<div>The impact of peer attachment on internet addiction among rural
adolescents : A moderated mediation model</div><div>Xu Sheng<sup>1</sup>, Tang Jianping<sup>1</sup>，Jiang
Jing<sup>1</sup>, Luo Tingrui<sup>1</sup>, Wu
Wenjing<sup>2</sup></div><div><sup>1</sup>Vocational Normal College ,Jiangxi Agricultural
University</div><div><sup>2</sup> Economy and Management College ,Jiangxi Agricultural
University</div><div>The purpose of this study is to explore the mediating mechanism of peer
attachment in regulating internet addiction among rural adolescents. The
method used the Likert five point self-report scale for field sampling,
SPSS 25.0 software for data analysis, two tailed Pearson correlation
analysis, and regression analysis. As a result, peer attachment has a
direct impact of 0.36 on internet addiction and 0.48 on loneliness.
Loneliness has a direct impact of 0.52 on internet addiction, with a
mediating effect of loneliness is 0.249(0.48*0.52) ,it is a partial
mediator. The impact of the interaction between high and low shyness and
high and low peer attachment on loneliness is 0.44 and 0.12,
respectively. In the moderated mediating effect, the indirect moderating
effect of high shyness was 0.26, low shyness was 0.11, and the
difference between the two groups was 0.15.Conclusion:Peer attachment
has a positive impact on internet addiction among rural adolescents.
Loneliness plays a mediating role in peer attachment and internet
addiction. Shyness plays a differential regulatory role in the
relationship between peer attachment and individual loneliness, and the
indirect impact of peer attachment on internet addiction will be
enhanced or weakened by the strength of the mediating effect of
shyness’s differential regulation of loneliness.</div><div><i>Keywords:</i> rural adolescences; peer attachment; shyness;
loneliness; internet addiction</div><div>Project funding: Jiangxi Province Social Science Planning Project
(20JY14), Jiangxi Province College Humanities (GL20123).</div><div>Author Introduction: Xu Sheng (1978-), male, born in Jiujiang, Jiangxi
Province, is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Vocational
Normal College and the New Rural Development Research Institute of
Jiangxi Agricultural University. He holds a Ph.D. in Management and his
research focuses on Rural Human Resources and Rural Education. His phone
number is 13907919890 and his email address is: fanny_042@163.com .</div><div>Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Tang
Jianping, Vocational Normal College ,Jiangxi Agricultural University,
Nanchang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jiangxi Province,
China. Email:jianpingtang1214@qq.com</div>