{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T18:09:47Z","timestamp":1790186987906,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,23]],"date-time":"2025-01-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1737590400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious negative psychological effects worldwide, relatively little research has been performed on the potential enduring effects of COVID-19 on people\u2019s emotional health and Internet addiction. This study was to examine the longitudinal associations between risk perception of COVID-19, depressive symptoms, and Internet addiction among Chinese undergraduates.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We conducted a two-wave longitudinal survey by convenience sampling, a total of 1,153 Chinese undergraduate students completed questionnaires measuring their COVID-19 risk perception and post-traumatic growth (PTG) in December 2022 (T1) via an online survey. Subsequently, 1,008 of the T1 participants (87.42%) completed the depressive symptoms scale and Internet addiction scale 6\u202fmonths later, in June 2023 (T2).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>(1) Risk perception of COVID-19 was significantly and positively predicted depressive symptoms and Internet addiction 6\u202fmonths later; (2) Depressive symptoms played a mediating role between risk perceptions and Internet addiction; (3) PTG moderated the first-stage link between risk perception and Internet addiction, and this relationship was more robust for low PTG than for high PTG.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>These findings advance our understanding of the relationship and mechanisms between risk perception of COVID-19 and Internet addiction, and further support developing interventions to strengthen PTG for mitigating negative outcomes during major crises.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2024.1487472","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,23]],"date-time":"2025-01-23T05:11:17Z","timestamp":1737609077000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Risk perception of COVID-19, depressive symptoms and Internet addiction among undergraduates: a longitudinal 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