The Relationship between Internet Use for Non-academic Purposes and Happiness and Stress in Adolescents

Hyunju Park

doi:10.12799/jkachn.2015.26.2.169

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Original Article
The Relationship between Internet Use for Non-academic Purposes and Happiness and Stress in Adolescents: Hyunju Park; Journal of Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing 2015;26(2):169-177.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2015.26.2.169
Published online: June 30, 2015

Department of Nursing, Chuncheon Campus, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea.

• Received: February 9, 2015 • Revised: June 13, 2015 • Accepted: June 26, 2015

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Abstract

Abstract

Purpose
Previous studies focused on the negative effects of Internet use such as obesity, depression, and addiction. However, few studies investigated whether the Internet use for an appropriate time has positive effects on adolescents' health. Thus, the purpose of the study was to examine the dose-response relationship between Internet use for non-academic purposes (NAP) and happiness/stress in adolescents.
Methods
This study used data from the 2013 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey. A total of 72,435 adolescents were included. Rao-Scott χ² and multiple logistic regression were conducted. To test the dose-response relationship, this study examined how happiness/stress changed with increase in the time of Internet use for NAP.
Results
After controlling for general characteristics, the odds ratios for being unhappy and stressful were lowest in adolescents using the Internet for NAP for more than 0 hour and less than an hour a day. Interestingly, students who did not use the Internet for NAP had a significantly higher risk of being unhappy/stressful than those using for more than 0 hour and less than an hour a day.
Conclusion
Internet use for NAP for more than 0 hour and less than an hour a day has positive effects on happiness/stress in adolescents.
Key Words: Internet; Happiness; Life stress; Adolescent

Table 1

General Characteristics of the Sample (N=72,435)

Characteristics	Categories	n (%)
Gender	Boys	36,655 (52.3)
Gender	Girls	35,780 (47.4)
Grade	Middle 1st	12,199 (16.2)
	Middle 2nd	12,113 (16.0)
	Middle 3rd	12,218 (16.5)
	High 1st	12,028 (17.1)
	High 2nd	11,865 (16.9)
	High 3rd	12,012 (17.2)
School achievement	High	24,995 (34.6)
	Middle	20,148 (28.1)
	Low	27,292 (37.3)
Economic status	High	22,747 (32.3)
	Middle	34,494 (47.4)
	Low	15,194 (20.3)
Living type	Living with family	69,006 (96.1)
	Living with relatives	776 (0.9)
	Living in boarding facility	2,250 (2.5)
	Living in care facility	403 (0.5)
Residential area	Large cities	32,540 (44.0)
	Middle sized cities	31,037 (49.1)
	Small towns	8,858 (6.9)

Table 2

Descriptive Statistics of Internet Use for Non-academic Purposes and Happiness and Stress (N=72,435)

Variables	Categories	n (%)
Internet use for non-academic purposes	None	19,241 (26.2)
	0~<1 hr	16,912 (23.2)
	1~<2 hrs	15,641 (21.7)
	2~<3 hrs	10,190 (14.1)
	≥3 hrs	10,451 (14.7)
Happiness	Very happy/happy	42,127 (58.2)
	So-so	21,943 (30.2)
	Very unhappy/unhappy	8,365 (11.6)
Stress	Very much/very stressful	30,192 (41.4)
	Slightly stressful	29,841 (41.4)
	Rarely/never stressful	12,402 (17.2)

Table 3

Relationship between Internet Use for Non-academic Purposes and Happiness and Stress (N=72,435)

