The associations between internet use time and school performance among Korean adolescents differ according to the purpose of internet use

Abstract

Although overuse of the internet has been suggested to be related to poor academic performance, the effects of internet use for education on academic performance showed conflict results in previous studies. Accordingly, the associations of school performance with internet use for study and for general purpose were explored in a large population of Korean adolescents. Cross-sectional data from the 2013 Korean Youth Risk Behaviour Web-based Survey (KYRBWS) were retrieved for 59,105 12- to 18-year-old adolescents. The associations between school performance and internet use were analysed using multinomial logistic regression with complex sampling. Days of physical activity, sex, obesity, region of residence, income level, parental education level, stress, sleep time, smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, and total study time were recorded and adjusted for as confounders. Higher school performance was positively associated with longer internet use for study (adjusted odds ratio, AOR, of 2+ h [95% confidence interval] = 2.43 [2.10–2.82], 2.02 [1.78–2.30], 1.66 [1.46–1.89], and 1.30 [1.15–1.47] for performance groups A, B, C, and D, respectively, P < 0.001) but negatively associated with longer internet use for general purpose (AOR of 3+ h [95% confidence interval] = 0.68 [0.60–0.78], 0.85 [0.76–0.94], 0.83 [0.75–0.92], and 0.98 [0.89–1.08] for performance groups A, B, C, and D, respectively, P < 0.001). Higher school performance significantly positively correlated with internet use for study but negatively correlated with internet use for general purpose. Academic use of the internet could be a means of achieving good school performance.

The Associations between Family-Related Factors and Excessive Internet Use in Adolescents

“…Given the fact that the internet is a readily available tool that is thoroughly embedded in their everyday routines [11], EIU may become an issue for some adolescents. Higher levels of internet use have been linked to a range of problems, such as nervousness and irritability due to lack of sleep [12], increased depression [13], health problems caused by sedentary behaviour [14,15], and neglecting academic and other responsibilities [16,17].Prior research has mostly investigated various individual risk factors that range from low self-esteem and self-efficacy [18,19], self-directedness [20], neuroticism [21], and loneliness [22] to attention difficulties [23]. As such, the role of social environment is neglected in models that describing both generalised and specific disordered internet use-only the role of social cognition (e.g., feelings of isolation, perceived lack of social support) is mentioned in the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model [4] and the Cognitive-Behavioral Model of Pathological Internet Use [2].…”

“…Given the fact that the internet is a readily available tool that is thoroughly embedded in their everyday routines [11], EIU may become an issue for some adolescents. Higher levels of internet use have been linked to a range of problems, such as nervousness and irritability due to lack of sleep [12], increased depression [13], health problems caused by sedentary behaviour [14,15], and neglecting academic and other responsibilities [16,17].…”

Factors affecting internet use among university students in Sarawak, Malaysia: an empirical study

“…4 Although the internet could be a means of achieving excellent academic performance, nonacademic use of the internet such as internet gaming and social networking may lead to internet addiction. [5][6][7] Therefore, a growing concern has raised pathological internet use that may lead to various negative psychosocial consequences. 8 Many terms have been used to a conceptualized maladaptive pattern of Internet use.…”

Eficacia académica percibida, crianza, uso de internet y comportamiento en la adolescencia

“…El uso de internet entre los adolescentes puede tener una doble finalidad. Uno, puede utilizarse con fines académicos, lo cual puede tener resultados positivos, por ejemplo, mejorar las estrategias del procesamiento de la información (Ferreiro, Salgado, Harris, Tobío & Boubeta, 2017;Kim, Kim, Park, Kim & Choi, 2017). Con todo, las conclusiones son contradictorias.…”