Problematic Internet use among Spanish adolescents: The predictive role of Internet preference and family relationships

Abstract

Inasmuch as adolescents are intensive Internet users, concern about the negative effects of Internet on their social wellbeing and their daily lives has also become a matter of social interest. Based on a representative sample of 2077 Spanish adolescents, this study analyses the influence on perceived discomfort from lack of online access and the negative consequences on daily lives as perceived by the adolescents themselves of two factors: on the one hand, preferences for online communication and, on the other, how they regard their family relationships, controlling other factors that the literature associates with problematic Internet use. The results of various logistic regression studies indicate that both factors influence the analysed indicators in distinctive ways and the implications are discussed.

Keywords

Adolescents family relationships Internet online communication preference problematic use

Introduction

Use of the Internet and social networks is already very high among the Spanish population. There is also a clear trend towards universalization among adolescents, where 91.2% (10–15 years old) are already Internet users (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), 2012 – the Spanish National Institute of Statistics) while, in 2011, 90% (12–17 years old) were already using social networks (García et al., 2013).

The new forms of communication associated with the spread of the Internet and social networks have transformed the way adolescents socialize and learn. Adolescents have seen an opportunity in this new digital world to explore identity, social norms, and self-led and collaborative learning and to develop digital skills (Livingstone, 2010). However, immersion in the online world is not free from certain risks that threaten their wellbeing.

Besides their extensive use of Internet, adolescents are considered to be the age group that is most vulnerable to developing problematic use of Internet as spaces of communication, as they are at a critical stage in defining their identities. This can lead them to escape into the world of Internet and social networks, with adults hardly noticing.

Although it is difficult to find an agreed definition among the scientific community about what problematic Internet use is, the ease of access, low cost and anonymity that favour the Internet have been seen as potential factors in generating excessive use, especially among minors. Problematic use is usually understood as an overuse which implies distress and negative consequences on daily activities (Echeburúa and Corral, 2010; Shapira et al., 2003). Excessive use by adolescents is associated with a negative influence on their daily habits and routines, school marks, interpersonal relationships − including relationships with their parents and teachers (Douglas et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2012; Yang and Tung, 2007) − or psychiatric disorders such as lack of self-esteem (Armstrong et al., 2000; Douglas et al., 2008). However, adolescents use a wide range of applications and online services, and they do so for various reasons, which means that it is often difficult to distinguish between problematic use and a new type of lifestyle associated with digital technology use (Bergmark et al., 2011).

Labrador and Villadongos (2010) suggest that the perception of distress through lack of use could be compared to withdrawal symptoms associated with an addiction problem. However, Carbonell et al. (2012) warn of the need to be careful on this point, owing to the possibility that the questionnaires measure ‘concern’ or ‘perception’ instead of addictive use. In this respect, Espinar and López (2009) find that adolescents acknowledge they have felt inordinately attracted to the Internet and make an excessive use of it that is closely linked to the entertainment aspect of these technologies, while they admit that they would be annoyed if unable to access the Internet because this would force them to look for substitutes to ‘kill time’; however, this does not necessarily signify that their Internet use is problematic.

While pathological use is understood to be uncontrolled use that generates malaise and negative impacts on daily life (Echeburúa and Corral, 2010; Shapira et al., 2003), many different authors have considered excessive use of Internet as problematic in itself (Lee and Stapinski, 2012). Under the umbrella of displacement theory, it is considered that intensive online use can take time away from other types of social practices that are significant for the subjects, causing work and family obligations to be abandoned, isolation and the deterioration of social relationships, while increasing the risk of anxiety disorders and depression (Douglas et al., 2008; Shapira et al., 2000; Wang et al., 2012; Yang and Tung, 2007; Jenaro et al., 2007). However, the multitasking nature of adolescent online activity, corroborated by empirical studies (Roberts et al., 2005; Rideout et al., 2010; Gross, 2004), calls into question whether excessive use can be an appropriate indicator of problematic Internet use. This is the view defended, for example, by Labrador and Villadongos (2010).

