Social Psychology of Education (2021) 24:95–118

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-020-09601-y

Problematic internet use and academic achievement:

a focus on interpersonal behaviours and academic
engagement

Caterina Buzzai1   · Pina Filippello2 · Sebastiano Costa3 · Verdiana Amato2 ·

Luana Sorrenti2

Received: 24 January 2020 / Accepted: 22 October 2020 / Published online: 4 January 2021
© Springer Nature B.V. 2021

Abstract
In accordance with the Self-Determination Theory, the interpersonal behavior of
others can support or thwart the basic psychological needs and influence the well-
being of students. Furthermore, several studies have shown that problematic internet
use has a negative influence on the academic field. However, no studies have inves-
tigated the impact of need-supportive and need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors
(using the SDT theoretical framework) on internet addiction, academic engagement,
and academic achievement. For this reason, the main purpose of this study is to
investigate the relationship between students’ perceptions of others’ behaviors that
supported or thwarted their basic psychological needs, internet addiction, and aca-
demic engagement and the impact on academic achievement through two studies. In
the first study, 889 students (age: M = 20.26, SD = 3.16), were used to investigate the
dimensionality of the Italian version of the Interpersonal Behaviour Questionnaire
(IBQ) and the reliability, convergent and concurrent validity. In the second study,
515 students (age: M = 20.26, SD = 3.16) were tested to investigate the mediating
role of problematic internet use on the relationship between students’ perceptions
of others’ behaviors that supported or thwarted their basic psychological needs and
academic engagement and the impact on academic achievement. The results of the
first study suggested that the Italian version of the IBQ shows good psychometric
characteristics in the Italian context. The results of the second study confirmed the
mediating role of problematic internet use and academic engagement as mediators
between students’ perceptions of need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors and aca-
demic achievement.

Keywords  Need-supportive behaviours · Need-thwarting behaviours · Internet

addiction · Academic engagement · Academic achievement

* Caterina Buzzai
cbuzzai@unime.it
Extended author information available on the last page of the article

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 96 C. Buzzai et al.

1 Introduction

Problematic internet use has been defined as an impulse control disorder involv-
ing uncontrolled and dysfunctional use of the internet (Dell’Osso et al. 2006; Yau
et al. 2012), despite the awareness of the negative consequences this entails (Grif-
fiths 2000; Tang et  al. 2014). Several studies have shown that this phenomenon
is especially present in adolescents (Xin et al. 2018; Adiele and Olatokun 2014)
and in university students (Cardak 2013; Nalwa and Anand 2003; Bozoglan et al.
2013). In particular, the latter could be more exposed to the risk of developing
dysfunctional internet use, as academic activities involve flexible hours, and
the use of the internet is free, unlimited, and made available by the universities
themselves. Furthermore, the psychological, biological, and social changes expe-
rienced, the challenges that university life entails, and being exposed to particu-
larly stressful life events (i.e., academic failures, difficulties with parents, separa-
tions from one’s partner, etc.) would promote high levels of stress (Dexter et al.
2018). As a result, these students would be more likely to misuse the internet to
find comfort and to escape from reality (Yan et al. 2014). In this regard, there is
a growing concern for the college student’s welfare and his or her performance
due to excessive use of social and digital technologies (i.e., computers and social
media) and of the internet (OECD 2015).
Numerous studies (Tong et  al. 2019; Altayeb et  al. 2019; Turnbull et  al. 2018)
long hours spent on the net distracts students from their studies, resulting in them
neglecting their responsibilities. Indeed, the presence of a negative correlation
between problematic internet use and academic performance has been documented
(Singh and Barmola 2015; Masud et  al. 2016). Considering the impact that prob-
lematic internet use can have on academic achievement, many studies have aimed to
investigate the variables that could most facilitate or hinder this form of addiction,
such as engagement (Huang and Leung 2009; Li et  al. 2019; Tsitsika et  al. 2011;
Zhang et al. 2018; Yeap et al. 2016) and social support (Prievara et al. 2019; Ryan
and Deci 2017; Shek et al. 2018; Tan 2019; Yu et al. 2015).
Some studies have shown a close relationship between problematic internet use
and engagement (Li et  al. 2019; Ganji et  al. 2016; Huang and Leung 2009; Tsit-
sika et al. 2011; Zhang et al. 2018; Yeap et al. 2018), a multifactorial construct that
includes cognitive, emotional and behavioural components that are closely inter-
linked (Schaufeli et  al. 2002a, b). At the cognitive level, engagement involves the
ability to self-regulate one’s learning processes; on an emotional level, it is charac-
terized by the degree to which students experience close and affectionate relation-
ships with adults and peers and positively judge the time spent in the classroom.
Finally, the behavioral level can be defined as the students’ commitment to daily
academic activities (Wang and Fredricks 2014). In the literature, engagement has
been conceptualized as a protective factor for academic and social adaptation in
young people (Deci and Ryan 2000; Wang and Fredricks 2014). Students who have
a good level of engagement are positive, motivated, energetic, and satisfied, not only
in academia but also personally. On the contrary, students who have a low level of
engagement are particularly prone to risky behaviors (Loukas et al. 2009).

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Problematic internet use and academic achievement: a focus… 97

