behaviors that trigger the PIU. Within this framework, a study based on 2,114 high school students found that problematic alcohol use was incentive to PIU [
23]. However, another study demonstrated that PIU was related to internalizing problems instead of externalizing problems (e.g., substance use and other risky behaviors). The students suffering from social anxiety, depression, and conflicting family relations exhibited a propensity toward PIU [
24]. The inconsistency implied that the causes of PIU may due to individual differences [
25,
26]. Consequently, Davis proposed the cognitive-behavioral model of PIU from the perspective of individual psychopathological etiology [
18]. The obvious proximal contributory causes (e.g., stress, danger, cardiac arrhythmia, and substance addiction) and constitutional distal contributory causes (i.e., the diathesis causing psychopathology) were distinguished in this model [
27]. Many studies identified several vulnerable personalities among PIUs, such as loneliness [
28], low extroversion [
29,
30], low agreeableness and emotional stability [
30], high neuroticism [
31,
32], and shyness [
33,
34].
A detailed literature review on PIU will go beyond the scope of the current study; however, based on the above literature, we found that most of the previous studies focused on the negative interpersonal and intrapersonal factors. None of them had a positive perspective. With the flourishing of positive psychology in the recent decade, many psychologists and clinicians became aware of positive factors’ strength on their clients and patients.
Among all of the positive factors, the groundbreaking work was the virtues system proposed by Seligman and his colleagues [
35], which included 6 virtues and 24 character strengths [
36,
37]. Although the subsequent studies have shown that these positive traits are significant to health and well-being in different cultures [
38‐
42], relatively few empirical studies were conducted at the virtue level and the psychopathology area. It may partly due to the issues of virtue assessments and cultural differences [
43,
44]. For example, based on the 24 character strengths, Kim [
45] obtained three-factor virtues using the chronic illness and disability American sample, while Bardar and Kashdan [
46] found four-factor virtues with a healthy undergraduate sample. In addition, previous study found that these 24 strengths cannot group into six virtues among Chinese undergraduates [
47]. Therefore, Kristjánsson [
48,
49] suggested that the distinction and selection of the strengths and virtues, as well as the corresponding items, should consider the culturally dependent issues.
In order to solve this issue, Duan et al. [
43] adopted the Combined Etic-Emic Approach [
50,
51] to reduce the culturally inappropriate items of the
Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (the original questionnaire for measuring the virtues and strengths). Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and psychometric evaluation revealed three well-established and culturally meaningful virtues: relationship, vitality, and conscientiousness [
52]. Relationship reflects the positive cognitions, emotions, and behavior involved in interactions with others; vitality reflects positive qualities manifested as life forces in the social environment; and conscientiousness reflects intrapersonal traits manifested as psychokinesis in the process of self-regulations [
53]. This questionnaire can be used to assess virtues both in Western and Eastern cultures. A preliminary study revealed that vitality was a positive predictor of positive mental health [
54].
The present study aims to increase knowledge on virtues by exploring the relationships between virtues and PIU. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine such a relationship. The results provide insights on virtues and PIU research both in theory and in practice.
Discussion
The aim of the present study is to explore the relationship between virtues and PIU for an in-depth understanding of virtue theory and Internet addiction. The results suggested the possible protective role of relationship and conscientiousness, which contributed 82.20% of the predicted variances. Although vitality was a vulnerability to PIU, it was less important (19.18%) compared to the other virtues.
Previous studies had identified the stable and strong correlations between personal relationships and PIU. However, these studies often took relationships as outcome variables. For example, Milani et al. [
61] found that adolescents who used the Internet many hours a week had dysfunctional coping strategies and poor interpersonal relations. The results of the present study, which are consistent with previous studies from different perspectives, reveal that the individuals with strong relationship may have fewer PIU symptoms. That means a person with strong relationship often leads to good interpersonal relations, and it further prevents the individual from seeking substitutes in a virtual network [
62]. The second meaningful protective trait was conscientiousness, which negatively predicted PIU in the current study. Karim, Zamzuri, and Nor [
63] reported that conscientiousness in Big Five model was significantly and negatively correlated with unethical Internet behavior in university students. Another meta-analysis indicated that conscientiousness-related traits were negatively related to risky health-related behaviors [
64]. Conscientiousness reflects the Chinese traditional cultural concept of “
shendu” (慎獨), which emphasizes that no matter what the circumstance is, individuals should impose self-restriction and control their own behavior. According to this idea, individuals with high conscientiousness should control their emotions, cognitions, and behaviors and display fewer incidents of improper or excessive use of the Internet, thereby inhibiting the emergence of Internet addiction.
A recent study conducted by Akın [
65] demonstrated that subjective vitality negatively predicted Internet addiction; further analysis revealed that subjective vitality can mediate the relationship between Internet addiction and subjective happiness. Other previous studies also revealed the positive and protective role of vitality [
43,
52,
54]. However, the present results found the opposite effect of vitality, which recognizes vitality as a vulnerability to PIU. Ko et al. [
66] thought that the novelty seeking or sensation seeking [
67] of an individual was one of the reasons that caused Internet addiction. Our vitality virtue included other sub-traits such as curiosity, bravery, and creativity. So far, this result has rarely been repeatedly reported. More studies in the future are needed to explore the difference between these different “vitality” concepts. Suler [
68] also believed that healthy or pathological Internet use was determined by the fulfillment of basic psychological needs, while adolescence was a special period in developmental psychology. During this period, individuals are full of vitality and exhibit a strong desire, need, and interest to explore the unknown world [
69]. Therefore, it will be beneficial and interesting to conduct such longitudinal studies.
Another issue, not directly related to our result but related to the topic, should be noted. The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) has already identified “Internet Gaming Disorder” in Section III (Emerging Measures and Models). It suggested that more clinical researches and experience should be obtained before the “Internet Gaming Disorder” could be recognized as a formal disorder. However, it should be noted that the PIU used in the current study is a very broad concept, which concerns a series of unhealthy outcomes caused by excessive Internet use, including general use of the Internet, social media, gambling, porn, as well as games. Therefore, more studies should be performed to examine whether the virtues play the same role in different Internet activities.
Some other limitations should be noted. First, the sample size is relatively small compared to an epidemiology study. Hence, the prevalence of PIU in the current sample should not be generalized. In addition, the reported prevalence rates differ may be regarded as a consequence of different assessment tools and cut-offs [
57]. Second, only self-reporting measurements were adopted in the current study. An increasing amount of non-responder indicators should be adopted in future pathological Internet use studies to reveal a more objective profile. Finally, this is only a preliminary investigation. Future studies should take other factors, such as social support, curiosity and self-regulation, into account to further clarify the mechanism behind the relationship between virtues and PIU.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’ contributions
YZ, ZY and WD conducted and coordinated the study. WD, ZY and YZ performed the statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript. YZ and XT contributed critical comments on the manuscript. FGan, FW, JW, YW, and FGuo collected the data with the other authors. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.