As a country with the largest absolute number of Internet users in the world,China has witnessed that Internet addiction is becoming a prominent issue.Young adults like university students are particularly susceptible to the lure of the Internet,and they are described as being obsessed with the Internet.According to the latest report of the China Internet Network Information Center(CNNIC),netizens aged 20-29 have become the largest group of Internet users in China,accounting for 30.7%of the total Chinese netizens.Therefore,it is very important to study the Internet use and its influence among the young,since young people have become the main body of the Chinese Internet users.Focusing on the two essential factors closely related to Internet addiction as a risk,this study attempted to find out the interrelationships between Internet literacy,Internet addiction,and young people’s quality of life.As for research method,a paper-based survey was conducted to collect data and the final sample size was 1,000.The university student sample was created from a stratified sampling procedure with proportionate allocation among the nine universities in Dalian,a coast city in northeast China.Factor analyses showed different aspects of Internet literacy and various symptoms of Internet addiction among the university students.This study found that Internet addiction had some negative influences on the university students’quality of life.Moreover,the findings showed that Internet literacy has a significant influence on Internet addiction and quality of life among these young people.Basically,those university students with higher level of Internet literacy showed lower degree of Internet addiction and higher degree of quality of life.Therefore,in the future,more attention should be paid to education and activities in order to improve young people’s Internet literacy.The findings further enrich the literature of Internet addiction,Internet literacy,as well as quality of life,and are valuable for prevention,treatment,and recovery of Internet addiction among young people.Research on Internet addiction as an emerging risk in the Chinese context is of great research significance theoretically and practically,not only because Internet addiction is becoming a prominent issue in both China and many other societies,but also because it may act as a good case to study risk issue related to Internet,youth,and everyday life.The results can be used for future studies on Internet addiction,Internet literacy,and quality of life among other subpopulations or within other social contexts.
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