Exploring personality characteristics of Chinese adolescents with internet-related addictive behaviors: Trait differences for gaming addiction and social networking addiction

This study investigated the associations between personality traits, based on the Big Five model, and addictive behaviors to different online activities among adolescents. A sample of 920 participants was recruited from four secondary schools in different districts using random cluster sampling. A structured questionnaire, including demographic information, internet usage pattern, the Internet Addiction Test, the Game Addiction Scale, the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale - Revised, and the Big Five Inventory, was administered to each participant. The results demonstrated a significant difference in personality traits for addictive behaviors related to different online activities. Specifically, higher neuroticism (β = 0.15, p < 0.001) and less conscientiousness (β = 0.12, p < 0.001) displayed significant associations with internet addiction in general; less conscientiousness (β = 0.09, p < 0.01) and low openness (β = 0.06, p < 0.05) were significantly associated with gaming addiction; and neuroticism (β = 0.15, p < 0.001) and extraversion (β = 0.10, p < 0.01) were significantly associated with social networking addiction. Our findings may provide a better understanding of the etiopathology of internet-related addictive behaviors and have implications for psychoeducation and psychotherapy programs.