Adolescents exposed to discrimination: are they more prone to excessive internet use?
Keywords
discrimination
excessive internet use
gender
adolescents
Publication details
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12887-020-02241-3 |
| Issued: | 2020 |
| Language: | English |
| Volume: | 20 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Bitto Urbanova L.; Holubcikova J.; Madarasova Geckova A.; van Dijk J.; Reijneveld S. |
| Type: | Journal article |
| Journal: | BMC Pediatrics |
| Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| Sample: | A representative sample of 6,462 Slovak adolescents (mean age: 13.00, 49.6% boys) from the HBSC study conducted in 2018. |
| Implications For Educators About: | School innovation |
Abstract
The Internet may serve as a suitable environment for discriminated adolescents as they may consider the online space as the place where they have possibility to build social ties they are missing in their offline life or manage their self-presentation. Therefore, our aim was to explore the association between different types of discrimination by peers (because of gender, physical appearance, culture/skin color/language, unfavorable family situation) and excessive Internet use (EIU), and whether gender moderates this association.
Outcome
Discrimination because of physical appearance was most prevalent. Adolescents exposed to
discrimination by peers reported higher levels of EIU. The study also found an interaction of gender on the association of discrimination because unfavorable family situation with EIU. Boys who experienced this type of discrimination were at higher risk of EIU compared to girls. (Bitto Urbanová, et al., 2020)