Association between age of first exposure and heavy internet use in a representative sample of 317,443 adolescents from 52 countries.

Internet usage among adolescents has increased substantially over the last years, concurrently with emerging concerns that an abusive use is associated with detrimental health outcomes. Our objective was to examine the association between age of first exposure and heavy Internet usage in different d...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 395 - 404
Main Authors: López-Bueno, Rubén, Koyanagi, Ai, López-Sánchez, Guillermo Felipe, Firth, Joseph, Smith, Lee
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Springer Nature Mar2023
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=162679566&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 162679566
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        10188827
        EJ3
      jtl: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
      issn: 10188827
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Mar2023
      vid: 32
      iid: 3
      pid: 237
      pub: Springer Nature
      place: New York, New York
    artinfo:
      ui:
        162679566
        152392462
        162679566
        162679566
        10.1007/s00787-021-01869-5
        162679566
      ppf: 395
      ppct: 9
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
      tig:
        atl: Association between age of first exposure and heavy internet use in a representative sample of 317,443 adolescents from 52 countries.
      aug:
        au:
          López-Bueno, Rubén
          Koyanagi, Ai
          López-Sánchez, Guillermo Felipe
          Firth, Joseph
          Smith, Lee
        affil: Department of Physical Medicine and Nursing, University of Zaragoza, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain
      sug:
        subj:
          Internet Addiction Risk Factors
          Risk Assessment
          Age Factors
          Human
          Adolescence
          Male
          Female
          Odds Ratio
          Confidence Intervals
          Self Report
          Data Analysis Software
          Multiple Logistic Regression
          Asia
          Africa
          Americas
          Europe
          Mediterranean Region
          Mental Health
          Social Media
          Technology Addiction
          Questionnaires
          Social Class
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Internet usage among adolescents has increased substantially over the last years, concurrently with emerging concerns that an abusive use is associated with detrimental health outcomes. Our objective was to examine the association between age of first exposure and heavy Internet usage in different domains. Data from the 2018 wave of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) were retrieved. This included a total of 317,443 participants (49.2% boys) aged 15 and 16 years from 52 countries. Data from both Internet use and age of first exposure were retrieved and used to conduct metanalyses with random effects. Adolescents reporting an age of first exposure of Internet usage at ≥ 13 years old had the lowest odds for heavy Internet use (> 2 h/day) (reference group: ≤ 9 years) during weekends (odds ratio, 0.41 [95% CI, 0.35–0.48]), weekdays (odds ratio, 0.45 [95% CI, 0.37–0.56]), and during school time (odds ratio (odds ratio, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.77–0.96]) even when adjusted for sex, socioeconomic status, and country. A stronger association was observed in adolescents from South and Central America and Eastern Mediterranean regions in the domain of weekends and weekdays. The results indicate that early internet exposure is associated with heavy Internet use, particularly during weekends and weekdays, regardless the geographical region, in a linear fashion. Further research should aim to examine if better education and parental control in specific areas may avoid excessive Internet use that possibly have a negative influence on both mental and physical health.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N