From the perspective of psychology, several scales have been developed to measure addiction, especially among young people (Valkenburg and Peter, 2007; Young, 1998). These indices are based on the six key criteria proposed by Griffiths (2005) to define addiction to the Internet as a behavioural addiction and which any addiction consists of: salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, interpersonal conflicts with other activities and relapse. Those users who score high on any of these components for the Internet are classified as addicts. However, the concept of addictive use continues to be debated.

Factors associated with problematic Internet use

While, for some authors, intensive Internet use is problematic in itself (Lee and Stapinski, 2012), other authors have examined Internet connection times as a factor for predicting a pathological use of Internet (Armstrong et al., 2000; Douglas et al., 2008; Labrador and Villadongos, 2010; Leung, 2004; Muñoz-Rivas et al., 2010; Yang and Tung, 2007). At the same time, it is assumed that intensive Internet use can become problematic, depending on why the Internet is used and the continuance of other psychosocial problems of the person.

The findings of various studies suggest that problematic Internet use is associated with going online for entertainment (Hawi, 2012; Lee and Stapinski, 2012; Yang and Tung, 2007) or using certain communication-oriented applications (Carbonell et al., 2012), and particularly when the applications involve searching for new friends online, such as chatrooms or social networks (Acier and Kern, 2011; De Gracia et al., 2002; Echeburúa and Corral, 2010; Lee and Stapinski, 2012; Valkenburg and Peter, 2007; Viñas et al., 2002). Other authors found that problematic use also tends to be associated with interacting using altered identities (Carbonell et al., 2012), for example, by adopting an avatar (Wan and Chiou, 2006) which allows users to escape from themselves (Carbonell et al., 2012; Douglas et al., 2008).

From the perspective of the Uses and Gratifications Theory, it is stressed that the effects of the media stem from the reasons for use, which vary from person to person. This indicates that the same technologies can be used positively or negatively (Valkenburg and Peter, 2011). The results achieved by Gross et al. (2002) and Kuss and Griffiths (2011), relating to differentiated uses to complement or compensate interaction with offline friends according to personality – introverted or extroverted – or difficulties with offline relationships, suggest that pathological use is not generated by using a specific tool but by the problematic relationship developed with it, which could originate from an attempt to evade the problems of daily life.

On the same subject, Caplan (2003) found that preferring online communication to face-to-face interaction is a key factor in developing problematic Internet use, through the relationship between psychosocial wellbeing (loneliness) and problematic use. Later studies specify that social anxiety – characterized by exaggerated expectations of threats in social evaluation contexts and by the avoidance of such situations, in accordance with those expectations (Rapee and Haimberg, cited in Lee and Stapinski, 2012) – is predictive of a preference for online social interaction and of problematic Internet use (Caplan, 2007; Lee and Stapinski, 2012).

Compensation theory states that people who find face-to-face relationships difficult can use the Internet to look for new friends or online partners, thus satisfying their need for socialization and avoiding the difficulties found in the origin of their problem (Lee and Stapinski, 2012). However, Smahel et al. (2012) found that people who preferred to seek – and communicate with – friends online reported higher levels of Internet addiction, even after controlling for participants’ communication preferences.

Along these same lines, which highlight the multiple connections between the virtual world and the real world (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 2008; Subrahmanyam and Smahel, 2010), other factors associated with problematic Internet use among young people are related to the microsituational context of their offline world and, particularly, to family dynamics. Although not much attention has been paid to this aspect thus far in research, unsatisfactory family relationships (Lam et al., 2009; Liu et al., 2012; Viñas et al., 2002), family communication (Liu et al., 2012; Park et al., 2008; Van Den Eijnden et al., 2010) and high levels of conflict between parents and children (Yen et al., 2007) have been associated with intensive and problematic Internet use that enables escape from family conflict (Douglas et al., 2008).

Finally, empirical research has also demonstrated that problematic Internet use and the perception of it vary with age (Carbonell et al., 2012; Labrador and Villadongos, 2010) and with experience in Internet use (Griffiths, 2000) and that, in the case of addictive online gaming, it is transitory (Van Roij et al., 2010). The unstable nature attributed to adolescents and the attraction of these technologies would explain the transitory nature of problematic Internet use.

Notwithstanding the proliferation of scientific research on this subject, there are still many gaps relating to the specificity of problematic Internet use (Bergmark et al., 2011), and very little is known about the relationship between its different dimensions and the relationship of these dimensions with the different factors that predict such use.