Several studies have shown the existence of a link between problematic internet
use and social support, defined as an individual’s perception of the care, support, and
listening by individuals belonging to the same social network, based on the individ-
ual’s positive previous experiences (Liang et al. 2011). In particular, dysfunctional
internet use could be a compensatory behavior for the needs of autonomy, compe-
tence, and relatedness, which are thwarted in an offline interpersonal context (Masur
et al. 2014; Reinecke et al. 2014; Scerri et al. 2019). Within the Self Determination
Theory (SDT) framework (Ryan and Deci 2017), interpersonal context is defined
as a social context that could support or thwart the basic psychological needs of
autonomy, competence and relatedness, as recognition of others’ interests and feel-
ings, performance feedback, and freedom of choice. Specifically, according to this
perspective, people can act through behaviors that encourage choice, self-direction,
and others’ perspectives (autonomy supportive) (Mageau et al. 2015; Rocchi et al.
2017a; Sheldon and Filak 2008), or through excessive personal control that includes
intimidating language and external reinforcements (autonomy thwarting) (Bartho-
lomew et  al. 2009; Rocchi et  al. 2017a; Sheldon and Filak 2008). Furthermore,
people can act through behaviors that support others’ competence (competence sup-
portive), using positive feedback to provide positive expectancies and encouraging
others to improve their skills and achieve their goals (Rocchi et al. 2017a; Sheldon
and Filak 2008), or, conversely, through behaviors comprising actions that underline
others’ faults, doubting their capacity to improve and considering them incompe-
tent (competence thwarting) (Rocchi et al. 2017a; Sheldon and Filak 2008). Finally,
people can act through behaviors that include acknowledgment, caring, support, and
interest in others’ experiences (relatedness supportive) (Rocchi et al. 2017a; Sheldon
and Filak 2008), or through behaviors that express disinterest and a lack of empathy
for other people through exclusion, not listening, or not being available when needed
(relatedness thwarting) (Rocchi et al. 2017a; Sheldon and Filak 2008).
Many studies have shown that a high level of supportive interpersonal behaviors
is positively related to need satisfaction, well-being, motivation, academic engage-
ment and achievement, positive affect, and vitality (Buzzai et  al. 2020; Campbell
et  al. 2015; Karaer and Akdemir 2019; Milyavskaya and Koestner 2011; Rocchi
et al. 2017a). Specifically, some studies have shown that interpersonal support from
an offline context is a protective factor in dysfunctional internet use in adolescents
(Prievara et al. 2019; Tan 2019; Yu et al. 2015). Conversely, thwarting interpersonal
behaviors has been shown to promote negative outcomes such as need frustration,
high stress levels, internet addiction, frustration intolerance, school learned help-
lessness, school refusal, maladaptive perfectionism, negative affect, burnout, lack
of motivation, and reduction in academic engagement, vitality, and well-being in
general (Cetinkaya 2019; Shek et al. 2018; Hong et al. 2019; Liu et al. 2019; Deci
and Ryan 2000; Milyavskaya and Koestner 2011; Filippello et al. 2015, 2017, 2018,
2019a, b, 2020; Rocchi et al. 2017a; Tsitsika 2011).
The aforementioned research has shown the negative relationships between
dysfunctional internet use, interpersonal context, and academic engagement and
achievement. Furthermore, these studies have indicated that the dysfunctional
use of the internet can fulfill the needs of autonomy, competence, and relation-
ship that are hindered in a real interpersonal context (Hong et al. 2019; Reinecke

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 98 C. Buzzai et al.

et  al. 2014; Scerri et  al. 2019) and showed the role that supportive or hinder-
ing behavior can have in problematic internet use (Cetinkaya 2019; Prievara et al.
2019; Shek et al. 2018; Tan 2019; Yu et al. 2015). Despite these evidences, most
research has focused only on specific dimensions of interpersonal context (e.g.,
autonomy-support, parental control) (Cetinkaya 2019; Liu et al. 2019; Shek et al.
2018; Yu et  al. 2015), or has used instruments unable to discriminate between
the actual perception of another person’s behavior in a need-supportive or need-
thwarting manner and the way people’s behavior makes one feel (Reinecke et al.
2014; Scerri et al. 2019). This discrimination is considered particularly important
because need-thwarting is a better predictor of diminished functioning and ill-
being than lack of need satisfaction (Bartholomew et al. 2011; Costa et al. 2015).
Also, few studies have simultaneously considered the actual perception of another
person’s behavior in a need-supportive or need-thwarting manner and the way
people’s behavior makes one feel in multiple contexts (Rocchi et  al. 2017a, b).
The present study is the first to examine the impact of need-supportive and need-
thwarting interpersonal behaviors (with an appropriate instrument) on internet
addiction and academic engagement and achievement. For this reason, the main
purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of problematic internet
use on the relationship between students’ perceptions of others’ behaviors that
supported or thwarted their basic psychological needs and academic engage-
ment and the impact on academic achievement. To achieve this, the Interpersonal
Behaviour Questionnaire by Rocchi et al. (2017a) was adapted in Italian and used
to assess need-supportive interpersonal behaviors (autonomy-supportive, compe-
tence-supportive, and relatedness-supportive) and need-thwarting interpersonal
behaviors (autonomy-thwarting, competence-thwarting, and relatedness-thwart-
ing), according to the SDT. Thus, two studies were carried out.

2 First study

The purpose of Study 1 was to investigate the dimensionality of the Italian version
of the IBQ by comparing a series of competitive factorial models (one-factor, two-
factor, three-factor, six-factor, s­ix2-factor hierarchical, and ­six3-factor hierarchical
models). We hypothesize that the original instrument’s six-factor structure will be
replicated. According to the study of Rocchi et al. (2017a), we expect that the three
need-supportive interpersonal behaviors (autonomy-supportive, competence-sup-
portive, and relatedness-supportive) will negatively correlate with the three need-
thwarting interpersonal behaviors (autonomy-thwarting, competence-thwarting and
relatedness-thwarting). Furthermore, the scale’s concurrent validity will be exam-
ined through its relations with a measure that evaluates perceived social support.
Since the creation of a supportive climate can contribute to perceived social support
(Williams et al. 2013) we hypothesize that autonomy-supportive, competence-sup-
portive and relatedness-supportive and autonomy-thwarting, competence-thwarting
and relatedness-thwarting are positively end negatively correlated with the dimen-
sion of the perceived social support (appraisal, tangible, self-esteem and belonging).

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Problematic internet use and academic achievement: a focus… 99

2.1 Method

2.1.1 Participants

The study sample consisted of 889 students, 296 males (33.3%) and 593 females
(67.7%), with an average age of 20.26 (SD = 3.16). The participants were recruited
from high school (61%) and the University of Messina (39%) (Sicily, Italy). Regard-
ing students’ socioeconomic status (SES) (see Sirin 2005), 34.1% of the stu-
dents belonged to a low SES (one or both parents held a lower secondary educa-
tion diploma), 41.8% belonged to a medium SES (one or both parents held a high
school diploma), 20% belonged to a high SES (one or both parents held a university
degree), while 4% of students did not provide this information. Furthermore, 94.2%
of the students had Italian nationality and all participants were Italian speaking.

