Internet Use in Adulthood: Loneliness, Computer Anxiety and Education

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maona Matanda ◽  
Vickii B. Jenvey ◽  
James G. Phillips

AbstractWith the recent exponential increase in Internet use, there are concerns about obstacles to gaining access to this potentially beneficial technology. To understand the psychological factors that might be offering barriers to Internet use, the present study considered age, attitudes towards computers, gender, education and social isolation as potential predictors of Internet usage. A sample of 158 adults completed questionnaires about computer anxiety, loneliness and Internet use. Time spent in activities associated with entertainment, communication, information searches and commerce, and overall time spent on the Internet were analysed using multiple regression. It was difficult to predict overall Internet use, but possible to predict specific categories of use. Better-educated participants were more likely to use the Internet for communication. Men, the young, and the lonely used the Internet more for entertainment. Those with lower computer anxiety used the Internet for information searches, and men were more likely than women to use the Internet for commercial purposes. It is suggested that computer anxiety and education may constrain the use of specific applications but Internet use otherwise follows pre-existing tendencies or interests.

Sexes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-143
Author(s):  
Juwel Rana ◽  
Md. Momin Islam ◽  
John Oldroyd ◽  
Nandeeta Samad ◽  
Rakibul Islam

Objective: To examine the associations between internet use and overweight/obesity in people aged 15–49 years in Nepal and the extent to which these associations differ by biological sex. Materials and methods: The study analyzed the nationally representative Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2016 data. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression models were fitted to estimate the total effects of internet use (IU) in the last 12 months and frequency of internet use (FIU) in the last month on overweight/obesity adjusted for potential confounders. Results: Of the 10,380 participants, the prevalence of overweight/obesity by IU was 38% (95% confidence interval (CI): 35.9%, 40.1%) for males and 44.1% (95% CI: 41.6%, 46.6%) for female. The likelihood of overweight/obesity was significantly higher (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.55; 95% CI: 1.40, 1.73; p < 0.001) among those participants who used the internet compared to the participants who did not use the internet in the last 12 months. Similar associations were observed when using the augmented measure of exposure-FIU in the last month. We observed the modification effect of sex in the associations of IU (p-difference < 0.001) and FIU (p-difference < 0.002) with overweight/obesity in Nepal. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that future overweight/obesity interventions in Nepal discourage unnecessary internet use, particularly among males.


Author(s):  
Neha Priya ◽  
Samreen Khan ◽  
Sachin Lal

Background: Internet is a boon and has certainly helped to bring the world closer. It has been a great medium for students to communicate and get information by transforming the academic landscape. However the excessive and undisciplined use of internet by individuals especially in the last decade, has led to the emergence of the concept of internet addiction. Therefore, a cross sectional study has been conducted to investigate the use of internet facility among undergraduate students from Teerthankar Mahaveer University using a validated questionnaire. There were about 42 million active internet users in urban India in 2008 when compared to 5 million in 2000. India now has the world’s third-largest national digital population, with approximately, 159 million Internet users in 2014, which is projected to reach 314 million by 2017 (IMRB 2014). The aim was to study prevalence and pattern of internet usage among undergraduate students in Moradabad. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among medical students (n=382) belonging to all the professionals of medical college, to assess the pattern of internet usage. A semi-structured proforma along with Young’s internet addiction scale was used. Results: Of the 382 adolescents who took part in the study, 150 (39.27%) were female and 232 (60.73%) were males. Their mean age was 16.20 years. Using Young’s original criteria, 22 (5.76%) were found to be addicts, 230 (60.21%) were moderately addicted, 45 (11.78%) were average users while in 85 (22.25%) of student’s internet use was less than average. Most of internet use was for social networking 183(47.9%), downloading media files 125 (32.7%), online gaming 45 (11.8%), academic purposes 10 (2.6%) and others 19 (5%). About 275 (72%) of the students were using smart phones to access the internet. Conclusions: Most of the internet usage was for the purpose of social networking (Facebook, Whats App, Mails, etc). Availability of high speed free wi-fi internet on mobile phones as well as more reliance on virtual friendship than real may be the reason for spending more time on social network websites. 


