Abstract
Objectives
Excessive internet use (EIU) has been studied predominantly within the context of individual risk factors. Less attention has been paid to social factors, especially in a fashion complex enough to include the multiple domains of adolescent socialization. This study examined the relationship between EIU and constraints within family, school, peer groups, and neighbourhoods, while controlling for emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Methods
This study was based on survey data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, which was conducted in Slovakia in 2018. The sample of representative adolescents totalled 8400 (mean age: 13.44 years; SDage = 1.33; 50.9% boys).
Results
Multiple-step linear regression revealed that, after controlling for sociodemographic factors and emotional and behavioural difficulties, peer problems had the least effect, while the constraints related to family and neighbourhood stood out as especially problematic. Combined variables explained 20% variance of EIU.
Conclusions
Social constraints proved to be important factors in adolescent EIU. The important role of a problematic neighbourhood is a novel finding and suggests that it should be targeted in prevention.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aguinis H, Gottfredson RK (2010) Best-practice recommendations for estimating interaction effects using moderated multiple regression. J Organ Behav 31:776–786. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.686
Bandura A (1977) Social learning theory. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs
Becker HJ (2000) Who's wired and who's not: children's access to and use of computer technology. Future Child 10:44–75
Bitto-Urbanova L, Holubcikova J, Madarasova Geckova A, Reijneveld SA, van Dijk JP (2019) Does life satisfaction mediate the association between socioeconomic status and excessive internet use? Int J Environ Res Public Health 16:3914. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16203914
Blinka L, Škařupová K, Ševčíková A, Wölfling K, Müller KW, Dreier M (2015) Excessive internet use in European adolescents: what determines differences in severity? Int J Public Health 60:249–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-014-0635-x
Brand M, Young KS, Laier C, Wölfling K, Potenza MN (2016) Integrating psychological and neurobiological considerations regarding the development and maintenance of specific Internet-use disorders: an Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 71:252–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.08.033
Bronfenbrenner U (1979) The ecology of human development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Calvert SL, Rideout VJ, Woolard JL, Barr RF, Strouse GA (2005) Age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic patterns in early computer use: a national survey. Am Behav Sci 48:590–607. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764204271508
Catalano RF, Kosterman R, Hawkins JD, Newcomb MD, Abbott RD (1996) Modeling the etiology of adolescent substance use: a test of the social development model. J Drug Issues 26:429–455. https://doi.org/10.1177/002204269602600207
Davis RA (2001) A cognitive-behavioral model of pathological Internet use. Comput Hum Behav 17:187–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0747-5632(00)00041-8
Dorsey S, Forehand R (2003) The relation of social capital to child psychosocial adjustment difficulties: the role of positive parenting and neighborhood dangerousness. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 25:11–23. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022295802449
Durkee T, Kaess M, Carli V et al (2012) Prevalence of pathological internet use among adolescents in Europe: demographic and social factors. Addiction 107:2210–2222. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03946.x
El Asam A, Samara M, Terry P (2019) Problematic internet use and mental health among British children and adolescents. Addict Behav 90:428–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.09.007
Faltýnková A, Blinka L, Ševčíková A, Husarova D (2020) The associations between family-related factors and excessive internet use in adolescents. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17:1754. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051754
Fumero A, Marrero RJ, Voltes D, Peñate W (2018) Personal and social factors involved in internet addiction among adolescents: a meta-analysis. Comput Hum Behav 86:387–400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.05.005
Goodman R (1997) The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: a research note. J Child Psychol Psychiatr 38:581–586. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1997.tb01545.x
Griffiths M (2005) A ‘components’ model of addiction within a biopsychosocial framework. J Subst Use 10:191–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/14659890500114359