2.1.2 Instruments

The Demographic Questionnaire collected the participants’ basic demographic

information, including age, gender, national origin, and educational level/academic
class.
The Interpersonal Behaviours Questionnaire (IBQ; Rocchi et al. 2017a) was used
to evaluate the extent of participants who perceived other people’s interpersonal
behaviors as need-supportive or need-thwarting. The questionnaire consisted of
24 items divided into six subscales: autonomy-supportive (e.g., “Support my deci-
sions”), autonomy-thwarting (e.g., “Impose their opinions on me”), competence-
supportive (e.g., “Provide valuable feedback”), competence-thwarting (e.g., “Doubt
my capacity to improve”), relatedness-supportive (e.g., “Is interested in what I do”),
and relatedness-thwarting (e.g., “Do not connect with me”). Participants were asked
to indicate to what extent they agreed that “The people in my life…” displayed these
behaviours, using a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (Do not agree at all) to 7 (Com-
pletely agree). The participants were asked to indicate to what extent they agreed
that “The people in my life…” displayed these behaviors, using a 7-point scale rang-
ing from 1 (Do not agree at all) to 7 (Completely agree). The IBQ showed good psy-
chometric characteristics (Rocchi et al. 2017a). The Italian version of the IBQ was
developed using the back-translation method.
The Italian version of the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL; Moretti
et al. 2012) was used to assess perceived interpersonal social support. The question-
naire consisted of 40 items divided into four subscales: tangible support (e.g., “If I
needed help fixing an appliance or repairing my car, there is someone who would
help me”), appraisal support (e.g., “There are several people that I trust to help solve
my problems”), self-esteem support (e.g., “Most of my friends are more interesting
than I am”), and belonging support (e.g., “When I feel lonely, there are several peo-
ple I can talk to”). The items were rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (definitely
false) to 3 (definitely true). The subscale scores were computed as the items’ means.
Previous studies (Brookings and Bolton 1988; Cohen and Hoberman 1983; Payne
et al. 2012) have shown these instruments’ good psychometric characteristics, and in
this study, the ISEL showed acceptable evidence of reliability.

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2.1.3 Procedure

According to the International Test Commission’ recommendations (Hamble-

ton 2001), the Italian version of the IBQ was developed using the back-translation
method. The questionnaire was adapted from English to Italian by three independent
translators and an expert in the SDT. Each translator translated the measure from
English to Italian and, successively, they discussed all the discrepancies identified
between the two versions until finding a satisfactory solution. In turn, the latter ver-
sion was translated into Italian by a professional bilingual translator who did not
know the original version. This procedure from Italian to English resulted in content
identical to the original version of the IBQ.
After giving informed consent, the participants completed all the question-
naires in a single session. The privacy and anonymity of their answers were guar-
anteed. Participation required between 20 and 30 min. The protocol was approved
by the Ethics Committee of the Centre for Research and Psychological Intervention
(CERIP) of the University of Messina (protocol number: 30465).

2.1.4 Data analysis

To determine the Italian IBQ’s factor structure, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)
was used. The CFA approach was used because the original version of the scale was
developed within the SDT framework, and the items were consistent with theoretical
factors (Rocchi et al. 2017a). Furthermore, alternative fit indices were considered as
follows: the Root Mean Square Error Approximation (RMSEA) Index, with its 90%
confidence interval (CI), in which values less than or equal to 0.05, 0.08, and 0.10
respectively indicate an optimal, acceptable, or mediocre fit; and the incremental
Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and the Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI), in which val-
ues equal to or greater than 0.90 are considered acceptable (Bentler 1990).
Moreover, to verify the dimensionality of the Italian IBQ, we compared a series
of competitive factor models. The one-factor model was tested to reject the hypothe-
sis of the IBQ’s unidimensionality. In this model, each item provides a measure of a
single construct and presupposes a unidimensional structure. The two-factor model,
which includes two latent factors representing each supportive and thwarting inter-
personal behavior, was tested.
The three-factor model, which includes three latent factors representing each
interpersonal behavior (autonomy, competence, relatedness), was tested, with the
support and thwarting items loaded together on the factor representing that behavior.
This model specifies three different but related dimensions.
The six-factor model, which includes six factors representing each behavior
(autonomy-supportive, autonomy-thwarting, competence-supportive, competence-
thwarting, relatedness-supportive, and relatedness-thwarting), was tested. This
model hypothesizes the existence of three interpersonal behaviors, differentiating
between the need-support and need-thwarting component within each of the three
interpersonal behaviors.
The hierarchical two-factor model (­six2-factor) includes six first-order fac-
tors (autonomy-supportive, autonomy-thwarting, competence-supportive,

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Problematic internet use and academic achievement: a focus… 101

competence-thwarting, relatedness-supportive, and relatedness-thwarting) loaded on

two higher-order factors (need-supportive and need-thwarting). This model assumes
that the scale’s dimensions are hierarchically organized into two superordinate levels
or second-order factors, each representing need-supportive or -thwarting interper-
sonal behaviors. In turn, each superordinate level is defined by three subordinate
levels respective to the interpersonal behaviors.
The hierarchical three-factor model ­(six3-factor) consists of six first-order factors
(autonomy-supportive, autonomy-thwarting, competence-supportive, competence-
thwarting, relatedness-supportive, and relatedness-thwarting) and three second-
order factors (autonomy, relatedness, and competence). This model assumes that the
scale’s dimensions are hierarchically organized into three superordinate levels, each
representing one interpersonal behavior. In turn, each superordinate level is defined
by two subordinate levels, the support and thwarting interpersonal behaviors. In
both hierarchical models, the scale of the latent variables was determined by fixing
their variances at 1.0.
The CFA analyses were conducted using EQS. 6 (Bentler 1995). SPSS 0.19 was
used for the descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha, and correlation.

