Academic stress and Internet addiction from general strain theory framework

•Academic stress influenced negative emotions.•Academic stress influenced Internet addiction.•Negative emotions affected Internet addiction.•Negative emotions fully mediated the associations.

The goal of this study was to examine the mediating role of negative emotions in the link between academic stress and Internet addiction among Korean adolescents. We attempted to extend the general strain theory to Internet addiction by exploring psychological pathways from academic stress to Internet addiction using a national and longitudinal panel study. A total of 512 adolescents completed self-reported scales for academic stress, negative emotions, and Internet addiction. We found that academic stress was positively associated with negative emotions and Internet addiction, and negative emotions were positively associated with Internet addiction. Further, the results of structural equation modeling revealed that adolescents’ academic stress had indirectly influenced Internet addiction through negative emotions. The results of this study suggest that adolescents who experience academic stress might be at risk for Internet addiction, particularly when accompanied with negative emotions. These findings provided significant implications for counselors and policymakers to prevent adolescents’ Internet addiction, and extended the general strain theory to Internet addiction which is typically applicable to deviant behavior.