scholarly journals Online Interactions and Problematic Internet Use of Croatian Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 399
Author(s):  
Lucija Vejmelka ◽  
Roberta Matković

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a transition to online services in almost all aspects of life. Today, online access is an important aspect of child well-being more than ever. The aim of the study was to investigate online activities and gender differences of children with a special focus on harmful online content, cyberbullying, and Internet addiction. Our research was conducted among students from one Croatian county (average age = 14.97, N = 494). The Internet Addiction Test, the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, as well as questions constructed for the purposes of this research (e.g., online contents) were used. Between 20% and 30% of students spend four or more hours a day online. Furthermore, 14.57% of students showed moderate signs of addiction, and 1.42% already showed severe signs of addiction, where girls had significantly higher results. The results indicated that 12.75% of students were victims, 5.87% were perpetrators, and 8.3% were, at the same time, committing and experiencing cyberbullying. Children who commit and/or experience cyberbullying achieve higher results on the scale of Internet addiction than children who do not participate in cyberbullying. These findings contribute to our understanding of Internet usage and especially its problematic aspect in such a complex time as the COVID-19 pandemic, and they can be useful for planning future interventions with children.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza Ivanova

The current paper presents the results from some research on the relationship between In-ternet addiction, cyberchondria, and different aspects of well-being. The information available on the Internet, which is not necessarily truthful and accurate, can unreasonably amplify users health concerns. Problematic Internet use, health anxiety aroused by online searches for health information and escalation of health concerns as an indicator of cyberchondria, are all associated with a decrease in subjective and eudaimonic well-being as well as in self-esteem. The analyses indicate positive relationships between depressive symptoms on the one hand, and Internet ad-diction and health anxiety, on the other. A conclusion regarding the existence of a relationship between Internet addiction, cyberchondria and decreased levels of well-being could be drawn from the research. Furthermore, the results suggest that self-esteem and eudaimonic well-being correlate positively with the number of people with whom users communicate online.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (22) ◽  
pp. 212-223
Author(s):  
Mohammad Rusdi Ab Majid ◽  
Zul Aizam Yassin ◽  
Aznida Aziz ◽  
Nurhijrah Zakaria

Internet addiction among teenagers is an important issue discussed around the world. Almost all experts cite this issue as part of the main problems of the country. The main purpose of this study was to study internet addiction among students in public institutions of higher learning in Malaysia. The main focus of the study is to examine the addiction from the aspects of emotional and cognitive preoccupation with the internet among IPG students in Malaysia. The study also examined addiction from the aspect of loss of control and disruption of daily life to the internet among IPG students in Malaysia. This study uses quantitative methods as the main design. This survey study involved respondents consisting of 614 trainee teachers selected according to IPG zones throughout Malaysia. A descriptive statistical approach was used to obtain the level of internet addiction. The questionnaire instrument was adapted from An Internet Addiction Scale by Kimberly (1998) which was modified to coincide with the study conducted. The analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Vol. 21 (SPSS) and analyzed descriptively to explain the findings of the study. The findings of this study as a whole found that internet addiction among students at IPG is at a moderate level. It is hoped that this study can provide good input to all parties to formulate actions for the well-being of society by forming a new generation that is concerned about the selection and use of information resources on the internet effectively.


Comunicar ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (34) ◽  
pp. 135-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaume Sureda-Negre ◽  
Ruben Comas-Forgas ◽  
Mercè Morey-López