2.2 Results

2.2.1 Confirmatory Factor Analysis

A series of CFAs was used to assess the IBQ factorial structure. The goodness-of-
fit indices are given in Table 1. The one-factor, two-factor, and three-factor models
did not have a good data fit, while all the other models (six-factor, hierarchical two-
factor, and hierarchical three-factor models) fit the data well (Table 1).
The comparisons between models were made using the χ2 difference test (Satorra
and Bentler 2001) and the difference in the CFI (Cheung and Rensvold 2002). The
fit indices reported that the best-fitting model was the six-factor model. Further-
more, the models’ comparisons (Table  1) against the six-factor model (best-fitting
model) showed that all the χ2 difference tests were significant, and that the differ-
ences in CFI were meaningful (ΔCFI range between 0.01 and 0.29), confirming that
the six-factor model showed a better fit. Moreover, all standardized factor loadings
were significant, ranging from 0.95 to 0.69 for autonomy-supportive, from 0.89 to
0.78 for autonomy-thwarting, from 0.65 to 0.71 for competence-supportive, from
0.93 to 0.73 for competence-thwarting, from 0.83 to 0.73 for relatedness-supportive,
and from 0.88 to 0.63 for relatedness-thwarting (Table 2).

2.2.2 IBQ reliability and convergent validity

We used the composite reliability indicator ρc to evaluate the reliability of the

constructs, as composite reliability is considered a better indicator than Cron-
bach’s alpha (Fornell and Larcker 1981), and values equal to or higher than
0.70 can be considered acceptable (Carmines and Zeller 1979; Nunnally
1978). They showed that the ρc values exceeded the 0.70 threshold: 0.90 for

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Table 1  Summary of goodness-of-fit indexes for confirmatory factor analysis models (study 1, N = 889)
χ2 df SBχ2 RCFI RNNFI RRMSEA (90% CI) Δ χ2 ΔSBχ2 Δ df Δ RCFI

6-factor model 1015.64 237 615.45 .96 .95 .06 (.06–.07) – – – –

1-factor model 5720.56 252 3457.56 .65 .62 .12 (.12–.12) 4704.92 2730.95 15 .29
2-factor model 4083.22 251 2492.33 .76 .73 .10 (.10–.10) 3067.58 2133.62 14 .20
3-factor model 4242.96 249 2499.75 .76 .73 .10 (.10–.10) 3227.32 1227.86 12 .20
Hierarchical models
62 factor hierarchical model 1113.17 245 680.99 .95 .95 .05 (.04–.05) 97.53 82.01 8 .1
3
6 -factor hierarchical model 1280.87 243 781.68 .94 .93 .05 (.05–.05) 265.23 224.45 6 .2
C. Buzzai et al.
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Table 2  Mean, standard deviation, skewness, kutosis, factor loading of the 24 items of the IBQ
M SD Skew Kurt Loading ε

STEM: The people in my life…

Autonomy-supportive
Give me the freedom to make my own choices 5.71 1.44 − 1.20 1.09 .69 .72
Support my decisions 5.57 1.42 − 1.05 .70 .93 .37
Support the choices that I make for myself 5.56 1.44 − 1.06 .68 .95 .33
Encourage me to make my own decisions 5.63 1.54 − 1.21 .88 .76 .65
Autonomy-thwarting
Pressure me to do things their way 2.86 1.83 .74 −.55 .83 .55
Impose their opinions on me 2.56 1.73 .98 −.06 .89 .46
Pressure me to adopt certain behaviours 2.87 1.83 .66 −.69 .86 .52
Limit my choices 2.48 1.70 1.03 .03 .78 .63
Competence-supportive
Encourage me to improve my skills 5.68 1.49 − 1.28 1.17 .68 .73
Provide valuable feedback 5.07 1.58 −.64 −.22 .65 .76
Acknowledge my ability to achieve my goals 5.58 1.50 − 1.17 .83 .75 .66
Tell me that I can accomplish things 5.48 1.55 − 1.15 .79 .71 .70
Competence-thwarting
Point out that I will likely fail 1.96 1.53 1.75 2.23 .73 .68
Send me the message that I am incompetent 1.92 1.54 1.77 2.26 .86 .51
Doubt my capacity to improve 2.06 1.61 1.51 1.27 .93 .38
Question my ability to overcome challenges 2.19 1.68 1.36 .79 .89 .46
Relatedness-supportive
Are interested in what I do 5.38 1.58 −.97 .31 .73 .68
Take the time to get to know me 5.12 1.61 −.78 −.12 .77 .64
Honestly enjoy spending time with me 5.60 1.40 − 1.10 .88 .83 .55
Relate to me 5.65 1.40 − 1.16 .97 .82 .57
Relatedness-thwarting
Do not comfort me when I am feeling low 2.50 1.83 1.13 .11 .63 .78
Are distant when we spend time together 2.34 1.65 1.17 .38 .80 .60
Do not connect with me 2.24 1.58 1.33 .95 .88 .48
Do not care about me 1.84 1.44 1.94 3.16 .75 .66

autonomy-supportive, 0.90 for autonomy-thwarting, 0.79 for competence-sup-

portive, 0.91 for competence-thwarting, 0.88 for relatedness-supportive, and 0.85
for relatedness-thwarting. Nevertheless, we also computed Cronbach’s alpha to
allow a comparison with previous studies. The values ranged from 0.79 to 0.91.
Table 3 reports the results.
The convergent validity evaluation was performed using the measurement
developed by Fornell and Larcker (1981) known as the average variance extracted
(AVE). This measurement must exceed a value of 0.50, demonstrating that more
than 50% of the construct’s variance is due to its indicators. The authors showed

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Table 3  Composite reliability Reliability (ρc) AVE Cron-

(ρc) and average variance bach’s
extracted (AVE) in the six-factor alpha
model, and Cronbach’s alpha
Autonomy-supportive .90 .70 .90
Autonomy-thwarting .91 .70 .90
Competence-supportive .79 .49 .79
Competence-thwarting .91 .73 .91
Relatedness-supportive .88 .63 .87
Relatedness-thwarting .85 .59 .84

that the AVE values were greater than the established reference value of 0.50,
with the exception of the CS (0.49).

