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

Article information

Res Community Public Health Nurs. 2015;26(2):169-177
Publication date (electronic) : 2015 June 30
doi : https://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2015.26.2.169
Hyunju Park
Department of Nursing, Chuncheon Campus, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea.
Corresponding author: Park, Hyunju. Department of Nursing, Kangwon National University, 1 Gangwondaehak-gil, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea. Tel: +82-33-250-8879, Fax: +82-33-242-8840, hpark@kangwon.ac.kr
Received 2015 February 09; Revised 2015 June 13; Accepted 2015 June 26.

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.

Keywords: Internet; Happiness; Life stress; Adolescent

References

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Article information Continued

© 2015 Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing

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.

Table 1

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

Characteristics Categories n (%)
Gender Boys 36,655 (52.3)
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
AOR 95% CI AOR 95% CI
Gender Boys 0.71 0.69~0.74 0.52 0.51~0.54
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.