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Adolescents Online: The Importance of Internet Activity Choices to Salient Relationships

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether using the Internet for different activities affects the quality of close adolescent relationships (i.e., best friendships and romantic relationships). In a one-year longitudinal study of 884 adolescents (Mean age = 15, 46% male), we examined whether visiting chat rooms, using ICQ, using the Internet for general entertainment, or participating in online gaming predicted changes in the quality of best friendships and romantic relationships. Multiple regression analyses indicated that Internet activity choice influenced later relationship quality in both best friendships and romantic relationships. Using instant messaging (ICQ) was positively associated with most aspects of romantic relationship and best friendship quality. In contrast, visiting chat rooms was negatively related to best friendship quality. Using the Internet to play games and for general entertainment predicted decreases in relationship quality with best friends and with romantic partners. These findings reflect the important and complex functions of online socialization for the development and maintenance of relationships in adolescence.

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Notes

  1. ICQ was introduced in 1996 as a personal communication technology that enabled peer-to-peer contact through the Internet. It was the “one of the first internet wide instant messaging services” (ICQ 2007). As the first popular messaging system (Descy 2007), ICQ has been described as more commonly used than email for young people in the late 1990s and early 2000s (Leung 2001).

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institute for Health Research. The authors are grateful to the high school students who participated in the study and the many undergraduate and graduate students who facilitated the data collection and analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Julie J. Blais & Wendy M. Craig

  2. Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Debra Pepler & Jennifer Connolly

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  1. Julie J. Blais
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  2. Wendy M. Craig
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  3. Debra Pepler
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  4. Jennifer Connolly
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Correspondence to Julie J. Blais.

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Blais, J.J., Craig, W.M., Pepler, D. et al. Adolescents Online: The Importance of Internet Activity Choices to Salient Relationships. J Youth Adolescence 37, 522–536 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9262-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9262-7

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