2.2.3 Descriptive analyses and correlation

Table 4 shows the means, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, Cronbach’s alpha,
and correlation values for all measures considered in this study. The descriptive
analysis showed that all scales have good symmetry and kurtosis scores. Regarding
the ISEL, the internal reliability was reported to range from 0.65 to 0.78.
The intercorrelation between the IBQ subscale showed that autonomy-supportive,
competence-supportive and relatedness-supportive were negatively correlated with
autonomy-thwarting, competence-thwarting, and relatedness-thwarting, while, need-
supportive interpersonal behaviors were negatively correlated with need-thwarting
interpersonal behaviors. Furthermore, the correlation between the IBQ subscale,
need-supportive and need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors and need-fulfillment
interpersonal behaviors and the other measure showed that autonomy-, competence-,
relatedness- and need-supportive and need-fulfillment interpersonal behaviors were
positively correlated with appraisal, tangible, self-esteem, and belonging support.
Instead, autonomy-, competence-, relatedness- and need-thwarting interpersonal
behaviors and need-fulfillment interpersonal behaviors were negatively correlated
with appraisal, tangible, self-esteem, and belonging support.

3 Second study

The purpose of Study 2 was to investigate the mediating role of problematic inter-
net use on the relationship between students’ perceptions of need-supportive and
need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors and academic engagement and the impact on
academic achievement in an undergraduate student sample. It is hypothesized that
students’ perceptions of need-supportive and need-thwarting interpersonal behav-
iors play a role in problematic internet use; problematic internet use could decrease
academic engagement and achievement. Furthermore, academic engagement could
increase academic achievement. In addition, it was hypothesized the mediating
role of problematic internet use on the association between students’ perceptions

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 Table 4  Descriptive statistics and correlation among variables
M SD Skew Kurt 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11 13

1 Autonomy-supportive 5.62 1.28 − 1.15 1.24

2 Autonomy-thwarting 2.69 1.56 .83 −.25 −.54**
3 Competence-supportive 5.45 1.20 −.91 .59 .65** −.45**
4 Competence-thwarting 2.03 1.42 1.47 1.36 −.52** .61** −.55**
5 Relatedness-supportive 5.44 1.26 −.87 .29 .60** −.41** .70** −.53**
6 Relatedness-thwarting 2.23 1.34 1.21 1.06 −.45** .52** −.49** .65** −.58**
7 Need-supportive inter- 5.50 1.09 −.95 .68 .86** −.53** .89** −.61** .88** −.58**
personal behaviour
8 Need-thwarting inter- 2.32 1.23 1.09 .64 −.59** .85** −.58** .88** −.59** .83** −.67**
Problematic internet use and academic achievement: a focus…

personal behaviour
9 Total need-supportive 5.59 1.06 −.94 .56 .79** −.76** .80** −.82** .79** −.78** .90** −.92**
interpersonal behaviour
10 Appraisal 2.12 .44 −.69 .25 .34** −.33** .41** −.37** .42** −.47** .44** −.45** .49** α = .65
11 Tangible 2.11 .52 −.53 −.06 .50** −.43** .53** −.49** .57** −.50** .61** −.55** .63** .56** α = .67
12 Self-esteem 2.01 .44 −.49 −.10 .34** −.35** .43** −.35** .46** −.44** .47** −.44** .50** .60** .55** α = .78
13 Belonging 2.15 .48 −.78 .18 .42** −.38** .46** −.42** .50** −.50** .53** −.50** .56** .60** .67** .60** α = .71

N = 889; **p < .01; *p < .05

105

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 106 C. Buzzai et al.

of need-supportive and need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors and academic

engagement. Finally, the mediating role of problematic internet use and academic
engagement on the association between students’ perceptions of need-supportive
and need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors and academic achievement, was also
hypothesized.

3.1 Method

3.1.1 Participants

The sample consisted of 515 students, 146 males (28.3%) and 369 females (71.7%),
with an average age of 20.26 (SD = 3.16). Participants were recruited from the Uni-
versity of Messina (39%) (Sicily, Italy). Regarding students’ socioeconomic status
(SES) (see Sirin 2005), 37.9% of the students belonged to a low SES (one or both
parents held a lower secondary education diploma), 48.7% belonged to a medium
SES (one or both parents held a high school diploma), 13.4% belonged to a high
SES (one or both parents held a university degree), while 4% of students did not pro-
vide this information. Furthermore, 98.6% of the students had Italian nationality and
all participants were Italian speaking.

3.1.2 Instruments

The Demographic Questionnaire collected the participants’ basic demographic

information, including age, gender, national origin, and educational level/academic
class.
The Interpersonal Behaviours Questionnaire (IBQ; Rocchi et al. 2017a) was used
to evaluate the extent of participants who perceived other people’s interpersonal
behaviors as need-supportive or need-thwarting. The questionnaire consisted of
24 items divided into six subscales: autonomy-supportive (e.g., “Support my deci-
sions”), autonomy-thwarting (e.g., “Impose their opinions on me”), competence-
supportive (e.g., “Provide valuable feedback”), competence-thwarting (e.g., “Doubt
my capacity to improve”), relatedness-supportive (e.g., “Is interested in what I do”),
and relatedness-thwarting (e.g., “Do not connect with me”). Participants were asked
to indicate to what extent they agreed that “The people in my life…” displayed these
behaviours, using a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (Do not agree at all) to 7 (Com-
pletely agree). The participants were asked to indicate to what extent they agreed
that “The people in my life…” displayed these behaviors, using a 7-point scale rang-
ing from 1 (Do not agree at all) to 7 (Completely agree).
The Italian version of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT; Ferraro et al. 2006) was
used for evaluating problematic internet use according to the Diagnostic and Statisti-
cal Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV-TR) criteria for pathological
gambling (American Psychiatric Association 2000). The instrument consist of 20
items (e.g., “Do you choose to spend more time online over going out with oth-
ers?”) rated on a five-point Likert scale (from 1 = not at all to 5 = always). The total
scores were computed as the items’ means. The reliability and validity of the IAT

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Problematic internet use and academic achievement: a focus… 107

are supported by previous research and in different countries (Ferraro et  al. 2006;
Lai et al. 2013; Lee et al. 2013; Milani et al. 2009).
The Italian version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student Forms
(UWES-SF; Balducci et al. 2010) was used for assessing school engagement in the
academic setting. The UWES-SF includes 9 items (e.g., “I am enthusiastic about
my study”) on a 7-point Likert-type scale (0 = never, 6 = always). The total scores
were computed as the items’ means. The reliability and validity of the UWES-SF
are supported by previous research and in different countries (Schaufeli et al. 2002a,
b; Schaufeli and Bakker 2004).
Academic achievement The data on academic achievement were provided by the
students, based on the average scores earned on written tests and on oral questions
across all subjects during the current academic year. The Italian marking system has
a range between 18 and 30, and in this study, the mean of the students’ academic
achievement was 26.67 (SD = 2.14).