Inchley J, Currie D, Cosma A, Samdal O (2018) Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Study Protocol: background, methodology and mandatory items for the 2017/18 survey. Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit (CEHRU), University of St Andrews
Jessor R, Jessor SL (1977) Problem behavior and psychological development: a longitudinal study of youth. Academic Press, New York
Jia J, Li D, Li X, Zhou Y, Wang Y, Sun W (2017) Psychological security and deviant peer affiliation as mediators between teacher–student relationship and adolescent Internet addiction. Comput Hum Behav 73:345–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.03.063
Jones TM, Hill KG, Epstein M, Lee JO, Hawkins JD, Catalano RF (2016) Understanding the interplay of individual and social-developmental factors in the progression of substance use and mental health from childhood to adulthood. Dev Psychopathol 28:721–741. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579416000274
Kalff AC (2001) Neighbourhood level and individual level SES effects on child problem behaviour: a multilevel analysis. J Epidemiol Community Health 55:246–250. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.55.4.246
Kalmus V, Siibak A, Blinka L (2014) Internet and child well-being. In: Ben-Arieh A, Frønes I, Casas F, Korbin JE (eds) Handbook of child well-being. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 2093–2133
Ko CH, Yen JY, Yen CF, Chen CS, Weng CC, Chen CC (2008) The association between Internet addiction and problematic alcohol use in adolescents: the problem behavior model. Cyberpsychol Behav 11:571–576. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2007.0199
Kormas G, Critselis E, Janikian M, Kafetzis D, Tsitsika A (2011) Risk factors and psychosocial characteristics of potential problematic and problematic internet use among adolescents: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 11:595. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-11-595
Kuss DJ, Van Rooij AJ, Shorter GW, Griffiths MD, van de Mheen D (2013) Internet addiction in adolescents: prevalence and risk factors. Comput Hum Behav 29(5):1987–1996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.04.002
Kuss D, Griffiths M, Karila L, Billieux J (2014) Internet addiction: a systematic review of epidemiological research for the last decade. Curr Pharm Des 20:4026–4052. https://doi.org/10.2174/13816128113199990617
Lam LT (2014) Risk factors of Internet addiction and the health effect of internet addiction on adolescents: a systematic review of longitudinal and prospective studies. Curr Psychiatry Rep 16:508. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-014-0508-2
Li D, Zhou Y, Li X, Zhou Z (2016) Perceived school climate and adolescent Internet addiction: the mediating role of deviant peer affiliation and the moderating role of effortful control. Comput Hum Behav 60:54–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.015
Li Y, Wang Y, Ren Z, Gao M, Liu Q, Qiu C, Zhang W (2020) The influence of environmental pressure on Internet Use Disorder in adolescents: the potential mediating role of cognitive function. Addict Behav 101:105976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.04.034
Liu CY, Kuo FY (2007) A study of Internet addiction through the lens of the interpersonal theory. Cyberpsychol Behav 10:799–804. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2007.9951
Livingstone S, Haddon L, Görzig A, Ólafsson K (2011) Risks and safety on the internet: The perspective of European children. Full findings and policy implications from the EU Kids Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their parents in 25 countries. EU Kids Online, LSE, London
Lumley T, Diehr P, Emerson S, Chen L (2002) The importance of the normality assumption in large public health data sets. Annu Rev Public Health 23:151–169. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.23.100901.140546
Morahan-Martin J, Schumacher P (2000) Incidence and correlates of pathological Internet use among college students. Comput Hum Behav 16:13–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0747-5632(99)00049-7
Müller KW, Dreier M, Beutel ME, Duven E, Giralt S, Wölfling K (2016) A hidden type of internet addiction? Intense and addictive use of social networking sites in adolescents. Comput Hum Behav 55:172–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.007
Müller KW, Dreier M, Duven E, Giralt S, Beutel ME, Wölfling K (2017) Adding clinical validity to the statistical power of large-scale epidemiological surveys on internet addiction in adolescence: a combined approach to investigate psychopathology and development-specific personality traits associated with internet addiction. J Clin Psychiatry 78:e244–e251. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.15m10447
