Problematic Internet Use and health behaviors in adolescent residents of urban and rural areas in Poland - a cross-sectional study

Abstract

The aim of the study: This paper attempts to assess Internet addiction and health behaviors in Polish adolescent residents of urban and rural areas. Material and methods: 131 high school students, including 62 (47.3%) residents of rural and 69 (52.7%) residents of urban areas, completed the Polish adaptation of the Problematic Internet Use Test, the Health Behavior Inventory for children and adolescents, and a self-designed survey on the characteristics of Internet use. Results: 28.2% of respondents used the Internet for over 6 hours on school days, compared to 45.8% on noschool days. In total, high and very high risk of Internet addiction was recorded in 7.7% of respondents. Significantly higher PIU scores were reported in the residents of rural areas (p <0.05). Most respondents exhibited positive health behaviors. Higher index of general health behaviors correlated with a stronger declared willingness to reduce online activity in favor of spending time outside the house. Discussion: Creating more opportunities for teenagers to spend time outdoors/away from home can contribute to their reduced online activity, and thus reduce the risk of PIU. Conclusions: Young people devote much of their time to Internet use, which is associated with their lesser engagement in health behaviors.

Internet Addiction and Emotional Intelligence in university nursing students: A cross-sectional study

“…Similar to other studies [ 18 , 25 ], differences were encountered with the number of hours spent using the Internet for leisure, so that as these increase, AI values increase in the studied sample. Along these lines, problematic use is observed in those individuals who spend an average of 52.7 h per week dedicated to leisure [ 22 ], and yet other studies do not report differences between the addiction of Nursing students to smartphones and the number of hours they use them [ 31 ], although the explanation could be related to the different applications that can be given to this device, such as the time dedicated to making or receiving calls and not just surfing the internet.…”

“…Individuals who have trouble establishing relationships in real life are at risk of using the internet uncontrollably due to their need for socialization or group membership [ 16 ]. Problematic internet use has been linked to lower mental health and poor sleep quality [ 17 ], reduced time spent with friends and family, increased levels of perceived loneliness [ 16 ], lower engagement in healthy behaviors [ 18 ] and dysfunctional social relationships [ 2 ].…”

Loneliness with Problematic Internet Use Among College Students

“…The prevalence of problematic internet use is higher for individuals that do not engage in physical activities [6]. This is in line with the finding that physical activity positively correlates with individuals' willingness to limit internet use [27]. However, the mean value signified that subjects with no extracurricular activities have more problematic internet use than those engaged in physical activities.…”

Problematic Internet Use among Polish Students: Prevalence, Relationship to Sociodemographic Data and Internet Usage Patterns

“…It may be that more affluent students choose leisure activities other than spending time on the Internet, such as going to the cinema, fitness clubs, etc. Our previous research has shown that adolescents, given the opportunity, would choose leisure activities other than spending time online [61]. However, the relationship between socioeconomic status and PIU severity is not a set rule [31,52,62].…”