AUTHOR=Guo Lingjing , Xu Liyuan , Yang Qiang 

TITLE=Perceived COVID-19 stress and online aggression among Chinese first-year college students: a moderated mediation model

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1221379

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1221379

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Few studies have explored factors that may account for potential mechanisms between perceived coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stress and online aggression. The current study examined a moderated mediation model with anxiety as a mediator and perceived anonymity as a moderator. Data were collected from 3,069 participants across China. Participants completed scales assessing perceived COVID-19 stress, anxiety, online aggression, and perceived anonymity. Results suggested a significant indirect relationship between perceived COVID-19 stress and online aggression via anxiety. Moderating analyses revealed that perceived anonymity moderated the direct pathway and the second half of the indirect pathway of perceived COVID-19 stress and online aggression.