Author(s):  
Cecilia Lazea ◽  
Alexandra Popa ◽  
Cristina Varga

Purpose: The use of the internet is a tool and media literacy has become an essential skill among adolescents. Related to this behavior, some adolescents evoke cardiovascular effects. The purpose of this study was to explore a possible correlation between internet use behavior and occurrence of palpitations and related symptoms among a representative cohort of adolescents from the north-west region of Romania. Method: The study included students of seven middle schools from Northwest Romania. Participants completed an anonymous questionnaire consisting of 18 questions about internet use. Results: In total, 1147 students responded to the study. Mean duration of daily internet usage was 2.57 h during school time and 3.57 h during the holidays. A total of 77% of adolescents had more than one symptom related to internet use, and 11% of them reported palpitations and related symptoms. We found an independent relation between palpitation and urban background, palpitations and the internet usage time interval 20:00–24:00, and palpitations and tobacco smoking. Strong heartbeats were independently associated with the time interval 12:00–16:00, tobacco smoking, and energy drink consumption. Conclusion: In our cohort, the most important factors associated with the occurrence of palpitations and related symptoms were the timeframe of internet usage and smoking.


2012 ◽  
pp. 1264-1281
Author(s):  
Yurong He ◽  
Yang Wang

While China has the world’s largest Internet population, understanding of this huge group of Internet users still falls short. In this entry, the authors aim to provide an overview of literature on cyber behavior of Chinese Internet users. They focus on characteristics of Chinese Internet users, how they use the Internet and how the Internet influences them. The authors examine different aspects of their cyber behavior: (1) general Internet use, (2) use of specific Internet services such as blogs and social networking sites, (3) online communication and relationships, (4) problematic Internet usage, and (5) cross-cultural comparisons between Internet users in China and in other countries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lotta Löfgren-Mårtenson ◽  
Martin Molin ◽  
Emma Sorbring

This study aims to provide more in-depth knowledge about professionals’ views regarding Internet use among youths with intellectual disability (ID). How do the professionals describe the abilities of the youths with ID when using the Internet for social, romantic, and sexual reasons? What kinds of experiences do the professionals have of these youths’ Internet usage, and how do they talk about their ways of dealing with this? In what ways do the professionals describe their own competence regarding Internet usage among youths with ID aged 16-21 years, and do they express the need for any specific tools? Qualitative research interviews were conducted with 17 professionals, 4 males and 13 females, between the ages of 29 and 58. The professionals described challenges with the youths’ various emotional and intellectual abilities, as well as their technical knowledge in relation to Internet use. The results highlight three themes: A two-fold usage, Between being controlling and permissive, and A lack of strategies. The article discusses the development of a ‘Participation-script’, where a continuous dialogue with the youths with ID exists parallel to a restrictive Net-script. We argue that everyday school situations concern joint decision-making between professionals and pupils with ID. Such an approach to participation is based on relationships, that is, oriented towards the self-understanding and individual agency of youths with ID, as well as to the self-understanding of the professionals involved in the lives of youths with ID.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reem Abuiyada ◽  
Salithamby Rauff ◽  
Adnan Eteiwi

<p>Oman has a society which is highly driven by religious and cultural values. Religion and culture have both been apparent sustenance to shape every area of Omanis’ daily life at individual, familial and societal levels. The instituting of modern technology, particularly the Internet, has a decisive impact on the traditional and structural nature of Omani’s family life. This study has examined such impact on families. This is an exploratory study employing quantitative data. Around 200 families from different parts of Dhofar, Oman (such as Salalah, Mirbath, Thamreet and Taqa) have been recruited by a purposive sampling, and their views and experiences on how their use of modern technology influences their life were collected. The findings suggested that the Internet use has produced a low husband-wife relationship in family life. Findings also suggest that there was a low relationship between siblings in a family. The Internet use had also effects on Omani families’ traditional culture and beliefs.</p>


TEM Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1134-1140
Author(s):  
Robbi Rahim

The purpose of this research is to analyze internet users in the world who are educated in Indonesia by utilizing computer science techniques. The use of the internet in question is the percentage in accessing the internet for ages 5-12 years old, 13-15 years old and 16-18 years old. The data source used is from https://www.bps.go.id/. The method used is kmedoids, while mapping in the form of clusters in this study uses 2 labels namely C1: high cluster for internet use and C2: low cluster for internet use. The results mention that the islands of Sumatra and Java dominate in the use of the internet in all ages. The results state that k-medoids can be applied to the case of mapping internet usage with an accuracy of mentioning above 90% and an error rate below 5%.