This paper examines and discusses the rules and standards set by parents for their children on Internet usage at home. Data that supports the paper have been obtained by surveying a representative sample of children in the Balearic Islands aged between 6 and 16 years; the analysis dimensions are: access by minors to the Internet from home; location of the computer from which have online access; level of autonomy or accompaniment while surfing the Net; norms imposed by their parents; types of rules imposed; relationship between norms and gender; the minors’ opinion and assessment of the knowledge and abilities of their parents on use of the Internet and, finally, the accompanying strategies of parents when their children access the Internet. The main results shows that just over 53% of minors between 6 and 14, and 62% of those between 15 and 16, surf the Internet without their parents’ presence and free of any norms and/or limitations. Where standards are established, these are mainly to do with temporary restrictions. Therefore, it appears that parents are unaware of the dangers of the Internet or at least act irrationally. This shows the need for awareness and provision of skills, knowledge and abilities to enable parents to assume their responsibilities in the Internet usage of minors. Este artículo analiza el establecimiento de normas por parte de los progenitores a sus hijos sobre la utilización de Internet en los hogares. Los datos se han obtenido mediante encuestación sobre una muestra representativa de los menores de las Islas Baleares de entre 6 y 16 años, habiéndose analizado las siguientes dimensiones: acceso de los menores a Internet desde el hogar; grado de autonomía o acompañamiento en la navegación; normativización impuesta en el hogar por parte de sus padres y madres; tipos de normas impuestas; relación entre normas y género; valoración de los menores de los conocimientos y habilidades de sus progenitores para navegar por Internet y, finalmente, el acompañamiento de los padres y madres a la hora de navegar por Internet. Se constata que poco más del 53% de los menores de entre 6 y 14 años, y del 62% de los de 15 y 16 años navegan a través de Internet sin que sus progenitores les establezcan limitaciones. Cuando establecen algún tipo de normas, éstas se refieren, principalmente, a restricciones de carácter temporal. Por tanto, se infiere que los padres y madres no son conscientes de los peligros de la Red o que, al menos, actúan de forma poco razonable. Ello muestra la necesidad de sensibilizar y formar a las familias para que asuman su responsabilidad educativa.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dijana Kovacevic ◽  
Ljiljana Kascelan

<p> </p> <p>the present study deals with a more detailed, and updated, modified model that allows for the identification of internet usage patterns by gender. The model was modified due to the development of the internet and new access models, on the one hand, and to the fact that previous studies mainly focuses on various individual (non-interactive) influences of certain factors, on the other.</p> <i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup> <p>The Decision Tree (DT) method, which is used in our study, does not require a pre-defined underlying relationship. In addition, the method allows a great many explanatory variables to be processed and the most important variables are easy to identify. </p><p>Obtained results can serve as to web developers and designers, since by indicating the differences between male and female internet users in terms of their behaviour on the internet it can help in deciding when, where and how to address and appeal to which section of the user base. It is especially important to know their online preferences in order to enable the adequate and targeted placement of information, actions or products and services for the intended target groups.</p><p> <b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><br></p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Rabab Gad Abd El-Kader ◽  
Victoria Funmilayo Hanson

Background and aim: The internet is a worldwide area network that connects computer system throughout the world providing a variety of information and communication. Internet addiction is defined as any online-related, compulsive behavior which interferes with normal living and causes severe stress on family, friends, loved ones, and one's work environment. Aim: This study assessed the internet usage and its addiction level among university students in a selected university in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirate. University students are highly predisposed to internet addiction which can affect their personal, family, educational, interactive and societal life. Study design: A cross-sectional design .The sample of the study consisted of 110 nursing students who were selected using convenient sample. Internet addiction test, internet usage questionnaire and student attitude scale were used as data collection instruments.Results: The findings showed that more than half (50.9%) of students were aged 21-<25 years, with more than two- fifth (45.5% of them being average online internet user. Less than two-third (62.7%) of students had favorable attitude towards internet usage. There is a positive correlation between internet addiction score and age of the study group with no statistically significant differenceConclusions: the study concluded that nursing students are average internet users, they have favorable attitude to internet use, with positive correlation between internet addiction score and age, though experiencing occasional problems. The use of social networking sites, especially by the young people, should be done sparingly so as not to provoke extreme behaviors and negative impact to their education performance and social life that can lead to destruction of the life of youths globally as revealed in this study Internet addiction is a serious problem among university students generally which indicates the need for more public attention and resources to develop effective prevention/intervention strategies.


Author(s):  
Martina Benvenuti ◽  
Agata Błachnio ◽  
Aneta Małgorzata Przepiorka ◽  
Vesela Miroslavova Daskalova ◽  
Elvis Mazzoni

Smartphones are a fundamental part of emerging adults' life. The aim of this chapter is to determine which factors play a role in “phubbing” during emerging adulthood as well as to propose and test a model of this phenomenon. We tested a model of relations between phubbing, self-esteem, self-control, well-being, and internet addiction. The following measures were used: the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS), the Flourishing Scale, the Internet Addiction Scale, and the Phubbing Scale. The participants in the online study were 640 Italian emerging adults (526 females and 114 males), ranging in age from 18 to 29 (M = 21.7, SD = 2.18). The results showed that the model was well fitted, particularly in postulating that a decrease in the level of self-control is related to an increase in Internet addiction, that an increase in Internet addiction increases the probability of phubbing behavior, and that the level of self-esteem and well-being do not affect Internet addiction. Gender differences, in favor of males, occurred only in self-esteem.