Petruzelka B, Vacek J, Gavurova B, Kubak M, Gabrhelik R, Rogalewicz V, Bartak M (2020) Interaction of socioeconomic status with risky internet use, gambling and substance use in adolescents from a structurally disadvantaged region in Central Europe. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17:4803. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17134803
Savcı M, Aysan F (2016) The role of attachment styles, peer relations, and affections in predicting Internet addiction. Addicta Turk J Addict 3:401–432. https://doi.org/10.15805/addicta.2016.3.0028
Schneider LA, King DL, Delfabbro PH (2017) Family factors in adolescent problematic Internet gaming: a systematic review. J Behav Addict 6:321–333. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.6.2017.035
Schnohr CW, Kreiner S, Due EP, Currie C, Boyce W, Diderichsen F (2008) Differential item functioning of a family affluence scale: validation study on data from HBSC 2001/02. Soc Indic Res 89:79–95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9221-4
Shapira NA, Goldsmith TD, Keck PE Jr, Khosla UM, McElroy SL (2000) Psychiatric features of individuals with problematic internet use. J Affect Disord 57:267–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0327(99)00107-X
Škařupová K, Ólafsson K, Blinka L (2015) Excessive internet use and its association with negative experiences: quasi-validation of a short scale in 25 European countries. Comput Hum Behav 53:118–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.06.047
Skues J, Williams B, Oldmeadow J, Wise L (2015) The effects of boredom, loneliness, and distress tolerance on problem internet use among university students. Int J Ment Health Addict 14:167–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-015-9568-8
Šmahel D, Machackova H, Mascheroni G, Dedkova L, Staksrud E, Ólafsson K, Livingstone S, Hasebrink U (2020) EU Kids Online 2020: survey results from 19 countries. EU Kids Online. https://doi.org/10.21953/lse.47fdeqj01ofo
Starcevic V, Aboujaoude E (2017) Internet gaming disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction. Curr Addict Rep 4:317–322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-017-0158-7
Su W, Han X, Jin C, Yan Y, Potenza MN (2019) Are males more likely to be addicted to the internet than females? A meta-analysis involving 34 global jurisdictions. Comput Hum Behav 99:86–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.04.021
Vondráčková P, Gabrhelik R (2016) Prevention of Internet addiction: a systematic review. J Behav Addict 5:568–579. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.5.2016.085
Wang BQ, Yao NQ, Zhou X, Liu J, Lv ZT (2017) The association between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and internet addiction: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry 17:260. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1408-x
Wegner L, Flisher AJ (2009) Leisure boredom and adolescent risk behaviour: a systematic literature review. J Child Adolesc Ment Health 21:1–28. https://doi.org/10.2989/JCAMH.2009.21.1.4.806
Xin M, Xing J, Pengfei W, Houru L, Mengcheng W, Hong Z (2018) Online activities, prevalence of Internet addiction and risk factors related to family and school among adolescents in China. Addict Behav Rep 7:14–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2017.10.003
Xue Y, Leventhal T, Brooks-Gunn J, Earls FJ (2005) Neighborhood residence and mental health problems of 5-to 11-year-olds. Arch Gen Psychiatry 62:554–563. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.5.554
Young KS (2004) Internet addiction: a new clinical phenomenon and its consequences. Am Behav Sci 48:402–415. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764204270278
Zimet GD, Dahlem NW, Zimet SG, Farley GK (1988) The multidimensional scale of perceived social support. J Pers Assess 52:30–41. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2
Zhu J, Zhang W, Yu C, Bao Z (2015) Early adolescent Internet game addiction in context: how parents, school, and peers impact youth. Comput Hum Behav 50:159–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.03.079
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Support Agency under Contract No. APVV-18-0070 and by Masaryk University (MUNI/A/1297/2019).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty at the Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice (16N/2017).
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This article is part of the special issue "Adolescent health in Central and Eastern Europe".
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blinka, L., Šablatúrová, N., Ševčíková, A. et al. Social constraints associated with excessive internet use in adolescents: the role of family, school, peers, and neighbourhood. Int J Public Health 65, 1279–1287 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-020-01462-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-020-01462-8