Assessing the Relationships between Internet Addiction, Depression, COVID-19-Related Fear, Anxiety, and Suspicion among Graduate Students in Educational Administration: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

This study aims to examine the relationships between Internet addiction, depression, COVID-19-related fear, anxiety, and suspicion in graduate students. A total of 482 students pursuing a master’s degree in educational administration participated in the study, which was designed according to the relational survey model. The data of the study were collected using online questionnaires, and the proposed hypotheses were tested and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of the study revealed that COVID-19-related suspicion positively and significantly predicted COVID-19-related fear and anxiety. In this context, the increased suspicion of graduate students due to COVID-19 also increased their fear and COVID-19-related anxiety, and this increased the possibility that they would exhibit depressive behaviors. However, a positive and significant relationship was found between COVID-19-related suspicion and depression. This result confirms that the increased suspicion of the participant students due to COVID-19 led to an increase in their depression scores. SEM results have shown a positive relationship between fear and anxiety related to COVID-19 and Internet addiction, and that the increase in students’ anxiety and fear levels also increases their Internet addiction levels. In addition, the results of the study revealed that depression has a negligible indirect effect on the relationship between COVID-19-related fear, anxiety, and suspicion and Internet addiction. In conclusion, the proposed hypothetical model is confirmed after having examined the relationships among depression, Internet addiction, COVID-19-related fear and anxiety, and suspicion. View Full-Text