Variables	Hours of internet usage for non-academic purposes					Rao-Scott x²	p
	None	0~<1 hr	1~<2 hrs	2~<3 hrs	≥3 hrs
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Happiness						288.70	<.001
Very happy/happy	10,805 (56.4)	1,0479 (62.0)	9,505 (60.6)	5,844 (57.6)	5,494 (52.7)
So-so	6,080 (31.6)	4,829 (28.4)	4,529 (28.9)	3,085 (30.2)	3,420 (32.6)
Very unhappy/unhappy	2,356 (12.0)	1,604 (9.6)	1,607 (10.5)	1,261 (12.2)	1,537 (14.7)
Total	19,241 (100.0)	16,912 (100.0)	15,641 (100.0)	10,190 (100.0)	10,451 (100.0)
Stress						143.22	<.001
Very much/very stressful	8,563 (44.3)	6,703 (39.3)	6,033 (38.6)	4,244 (41.4)	4,649 (43.8)
Slightly stressful	7,447 (38.7)	7,216 (43.0)	6,817 (43.6)	4,236 (41.8)	4,125 (39.8)
Rarely/never stressful	3,231 (17.0)	2,993 (17.7)	2,791 (17.7)	1,710 (16.8)	1,677 (16.4)
Total	19,241 (100.0)	16,912 (100.0)	15,641 (100.0)	10,190 (100.0)	10,451 (100.0)

%: Weighted.

Table 4

Multivariate Relationships between Internet Use for Non-Academic Purposes and Happiness and Stress (N=72,435)

Variables	Categories	Feeling unhappy		Feeling stressful
Variables	Categories	AOR	95% CI	AOR	95% CI
Gender	Boys	0.71	0.69~0.74	0.52	0.51~0.54
Gender	Girls	1		1
Grade	Middle 1st	0.71	0.67~0.76	0.71	0.67~0.75
	Middle 2nd	0.87	0.81~0.93	0.82	0.77~0.88
	Middle 3rd	0.90	0.85~0.96	0.84	0.79~0.89
	High 1st	0.95	0.89~1.01	0.79	0.75~0.84
	High 2nd	1.07	1.01~1.13	0.94	0.88~0.99
	High 3rd	1		1
School achievement	High	0.58	0.55~0.60	0.76	0.73~0.79
	Middle	0.72	0.69~0.75	0.78	0.75~0.81
	Low	1		1
Economic status	High	0.43	0.41~0.45	0.59	0.57~0.62
	Middle	0.65	0.63~0.68	0.64	0.61~0.66
	Low	1		1
Living type	Living with family	1.13	0.91~1.40	1.17	0.92~1.48
	Living with relatives	1.51	1.18~1.95	1.41	1.06~1.86
	Living in boarding facility	0.98	0.77~1.23	1.15	0.79~1.48
	Living in care facility	1		1
Hour of internet usage/day	None	1.17	1.13~1.22	1.16	1.11~1.22
	0<,<1hr	1	1.03~1.12	1	0.98~1.08
	1≤,<2hr	1.07	1.11~1.23	1.03	1.11~1.24
	2≤,<3hr	1.17	1.28~1.42	1.17	1.20~1.34
	3≤	1.34		1.27

AOR=adjusted odds ratio.

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The Relationship between Internet Use for Non-academic Purposes and Happiness and Stress in Adolescents

Characteristics	Categories	n (%)
Gender	Boys	36,655 (52.3)
Gender	Girls	35,780 (47.4)
Grade	Middle 1st	12,199 (16.2)
	Middle 2nd	12,113 (16.0)
	Middle 3rd	12,218 (16.5)
	High 1st	12,028 (17.1)
	High 2nd	11,865 (16.9)
	High 3rd	12,012 (17.2)
School achievement	High	24,995 (34.6)
	Middle	20,148 (28.1)
	Low	27,292 (37.3)
Economic status	High	22,747 (32.3)
	Middle	34,494 (47.4)
	Low	15,194 (20.3)
Living type	Living with family	69,006 (96.1)
	Living with relatives	776 (0.9)
	Living in boarding facility	2,250 (2.5)
	Living in care facility	403 (0.5)
Residential area	Large cities	32,540 (44.0)
	Middle sized cities	31,037 (49.1)
	Small towns	8,858 (6.9)