3.1.3 Procedure

This study was performed in accordance with the recommendations of the Ethical
Code of the Italian Association of Psychology (AIP), and all subjects gave written
informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (2013). The pro-
tocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Centre for Research and Psy-
chological Intervention (CERIP) of the University of Messina (protocol number:
30465).
After, the participants completed the questionnaire in a single session. The pri-
vacy and the anonymity of their answers were guaranteed. Participation required
between 20 and 30 min.

3.1.4 Data analysis

RStudio with the lavaan package was used to carry out the structural equation mod-
eling (SEM), with latent variables. Furthermore, we used CIs of the direct and
indirect effects with 5,000 bootstrap replication samples, and a 95% bias-corrected
CI was applied, in accordance with the recommendations of Wu and Jia (2013),
Preacher and Hayes (2008), and Shrout and Bolger (2002). Several indexes of fit
were examined: the Chi-square (χ2) value; the comparative fit index (CFI); the
standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) and the root mean square error of
approximation (RMSEA) with its 90% confidence interval (CI) (for a description of
these indices, see Hair et al. 1998). The cut-off for a good model fit is achieved when
the CFI values are > 0.90, and the SRMR and RMSEA are < 0.08 (Kline, 2015).
Need-supportive and need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors were represented
by three indicators constituted by the average scores on the autonomy-supportive,
competence-supportive, and relatedness-supportive scales and on the autonomy-
thwarting, competence-thwarting, and relatedness-thwarting scales, respectively.
Problematic internet use and academic engagement were represented by three par-
cels consisting of randomly selected items. The indicator of the observed variable
for academic achievement was represented by the average scores. IBM SPSS was

13
 108 C. Buzzai et al.

used to conduct the descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha, and correlations for all
variables in the study.

3.2 Results

3.2.1 Descriptive statistics, reliability and correlation

Table 5 shows the means, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, Cronbach’s alpha
values, and correlations for all measures considered in this study. The descriptive
analysis showed that all scales have good symmetry and kurtosis scores. The inter-
nal reliability for all measures was reported as ranging from 0.85 to 0.92. The cor-
relations showed that the three need-supportive interpersonal behaviors were posi-
tively correlated with academic engagement and negatively correlated with internet
addiction. Furthermore, only competence satisfaction was positively correlated with
academic engagement. Instead, the need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors were
positively correlated with problematic internet use and negatively correlated with
academic engagement and achievement.

3.2.2 Mediation

To investigate the mediating role of problematic internet use on the relationship

between students’ perceptions of need-supportive and need-thwarting interpersonal
behaviors and academic engagement and the impact on academic achievement, SEM
analyses were employed (Table 6).
The model estimation indicated that the data fit the model (Fig.  1),
χ2(56) = 175.92, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.06 (90% CI = 0.05–0.08) well
and showed significant paths from need-supportive interpersonal behaviors to aca-
demic engagement (β = 0.25, p  < 0.05) and from need-thwarting interpersonal
behaviors to academic achievement (β = − 0.24, p < 0.05).
Regarding the direct effects, there was a direct positive effect of need-supportive
interpersonal behaviors on academic engagement (β = 0.25, p < 0.05) and of need-
thwarting interpersonal behaviors on problematic internet use (β = 0.44, p < 0.001).
Furthermore, there was a direct negative effect of problematic internet use on

Table 5  Descriptive statistics and correlation among variables

M SD Skew Kurt 1 2 3 4

1 Need-supportive interpersonal 5.38 1.14 −.94 .90 α = .93

behaviour
2 Need-thwarting interpersonal behav- 2.78 .94 1.13 1.12 −.54** α = .91
iour
3 Problematic internet use 2.13 .62 .72 .61 −.28** .37** α = .89
4 Academic engagement 4.18 1.33 −.88 .10 .30** −.26** −.27** α = .92
5 Academic achievement 26.67 2.14 −.71 .76 .10* −.16** −.15** .24**

N = 515; **p < .01; *p < .05

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Problematic internet use and academic achievement: a focus… 109

Table 6  Path estimates, SEs and 95% CIs

β B-SE Lower bound Upperbound
(BC) 95% CI (BC) 95% CI

Direct effect
Need-supportive interpersonal behaviours → problematic −.03 .05 −.11 .08
internet use
Need-supportive interpersonal behaviours → academic .25 .13 .09 .60
engagement
Need-supportive interpersonal behaviours → academic −.11 .19 −.66 .08
achievement
Need-thwarting interpersonal behaviours → problematic .44 .05 .11 .31
internet use
Need-thwarting interpersonal behaviours → academic −.05 .14 −.30 .24
engagement
Need-thwarting interpersonal behaviours  → academic −.19 .20 −.83 −.04
achievement
Problematic internet use → academic engagement −.21 .16 −.84 −.23
Problematic internet use → academic achievement −.04 .23 −.61 .30
academic engagement → academic achievement .22 .37 .19 .55
Indirect effect via problematic internet use
Need-supportive interpersonal behaviours → academic .01 .03 −.04 .05
engagement
Need-supportive interpersonal behaviours → academic .00 .01 −.01 .01
achievement
Need-thwarting interpersonal behaviours → academic −.09 .05 −.17 −.02
enagagement
Need-thwarting interpersonal behaviours → academic −.02 .05 .06 .03
achievement
Indirect effect via academic engagement
Need-supportive interpersonal behaviours → academic .05 .06 .00 .11
achievement
Need-thwarting interpersonal behaviours → academic −.01 .05 −.06 .04
achievement
Problematic internet use → academic achievement −.05 .08 −.08 −.01
Indirect effect via problematic internet use and academic engagement
Need-supportive interpersonal behaviours → academic .00 .01 −.01 .01
achievement
Need-thwarting interpersonal behaviours → academic −.02 .02 −.04 −.00
achievement