Author(s):  
Saibal Kumar Saha ◽  
Sangita Saha

Internet is being used by people all over the world. It has become a part of their day-to-day activity. The smartness brought by internet and its related devices have made life of people easy. Sharing knowledge, researching, and reaching out to people are now within the reach of fingertips. This study aims to find the internet usage pattern of youth in Sikkim, India. Fourteen internet activities have been identified and through a survey. The usage of these activities was analysed for the youth population in Sikkim, India. It has been found that, more or less, all the activities are used by the youth population of Sikkim. The most popular activity is use of emails and social networking sites while blogging and video calling is not too popular. In addition, it has been found that 67% of the users use internet for more than 3 hours per day. Hence, there also is a serious risk of “internet addiction.”


Author(s):  
Kai Zheng ◽  
Akhilesh Bajaj ◽  
Beth Osborne Daponte ◽  
John B. Engberg

How people use the Internet is an intriguing question to researchers, computer educators, Internet content providers (ICPs), and marketing practitioners. With the expansion of online information resources and the improvement of connection bandwidth, Internet users have been offered more and more choices, at the same time, faced with more and more dilemmas on how to allocate their time and energy online. How much time do people spend on surfing the Internet? What do they do? Are there any traceable patterns to interpret the Internet behavior and to predict future use based on people’s demographic, social, or psychological characteristics? These are all interesting questions that researchers attempt to answer. In 1995, the HomeNet project conducted at the Human Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, launched a series of field studies to examine the residential Internet behavior. It has found that social demographics—generation, race and gender, rather than socioeconomic factors—income, education—and psychological factors—like social extraversion and attitude toward computing—were major influences on use (Kraut, Scherlis, Mukhopadhyay, Manning, & Kiesler, 1996). Following the HomeNet project’s initial attempt, many empirical studies have been conducted globally to study the Internet behavior and its driving factors. Among these efforts, a noticeable focus is to resolve the long-lasting controversy, inherited from the similar debate of computer behavior studies, on how gender differences influence the way people use the Internet. Many researchers believe that females are less technology-inclined, less motivated, and therefore less competent in the masculine computer and Internet culture; on the other hand, some other researchers argue females have the ability to be proficient in use of the Internet. The present study is thereby conducted to provide more empirical evidence of gender effects on Internet usage and task preferences. In particular, we are interested in examining gender influences when users’ computer proficiency is controlled for. We believe that the results of this study can provide valuable insights into effective online content delivery, targeted marketing strategies, and customized computer education to encourage use. The close examination of people’s actual surfing data can also contribute to a better understanding of how the Internet is actually utilized. The next section describes the debate about how women and men respond in different ways to computers and the Internet. This is followed by a presentation of our study design: the monitoring software, the content classification schema and method, and the user population that we studied. The findings are presented next, followed by concluding remarks.


2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 1425-1430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesile Oktan

The relationship between emotion management skills and the use of the Internet was examined in this study to determine whether or not the emotion management skills of university students are a predictor of Internet addiction. The study was conducted in the 2008/2009 academic year with 345 students from different departments of a university in Turkey. Data were collected using the Emotion Management Skills Inventory (Çeçen, 2006) and the Problematic Internet Usage Scale (Ceyhan, Ceyhan, & Gürcan, 2007). Results of regression analysis showed that the total measure of emotion management skills predicted the levels of Internet addiction.


Author(s):  
Raj Lavadi ◽  
Mangala Subramanian ◽  
Meghana Panchaseelan ◽  
Lakshmi Chintala ◽  
Lalasa Reddy ◽  
...  

Background: Internet usage is prevalent among medical students as they utilize it for both study purposes as well as for entertainment. Widespread usage of the internet may lead to its addiction. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of internet addiction and identify its contributing factors among medical students.Methods: 239 second and third year medical students completed the internet addiction test as well as the supplementary questionnaire at Vydehi institute of medical sciences and research center. The assessment of addiction was performed using Dr. Kimberley Young's internet addiction test.Results: It was found that 120 (50.2%) students were mildly addicted and 39 (16.3%) students were moderately addicted and 1 (0.42%) student was severely addicted.Conclusions: 66.9% of medical students had various levels of internet addiction from mild to severe. Therefore, behavior change communication is required to overcome addiction in these students. 


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