Assessing the Impact of Essential and Leisure Internet Use and Related Happiness on Internet Addiction in Early and Middle Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

Abstract

Adolescent Internet addiction (IA) has become a growing concern in today's society as the use of technology and the Internet has become increasingly prevalent in the lives of young people.

Our study aims to differentiate between screen time spent on essential activities and non-essential Internet activities and how they relate to internet addiction (IA) in early and middle adolescents. Conducted among adolescents of Arab origin, our study addresses the limitation of the literature, which predominantly focuses on WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) populations.

This study surveyed 377 adolescents in Qatar. The survey gathered information on participants' demographics, the Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire, time spent on essential and non-essential Internet use, and subjective happiness associated with the amount of time spent on non-essential Internet use. Factorial analysis, multiple regression, and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.

Results: Time spent on non-essential Internet use predicted IA in early and middle adolescents, whereas essential Internet use did not. Happiness with time spent on non-essential Internet use negatively predicted IA in middle adolescents only; greater dissatisfaction led to a higher IA risk.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that interventions aimed at addressing IA should focus on addressing non-essential use specifically rather than considering Internet use and screen time in general as a single entity. This approach can help effectively address factors contributing to IA.