Internet Usage and Adolescents' Happiness

Abstract

Abstract Adolescence, a phase of 'stress and strain', is a crucial period for building a strong sense of self, personality, social connections, and identity. Happiness is also a critical issue concerning adolescents’ development. Adolescents are happy when they are satisfied with their lives and relationships. During the last two decades, the internet has been incorporated into the daily lives of adolescents to such an extent that it has become a magic wand for satisfying their psychological needs and making them happy. The present review seeks to explore the factors of internet usage affecting the happiness of adolescents in order to make recommendations for mindful usage of the internet that would eventually result in a happier adolescent. The review has established that time spent online and the purpose of using the internet are the influential factors of internet usage that impact the happiness of adolescents. It has also been revealed that adolescents use the internet for four main purposes: retrieving information, knowledge, communication, entertainment, and commerce, of which communication predominates. Though there are mixed results regarding the relationship between time spent online, the purpose of its usage, and happiness, as well as a hazy understanding of the relationships that exist between the obtained factors of internet usage, the evidence of the negative effects of prolonged and purposeless internet usage necessitates diplomatic strategy implications by policymakers for its mindful usage in order to promote its positive effects and mitigate the potential harm.