Author(s):  
Kristina Adorjan ◽  
Simon Langgartner ◽  
Maximilian Maywald ◽  
Susanne Karch ◽  
Oliver Pogarell

AbstractThe last 2 decades have seen an increase in the number of reports of excessive internet use. Therefore, this study aimed to examine internet use among university students to gain more insight into the novel phenomenon of addictive internet use (AIU). Data were collected by the means of an online questionnaire sent to 4391 students. Approximately 10% of the 4391 students could be included in the statistical analysis. Of those 483 students, almost all (99.2%) used the internet, and a quarter (24.8%) showed AIU. The students used the internet mostly for information searches, random browsing, social networking, and online shopping; however, AIU was seen most often in the areas of social networking, random browsing, information searches, gaming, and pornography. One in four of the respondents showed addictive behavior in at least one area of internet use. Students with AIU in the area of random browsing were significantly less far advanced in their studies than those without AIU, and well-being was significantly poorer across AIU groups than in those who did not show AIU. The study confirms the importance of AIU, as reflected in the high prevalence of AIU among the students and the significantly lower level of well-being in those with AIU. Undifferentiated consideration of AIU does not do justice to its various facets, and future research should consider all areas of internet use, with the aim to increase understanding of the underlying mechanisms of AIU and develop more differentiated treatment approaches.


Author(s):  
Reshma Javed ◽  
Sreelakshmi Mohandas ◽  
Alexander John ◽  
Nimitha Paul ◽  
Retheesh Kumar

Background: Two-thirds of the 1.11 billion internet users globally are from developing countries. In India, there were 243 million internet users, in 2014. The objectives were to determine the impact of an educational intervention, on internet usage, to estimate the prevalence and to assess the pattern of usage and to assess factors associated with internet usage among students of a higher secondary school.Methods: A school-based interventional study was carried out in Model Technical Higher secondary school, randomly selected from a list of schools in the field practice area of the department. The minimum calculated sample size was 50. All students from 11th and 12th standards were included in the study. The intervention was an interactive health education session focussing on the efficient and safe use of the internet. Post-test data were collected one month after the intervention.Results: The prevalence of internet use was 97%, with the majority starting to use the internet between the ages of 11 and 14 years. Our intervention did not bring a significant change to the number of internet users; however, there was a significant decrease in the number of students using the internet from cafés, the safety concerns of which were addressed during the educational talk.Conclusions: The educational intervention had a positive impact on internet use among students. Therefore, identifying patterns of internet use among students and educating the youth regarding the proper use of the internet is essential.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Bakti Komalasari ◽  
Adinda Tessa Naumi

This study is a study focused on finding meaning towards the behavior of internet usage as reference of STAIN Curup students. In line with the concept of an active audience, this research would focus on the internet as a mass media. With the advancement of information technology and mass media, providing various facilities in accessing information especially through the internet. STAIN Curup students are required to keep updating their knowledge and information especially with regard to their studies. This need is what makes the student must continue to add the supporting reference study. In addition to books, print journals and modules, the internet becomes one of the reference sources used by students. Therefore, it needs to be studied further about how the use of internet as a reference STAIN Curup students? how is the impact of internet use as a reference of STAIN Curup students? To answer the problems, this research uses the uses and gratifications theory and the moderate effect model, which is expected to give meaning and peel the phenomenon of internet usage on the students. In line with the uses and gratifications theory, satisfaction will arise if needs are met. In this case, the satisfaction of internet usage as reference of student is seen from the functioning of mass media, among others: information function, entertainment function, persuasion function, cultural transmission function and social inheritance, correlation function (linking). While the impact of internet use as a reference of students, among others, cognitive impact, affective impact, and behavioral impact. The impact of internet usage is also supported by individual factors; such as selective attention, selective perception, and selective retention, motivation and knowledge, beliefs, opinions, values, and needs, persuasion, personality and adjustment. And social factors, among others; age, sex, education and training, occupation and income, religion, residence.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document