B-SE bootstrapped standards errors, BC 95% CI bias corrected-confidence interval

academic engagement (β = −  0.21, p = 0.001) and a direct positive effect of aca-
demic engagement on academic achievement (β = 0.22, p < 0.001).
Regarding the indirect effects, the following indirect negative effects were found:
of need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors on academic engagement via the mediat-
ing effect of problematic internet use (β = − 0.09, p < 0.05), of need-thwarting inter-
personal behaviors on academic achievement via the mediating effect of problematic

13
 110 C. Buzzai et al.

Fig. 1  Path diagram depicting the relationships between study variables. Note coefficients shown are
standardized path coefficients. Dotted lines represent non-significant parameters

internet use and academic engagement (β = −  0.02, p < 0.05), and of problematic
internet use on academic achievement via the mediating effect of academic engage-
ment (β = − 0.05, p < 0.05).

4 Discussion

The SDT highlighted how supportive or thwarting interpersonal contexts plays an

important role in individual development, affecting well-being (Rocchi et al. 2017a;
Ryan and Deci 2017). For this reason, the purpose of the study was to investigate
the mediating role of problematic internet use on the relationship between students’
perceptions of need-supportive and need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors and aca-
demic engagement and the impact on academic achievement. Two studies were con-
ducted to achieve this goal.
In the first study, it was validated in Italian the Interpersonal Behaviours Ques-
tionnaire (IBQ; Rocchi et al. 2017a), an instrument able to measure students’ per-
ceptions of need-supportive and need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors from the
SDT perspective, examining the main psychometric characteristics (dimensional-
ity, reliability, and validity). Consistent with our hypothesis, the original factorial
structure was replicated, confirming the six-factor model: autonomy-supportive,
autonomy-thwarting, competence-supportive, competence-thwarting, relatedness-
supportive, and relatedness-thwarting. The six dimensions also allow us to obtain
a total need-supportive interpersonal behavior score by calculating the average of
the items that constitute the autonomy-, competence-, and relatedness-supportive
subscales and a total need-thwarting interpersonal behavior score by calculating
the average of the items that constitute the autonomy-, competence-, and related-
ness-thwarting subscales. In addition, it is possible to compute a total need-support
interpersonal behavior score by calculating the average of the 24 items (calculat-
ing the reverse for need-thwarting interpersonal behavior items). Furthermore, the

13
Problematic internet use and academic achievement: a focus… 111

six factors show good internal reliability (ranging from 0.84 to 0.90), and the inter-
correlation between the IBQ subscales demonstrates that the three need-supportive
interpersonal behaviors are negatively correlated with the three need-thwarting
interpersonal behaviors.
These results are consistent with those obtained by Rocchi et  al. (2017a), con-
firming the presence of six dimensions, according to the SDT. In particular, sup-
portive behaviors allow the individual to act with a sense of volition coherent with
their values (autonomy-supportive), to feel effective and competent in their activ-
ity choices (competence-supportive), and to feel emotionally connected to others
(relatedness-supportive). Otherwise, thwarting behaviors consist of exerting pres-
sure and coercion (autonomy-thwarting), making individuals feel inadequate in their
daily activities (competence-thwarting), and making them feel emotionally discon-
nected (relatedness-thwarting) (Rocchi et al. 2017a). Also, the correlations between
need-supportive and need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors were negatively cor-
related with each other, indicating that they are independent constructs, consistent
with previous studies (Bartholomew et al. 2011; Costa et al. 2015). The instrument’s
convergent validity was established through its relations with another measure of
perceived interpersonal social support (ISEL; Moretti et al. 2012), indicating a posi-
tive relationship between the three need-supportive interpersonal behavior subscales
and the four ISEL subscales (tangible, appraisal, self-esteem, and belonging) and
inverse relations with the three need-thwarting interpersonal behavior subscales.
These relations can be explained by considering that the ISEL items are conceptu-
ally similar to the items that assess need-supportive interpersonal behaviors, rather
than to those that evaluate thwarting interpersonal behaviors. In fact, the percep-
tion of social support, as understood in the stress-buffering model (Cohen and Wills
1985; Moretti et  al. 2012), refers to the subject’s perception of receiving material
help in case of need (tangible support), the possibility of talking to someone about
their problems (appraisal support), the possibility to do and share things with other
people (belonging support), and the subject’s perception of being supported by oth-
ers, positively evaluated in comparison with other people, and their feeling of being
emotionally connected (self-esteem support). Thus, these dimensions are similar to
the supporting interpersonal behaviors, but they are differentiated because they are
implemented only during specific frustrating events (Moretti et al. 2012), rather than
representing a wider environmental feature able to create a generally supportive cli-
mate. However, social support actions can contribute to the creation and mainte-
nance of a supportive climate (Williams et  al. 2013). Overall, in accordance with
Rocchi et  al. (2017a), our results confirm the IBQ’s psychometric properties for
assessing the perception of the six interpersonal behaviors in multiple contexts. This
result extends the validity and use of the IBQ in the Italian context.
In the second study, the mediating role of problematic internet use on the rela-
tionship between students’ perceptions of need-supportive and need-thwarting
interpersonal behaviors and academic engagement and the impact on academic
achievement were investigated. Consistent with our hypothesis, the results con-
firmed the role of problematic internet use as a mediator for students’ perceptions
of need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors on academic engagement. This suggests
that an interpersonal context that hinders the need for autonomy, competence, and

13
 112 C. Buzzai et al.

belonging increases dysfunctional internet use, reducing academic engagement.

