The prevalence of internet addiction and its association with quality of life among inflight security officers based on a national survey: a network analysis perspective

Background: Given the heavy responsibilities placed on inflight security officers (IFSO) to ensure passenger safety and eliminate inflight hazards, they often turn to Internet use to cope with their work pressure. This study examined the prevalence of internet addiction (IA) among IFSO in China, and its associated factors, relationship with quality of life (QOL), and network structure. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on a national survey. Expected influence (EI) was used to identify the most central nodes within the network model. Results: Among 3,475 IFSO included in this study across 10 airlines, the prevalence of IA (IAT-20 total score of ≥ 50) was 13.1% (n = 454; 95% CI: 11.9–14.2%). Further, there was an association between lower annual income, more severe depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms with IA among IFSOs. Network analysis found that “Job performance or productivity suffer because of the Internet” (IAT8) was the most central symptom with the highest EI value, followed by “Preoccupation with the Internet” (IAT15) and “Depressed/moody/nervous only while being offline” (IAT20). Moreover, “Sleep loss due to late-night logins” (IAT14) and “Spend more time online over going out with others” (IAT19) had the most negative associations with QOL, while “Form new relationships with online users” (IAT4) showed the strongest positive correlation with QOL. Conclusion: IA was common among IFSO. To reduce the adverse impact of IA among IFSO, appropriate interventions targeting central symptoms and those closely associated with QOL found in the network models should be developed.