Adolescents exposed to discrimination: are they more prone to excessive internet use?
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Adolescents exposed to discrimination: are they more prone to excessive internet use? Laura Bitto Urbanova1,2,3*, Jana Holubcikova1,2,3, Andrea Madarasova Geckova1,2,3,4, Jitse P. van Dijk2,3,4 and Sijmen A. Reijneveld2,3
Abstract Background: The Internet may serve as a suitable environment for discriminated adolescents as they may consider the online space as the place where they have possibility to build social ties they are missing in their offline life or manage their self-presentation. Therefore, our aim was to explore the association between different types of discrimination by peers (because of gender, physical appearance, culture/skin color/language, unfavorable family situation) and excessive Internet use (EIU), and whether gender moderates this association. Methods: We used data from a representative sample of 6,462 Slovak adolescents (mean age: 13.00, 49.6% boys) from the HBSC study conducted in 2018. Data were collected through online self-reported questionnaires. We assessed the association between various types of discrimination by peers and EIU using linear regression, and the role of gender as potential moderator. Results: Discrimination because of physical appearance was most prevalent (18.0%). Adolescents exposed to discrimination by peers reported higher levels of EIU. We found an interaction of gender on the association of discrimination because unfavorable family situation with EIU. Boys who experienced this type of discrimination were at higher risk of EIU compared to girls. Conclusion: Discriminated adolescents are more likely to use the Internet excessively, with some associations being stronger for boys than for girls. Prevention strategies focused on raising adolescent awareness of the risks and benefits of the Internet should target discriminated adolescents, especially boys, as they seem to be the vulnerable group. Keywords: Discrimination, Excessive internet use, Gender, Adolescents
Background The Internet can provide a comfortable environment for adolescents experiencing difficulties in their life [1]. Excessive use of it, however, can have a detrimental impact on different life domains. Excessive Internet use (EIU) can cause problems of a physical (headache, backache, dry eyes, neck pain, insomnia), psychological * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Health Psychology and Research Methodology, Faculty of Medicine, P. J. Safarik University, Trieda SNP 1, 040 11 Kosice, Slovakia 2 Graduate School Kosice Institute for Society and Health, Faculty of Medicine, P. J. Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
(increase of depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress) and social nature (social isolation) [2–5]. According to Smahel et al. [6] Internet use can be considered as excessive if children are unable to control their online activities what can cause negative consequence on their normal life. Griffiths [7] discerns the following basic components in his model of Internet addictive be
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