Project

Discipline

Adolescence; Internet use; Health outcomes

Lead
Lay summary
Background. In the past decade the Internet has become a widely used communication medium that is extensively used by adolescents. Swiss data indicate that the percentage of 14-19 year-olds using the Internet regularly has increased dramatically between 1997 (4%) and 2009 (91%). It is likely that part of this increase is due to an increase in the academic demands. However, research on the impact of Internet use on health is scarce and longitudinal studies following youths over time are lacking. Moreover, studies on Internet use among adolescents do not differentiate between leisure and education/professional use. Objectives. The main aims of this study are: (1) To assess the amount of Internet use among adolescents in Vaud differentiating between the time devoted to educational/professional tasks and the time devoted leisure use. We hypothesize that the more demanding the educational pathway, the more likely to use the Internet more often for education/professional purposes. (2) To assess whether the ratio between educational and leisure use modulates the relationship between Internet use and associated health-related outcomes, namely: psychiatric symptoms, overweight/obesity, and somatic complaints. We hypothesize that when the ratio educational/leisure Internet time is >1 (when the amount of educational time overcomes the amount of leisure time), the association with health-related negative outcomes is minimal or nonexistent. (3) To assess whether the level and the education/leisure ratio of Internet use vary over time and whether different Internet use trajectories have different effects on health-related outcomes. We hypothesize that the Internet use trajectories will be different depending on the academic pathways and demands. Secondary aims of this study are: (1) To define the characteristics of Internet users according to their level of use and to the ratio educational/leisure use. (2) To describe in what specific applications do adolescents spend their leisure Internet time on and whether these applications change over time. (3) To establish to what degree the parents’ monitoring attitude towards the Internet has an effect on the adolescents’ use and whether this effect remains over time. Methods. To reach our objectives we will use a longitudinal design. We will do the baseline collection of data in the schools using a representative sample of 8th graders (N~3000; age 14-15 years) from the canton of Vaud. Afterwards, four follow-up web-based waves at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months will be carried out. Overall, these students will be followed for 2 years which, for most of them, will represent that their final surveys will correspond to their first year of apprenticeship or gymnasium. Importance and impact. The results of this research will set a framework on the amount and the type of Internet use among adolescents. Such data are necessary for prevention programs to be created and implemented. Moreover, such baseline data will be essential to assess the efficacy of prevention programs. The findings of this study will also allow defining the limits of reasonable Internet use among adolescents together with the best possible education/leisure ratio. Additionally, the results of this research will provide data on the variability of Internet use among adolescents over time, and such longitudinal data will help identify windows of opportunity for prevention. Furthermore, due to its longitudinal design, the results of this research will allow assessing the causality between the amount of Internet use and health-related outcomes. Finally, we believe that the results of our research will be helpful for public health professionals, clinicians, educators and parents.

Direct link to Lay Summary

Last update: 21.02.2013

Active participation

Background. In the past decade the Internet has become a widely used communication medium that is extensively used by adolescents. Swiss data indicate that the percentage of 14-19 year-olds using the Internet regularly has increased dramatically between 1997 (4%) and 2009 (91%). However, the very few data related to youths’ Internet use in Switzerland only describe frequency of use. Furthermore, most international data are based solely on cross-sectional studies, there are no data on the impact of Internet use, and no data exist related to the amount of time adolescents spend on the Internet split between educational and leisure use. Besides, the amount of time spent online does not represent Internet use correctly, especially because it includes the time devoted to academic/work tasks and not only the recreational use of the Internet. The literature describes a fair amount of associations between excessive Internet use and health, mainly with mental health symptoms, overweight/obesity and somatic complaints. We hypothesize that the balance between the amounts of Internet time devoted to educational and to leisure activities (defined as the educational/leisure ratio) plays a central role in modulating the association between Internet use and health-related outcomes. From this point of view, we theorize that when the ratio educational/leisure Internet time is >1 (when the amount of educational time overcomes the amount of leisure time), the association with health-related negative outcomes is minimal or nonexistent.Objectives. The main aims of the study are: (1) to assess the amount of Internet use among adolescents in Vaud differentiating between educational and leisure use; (2) to assess whether the ratio between educational and leisure use modulates the relationship between Internet use and associated health-related outcomes, namely: psychiatric symptoms, overweight/obesity, and somatic complaints; and (3) to assess whether the level and the ratio of Internet use vary over time and whether different Internet use trajectories have different effects on health-related outcomes. The secondary aims of the study are: (1) to define the characteristics of Internet users according to their level of use and to the ratio educational/leisure use; (2) to describe in what specific applications do adolescents spend their leisure Internet time on and whether these applications change over time; and (3) to establish to what degree the parents’ monitoring attitude towards the Internet has an effect on the adolescents’ use and whether this effect remains over time.Methods. To reach our objectives we will use a longitudinal design with a baseline in-school wave (T0) and four follow-up web-based waves at 6 (T1), 12 (T2), 18 (T3) and 24 (T4) months. We will use a representative sample (N~3000) of 8th graders in the canton de Vaud at T0. All analyses will take into account the longitudinal and multilevel nature of the survey. Parametric and non-parametric statistical methods will be used to achieve the most accurate results. The complexity of the relationships between variables will be handled through structural equation models, repeated factor ANOVA, automatic clustering and sequence analysis.Importance and impact. This research is important for several reasons: (1) The originality and scientific importance of this study is to be the first one to look at the consequences of Internet use taking into account the type of use (work/education or leisure) and, more specifically, the ratio between the different types of use. Such an approach has never been tested; (2) the results of this research will set a framework on the amount and the type of Internet use among adolescents. Such data are necessary for prevention programs to be created and implemented. Moreover, such baseline data will be essential to assess the efficacy of prevention programs; (3) The findings of this study will allow defining the limits of reasonable Internet use among adolescents together with the best possible education/leisure ratio (4) the results of this research will be the first in Switzerland to provide data on the variability of Internet use among adolescents over time. Such longitudinal data will help identify windows of opportunity for prevention; (5) Due to its longitudinal design, the results of this research will allow assessing the causality between the amount of Internet use and health-related outcomes; (6) these results will also permit to evaluate whether some interventions (such as parental monitoring, for example) have an impact on adolescent patterns of Internet use; (7) finally, apart from the already mentioned data, the longitudinal nature of our research will also provide data in other domains such as, for example, physical activity or parent-adolescent relationships, that will allow further analysis of their evolution over time.Additionally, the results of the proposed study will have an impact on four levels: (1) For public health professionals, the results will permit to define the limits of at-risk Internet use, to identify specific subpopulations of adolescents at risk for excessive Internet use, to create prevention programs, and to identify windows of opportunity for prevention; (2) for clinicians, the results will provide evidence on the relationship between the amount of Internet use and health-related outcomes. Such data will allow them to screen their patients and to better counsel both their young patients and their parents about Internet use; (3) for parents, the results of the study will provide advice on how they can better manage their children’s internet use and to what degree their intervention (setting rules, monitoring) could have an effect; (4) finally, for educators, the results will enable them to realize the amount of Internet time that adolescents devote to their education.