These results are consistent with those of previous studies (Cetinkaya 2019; Hong
et  al. 2019; Masur et  al. 2014; Reinecke et  al. 2014; Scerri et  al. 2019; Prievara
et al. 2019) that showed an increase in the dysfunctional use of the internet when the
interpersonal context is unable to support autonomy, competence, and relatedness,
which in turn has a negative influence on engagement in school activities. Further-
more, the results showed the role of problematic internet use and academic engage-
ment as mediators between students’ perceptions of need-thwarting interpersonal
behaviors and academic achievement, suggesting that an interpersonal context that
thwarts choice, self-regulation, and others’ perspectives (Mageau et al. 2015; Rocchi
et al. 2017a; Sheldon and Filak 2008), underlines others’ faults, doubts the ability
to improve (Rocchi et  al. 2017a; Sheldon and Filak 2008) and expresses disinter-
est and a lack of empathy for others (Rocchi et al. 2017a; Sheldon and Filak 2008)
could be a risk factor for the development of uncontrolled internet use. This in turn
has a negative influence on school involvement (decreasing academic engagement)
and on academic achievement, consistent with previous studies (Cetinkaya 2019;
Hong et al. 2019; Liu et al. 2019; Shek et al. 2018; Tsitsika 2011; Zhang et al. 2018;
Yeap et al. 2016). Another result to emerge from this study was the role of academic
engagement as a mediator between problematic internet use and academic achieve-
ment, indicating the negative effect of problematic internet use on the students’ abil-
ity to self-regulate their learning processes and their commitments to daily academic
activities, resulting in low academic achievement, a finding also consistent with
those of previous studies (Ganji et al. 2016; Zhang et al. 2018; Yeap et al. 2016).
These results confirm those of previous studies (Cetinkaya 2019; Hong et al. 2019;
Masur et al. 2014; Prievara et al. 2019; Reinecke et al. 2014; Scerri et al. 2019) that
showed an increase in the dysfunctional use of the internet when the interpersonal
context was unable to satisfy the students’ basic psychological needs as well as other
studies’ results (Tsitsika 2011; Zhang et al. 2018; Yeap et al. 2016) that showed a
decreased commitment to school activities and low academic achievement.
Finally, despite the direct effects of need-supportive interpersonal behaviors on
academic engagement, this model did not confirm the role of problematic internet
use as a mediator between students’ perceptions of need-supportive interpersonal
behaviors, academic engagement, and academic achievement, again suggesting that
thwarting interpersonal behaviors have a greater impact on dysfunctional internet
use, which in turn affects academic engagement and achievement. This result is con-
sistent with those of previous studies (Bartholomew et al. 2011; Costa et al. 2015)
that suggest that need thwarting is a better predictor of diminished functioning and
ill-being than the lack of need satisfaction.

4.1 Limitations

There are some limitations to this study, and further studies are needed to extend
the validity of the instrument in the Italian context. Future research should test the
validity of the IBQ in Italy and should include other variables, such as personal (i.e.,
self-esteem, basic psychological needs, well-being, motivation) and contextual (i.e.,

13
Problematic internet use and academic achievement: a focus… 113

socioeconomic status) variables that can influence the dysfunctional use of the inter-
net. Furthermore, in this study, the effect of the relationship between dysfunctional
internet use and other variables on the general student population has been exam-
ined. Future studies should include participants with problematic internet use disor-
der and investigate the influence of interpersonal behavior on academic engagement
and achievement to better understand their relationship.

5 Conclusions

Overall, our results are consistent with the SDT (Ryan and Deci 2017) which asserts
that the interpersonal context plays an important role in individual development
(Rocchi et al. 2017a; Ryan and Deci 2017). In accordance with Rocchi et al. (2017a),
our results confirm the IBQ’s psychometric properties for assessing the perception
of need-supportive and need-thwarting interpersonal behaviors in multiple contexts
and the usefulness of considering them in relationships with dysfunctional internet
use.
The present study is the first to examine the impact of need-supportive and need-
thwarting interpersonal behaviors (with an appropriate instrument) on internet
addiction and academic engagement and achievement. Understanding how individu-
als perceive interpersonal behaviors, in terms of support or obstacle, can be use-
ful for implementing prevention and intervention training in main life contexts such
as family, school, and peers. In particular, school psychologists can help students
develop significant relationships and feel emotionally connected to one another and
can help parents, teachers, and peers act with behaviors that support autonomy, com-
petence, and relationships, as recognition of others’ interests and feelings, awards,
performance feedback, and freedom of choice, according to the SDT (Ryan and Deci
2017), reduces the risk of problematic internet use and has a positive effect on aca-
demic engagement and, in turn, on academic achievement.

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Publisher’s Note  Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published
maps and institutional affiliations.
Caterina Buzzai is a Ph.D. at the Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psycholog-
ical, Educational and Cultural Studies, University of Messina. Her current research
interests concern the role of individual and contextual variables in promoting well-
being and preventing illness in adolescence, with particular attention at the school
setting.

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Pina Filippello is an Associate Professor in Developmental and Educational Psy-

chology at the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of
Messina. Her research fields focus on reading and writing processes in children with
typical and atypical development, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
academic performance, and emotional-motivational process in education and school.
Sebastiano Costa is an Assistant Professor in Developmental and Educational
Psychology at the Department of Psychology of the University of Campania “Luigi
Vanvitelli”. His research interests focus on the emotional and motivational aspects
underlying the relation between contextual factors and psychological outcomes
across the life-span.
Verdiana Amato is a Psychologist who  collaborates as an external researcher
assistant at the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University
of Messina. Her current research interests are problematic internet use, academic
achievement, and psychological process.
Luana Sorrenti is an Assistant Professor in Developmental and Educational Psy-
chology at the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of
Messina. Her main research interests concern the cognitive, emotional, and motiva-
tional factors and contextual variables involved in academic achievement and stu-
dent well-being.

Affiliations

Caterina Buzzai1   · Pina Filippello2 · Sebastiano Costa3 · Verdiana Amato2 ·

Luana Sorrenti2
1
Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychological, Educational and Cultural Studies, University
of Messina, Via Concezione, 6‑8, 98122 Messina, Italy
2
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Policlinico
G. Martino, Via C. Valeria, 98125 Messina, Italy
3
Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy

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