Variables	Categories	n (%)
Internet use for non-academic purposes	None	19,241 (26.2)
	0~<1 hr	16,912 (23.2)
	1~<2 hrs	15,641 (21.7)
	2~<3 hrs	10,190 (14.1)
	≥3 hrs	10,451 (14.7)
Happiness	Very happy/happy	42,127 (58.2)
	So-so	21,943 (30.2)
	Very unhappy/unhappy	8,365 (11.6)
Stress	Very much/very stressful	30,192 (41.4)
	Slightly stressful	29,841 (41.4)
	Rarely/never stressful	12,402 (17.2)

Variables	Hours of internet usage for non-academic purposes					Rao-Scott x²	p
	None	0~<1 hr	1~<2 hrs	2~<3 hrs	≥3 hrs
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Happiness						288.70	<.001
Very happy/happy	10,805 (56.4)	1,0479 (62.0)	9,505 (60.6)	5,844 (57.6)	5,494 (52.7)
So-so	6,080 (31.6)	4,829 (28.4)	4,529 (28.9)	3,085 (30.2)	3,420 (32.6)
Very unhappy/unhappy	2,356 (12.0)	1,604 (9.6)	1,607 (10.5)	1,261 (12.2)	1,537 (14.7)
Total	19,241 (100.0)	16,912 (100.0)	15,641 (100.0)	10,190 (100.0)	10,451 (100.0)
Stress						143.22	<.001
Very much/very stressful	8,563 (44.3)	6,703 (39.3)	6,033 (38.6)	4,244 (41.4)	4,649 (43.8)
Slightly stressful	7,447 (38.7)	7,216 (43.0)	6,817 (43.6)	4,236 (41.8)	4,125 (39.8)
Rarely/never stressful	3,231 (17.0)	2,993 (17.7)	2,791 (17.7)	1,710 (16.8)	1,677 (16.4)
Total	19,241 (100.0)	16,912 (100.0)	15,641 (100.0)	10,190 (100.0)	10,451 (100.0)

Variables	Categories	Feeling unhappy		Feeling stressful
Variables	Categories	AOR	95% CI	AOR	95% CI
Gender	Boys	0.71	0.69~0.74	0.52	0.51~0.54
Gender	Girls	1		1
Grade	Middle 1st	0.71	0.67~0.76	0.71	0.67~0.75
	Middle 2nd	0.87	0.81~0.93	0.82	0.77~0.88
	Middle 3rd	0.90	0.85~0.96	0.84	0.79~0.89
	High 1st	0.95	0.89~1.01	0.79	0.75~0.84
	High 2nd	1.07	1.01~1.13	0.94	0.88~0.99
	High 3rd	1		1
School achievement	High	0.58	0.55~0.60	0.76	0.73~0.79
	Middle	0.72	0.69~0.75	0.78	0.75~0.81
	Low	1		1
Economic status	High	0.43	0.41~0.45	0.59	0.57~0.62
	Middle	0.65	0.63~0.68	0.64	0.61~0.66
	Low	1		1
Living type	Living with family	1.13	0.91~1.40	1.17	0.92~1.48
	Living with relatives	1.51	1.18~1.95	1.41	1.06~1.86
	Living in boarding facility	0.98	0.77~1.23	1.15	0.79~1.48
	Living in care facility	1		1
Hour of internet usage/day	None	1.17	1.13~1.22	1.16	1.11~1.22
	0<,<1hr	1	1.03~1.12	1	0.98~1.08
	1≤,<2hr	1.07	1.11~1.23	1.03	1.11~1.24
	2≤,<3hr	1.17	1.28~1.42	1.17	1.20~1.34
	3≤	1.34		1.27

Table 1 General Characteristics of the Sample (N=72,435)

Table 2 Descriptive Statistics of Internet Use for Non-academic Purposes and Happiness and Stress (N=72,435)

Table 3 Relationship between Internet Use for Non-academic Purposes and Happiness and Stress (N=72,435)

%: Weighted.

Table 4 Multivariate Relationships between Internet Use for Non-Academic Purposes and Happiness and Stress (N=72,435)