Relationships between job stress, psychological adaptation, negative affective states and Internet gaming disorder among migrant factory workers in China: cross-sectional survey (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Factory workers make up a large proportion of China’s internal migrants and may be highly susceptible to Internet gaming disorder (IGD). However, little research on IGD has been conducted in this population. OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate the prevalence and potential factors of IGD among migrant factory workers in China. Furthermore, it aims to examine a mediation model based on the framework of the general strain model among migrant factory workers. METHODS A stratified multi-stage sampling approach was used for recruitment. In the first stage, the research team randomly selected 16 factories in Longhua district, and then randomly selected three to four workshops from each factory. All full-time employees aged ≥18 years in the selected workshops were invited to participate in the study. A total of 2,023 factory workers completed a self-administered questionnaire between October and December 2019. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the proposed mediation model. RESULTS Most of the participants (67.3%) were male, aged 35 years old or below (71.7%), and without teritary education (91%). The prevalence of probable depression, probable anxiety, and IGD was 39.3%, 28.7%, and 7.5%. Being male, younger age, and shorter duration of living in Shenzhen were associated with higher IGD scores. Job stress was significantly associated with IGD (B=.02, β=.11, p=.01) but not with negative affective states (B=.04, β=.01, p=.77). Psychological adaptation was significantly associated with negative affective states (B=-2.93, β=-.37, p<.001) but not with IGD (B=.04, β=.09, p>.05). Negative affective states were positively associated with IGD (B=.02, β=.27, p<.001). The indirect effect of psychological adaptation (B=-.05, β=-.10, 95%CI=-.14 to -.07, p=.004) but not job stress (B=.001, β=.003, 95%CI=-.02 to .03, p=.76) on IGD through negative affective states was statistically significant. The significant indirect effect and insignificant direct effect of psychological adaptation on IGD suggested a full mediation effect of negative affective states. CONCLUSIONS This study provides evidence for applying the general strain model to understand IGD among migrant factory workers. Efforts to prevent negative affective states, IGD and other risk behaviors in this special and huge population in China are in urgent need. The observed psychological factors and mechanisms are modifiable, and can inform the design of evidence-based prevention programs for IGD in this population.