Facing Life Problems Through the Internet. The Link Between Psychosocial Malaise and Problematic Internet Use in an Adolescent Sample.

Abstract

Scholars have highlighted the role of negative affect as key correlates of Problematic Internet Use (PIU). According to the assumption that Internet-related behaviours can be seen as mechanisms to cope with everyday life (Kardefelt-Winther, 2017), the present study aims to explore the relation between PIU and psychosocial malaise, expecting that adolescents with high levels of social anxiety, negative emotions, and loneliness are more likely to be associated to the problem group of Internet users. Measures of PIU (GPIUS–2), social anxiety (IAS), negative affectivity (PANAS), and loneliness (ILS) were detected in a sample of 766 students attending Year 9–11 (13–19 years old; 47% females) of public high schools in the territory of Lecce (Apulia–Italy). A sub-group of problematic Internet users was identified ( n = 185) and a control group was selected ( n = 187). A logistic regression was applied to estimate the effect of psychosocial variables on the differentiation between problematic and control Internet users. Results of the present cross-sectional study show that a higher level of social anxiety, negative emotions, and loneliness increases the probability of belonging to the group of problematic Internet users. No significant differences between males and females were found in GPIU levels. The findings show that, for a better understanding of PIU onset and maintenance among adolescents, it is important, to take into account the life problems which may lead young people to overindulge in Internet use. Resume Les scientifiques ont mis en lumiere le role de l’affect negatif comme correlat significatif de la dependance. Partant de l’hypothese que les comportements dans Internet peuvent etre vus comme des mecanismes d’adaptation a la vie quotidienne (Kardefelt-Winther, 2017), notre etude visait a explorer la relation entre la cyberdependance et le malaise psychosocial. On s’attendait a ce que les adolescents affichant un degre eleve d’anxiete sociale, d’emotions negatives et de solitude fassent partie du groupe d’internautes a probleme. Des indicateurs de la cyberdependance (GPIUS-2), de l’anxiete sociale (IAS), de l’affect negatif (PANAS) et de la solitude (ILS) ont ete releves dans un echantillon de 766 eleves de la 9e a la 11e annee (13 a 19 ans; 47 % de filles) choisi dans des ecoles secondaires publiques du territoire de Lecce (Apulia, Italie). Un sous-groupe d’internautes cyberdependants a ete defini ( n =185) et un groupe controle selectionne ( n =187). Un modele de regression logistique a ete applique en vue d’estimer l’effet des variables psychosociales sur la differenciation entre joueurs cyberdependants et joueurs du groupe controle. Les resultats de l’etude transversale montrent qu’un degre plus eleve d’anxiete sociale, d’emotions negatives et de solitude augmentait la probabilite d’appartenir au groupe d’internautes cyberdependants. Aucune difference notable n’a ete constatee entre les hommes et les femmes quant au degre de cyberdependance. Les resultats indiquent qu’une comprehension plus fine du developpement de la cyberdependance et de sa persistance chez les adolescents devra tenir compte des problemes vecus dans leur vie personnelle qui les inciteraient a un usage excessif d’Internet.