Kuss and Griffiths (2011) also relate that many of the studies conducted use non-representative samples, thus limiting the external validity of the studies, and they advise widening the studies to include broader samples. The authors warn that self-reporting data do not seem sufficient for diagnosing addiction, which hinders analysis of the prevalence and meaning of problematic use in national samples. Nonetheless, it is interesting to understand the relationship between the subjective discomfort generated by an inability to access the Internet and an evaluation of the impact of this on other significant areas of adolescents’ lives, identifying the factors that generate this perception.

Beyond interest in pathological use, more research is required among the general population to progress towards determining which elements encourage a problematic use that generates negative effects for the social, psychological and academic wellbeing of adolescents. If, as studies indicate, their families and a preference for online communication explain whether adolescents will develop a problematic Internet use that affects their wellbeing, it is necessary to go deeper into the dynamics and mechanisms through which these factors exert their influence, by controlling other factors that can act as disturbing variables.

Aims

Although the empirical research into problematic Internet use has proliferated in the past decade, there are still many gaps relating to the specificity of that use (Bergmark et al., 2011), and very little is known about the relationship between its different dimensions and the relationship of these dimensions with the different factors that predict such use. In particular, although a number of studies have associated a preference for online communication and various issues in family relationships and family communication with problematic Internet use, none of the studies has analysed the role of the two factors simultaneously in explaining that problematic use, thus revealing the relative weight of each in several problematic use indicators.

After describing the prevalence of several indicators of problematic use among the adolescent population in Spain, this article seeks to study the factors that predict perceived discomfort owing to lack of Internet access and negative consequences on daily lives – worsening school marks, use into the early hours (and its impact on sleep times) and less time devoted to family and friends – in a representative sample of Spanish adolescents; these factors, together with tolerance, are referred to in the literature to diagnose problematic or addictive Internet use (Young, 1998). In particular, this study will examine the relationship between Internet preference and how family relationships are perceived, in order to explain these phenomena; it will take into account other variables which could be important in explaining these associations. This analysis will help to understand the mechanisms that generate problematic Internet use, creating discomfort among adolescents and negatively affecting different areas of their daily lives.

Methodology

The data presented in this study are from a representative statistical survey of adolescents (12–17 years old) attending school at the level of Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (years 1–4 of compulsory secondary education, ‘ESO’) and Bachillerato (High School equivalent level) in the Spanish State, with the exception of Ceuta, Melilla and Balearic and Canary Islands, throughout the 2011/2012 academic year.

The design of the sample comprised multistage stratified cluster sampling. As the first step, stratified cluster sampling was conducted by Autonomous Community (regions), stage of education and type of educational establishment (state-owned or private). In total, 100 educational establishments were randomly selected. The second step consisted of applying stratified sampling of students by Autonomous Community, stage of education and whether it was a state-owned or privately owned educational establishment. Of the over 5000 questionnaires collected, 2077 surveys were selected in line with the quotas set for gender, age, stage of education and the ownership of the establishment, to ensure the representativeness of the sample. As the adolescents needed to have parental permission to be able to complete the questionnaire, in the end there was a marginal deviation in the real sample from the theoretic student sample; therefore, elevation indices were established for the purpose of making adjustments.

The information was gathered from a classroom-based self-assessment questionnaire used between the months of September and November in 2011. The questionnaire consisted of 54 questions relating to types of Internet use, reasons for use, risk on the Internet and family tactics for control and supervision. The questionnaire was tested prior to use to ensure it was understandable and consistent.

The completed questionnaires were filtered upon the basis of the consistency of the information reported. In addition, hole count analyses were completed, as well as a survey flow analysis, validation filters, controls of atypical values and an analysis of the adjustment of the average obtained with respect to the planned average.

The parents were informed about the aims and content of the study and data protection issues by means of a letter sent via the school. After an informed consent document had been signed by the adolescents’ parents and the aims of the study, the importance of their participation and sincerity, and the confidentiality of the information had been explained to the survey respondents, the questionnaire was handed out.

The data were analysed using the SPSS 18 statistical program. A series of hierarchical logistic regression analyses sought to determine the relative importance of the respondents’ preference for online communication and of their perception of the type of relationship they have with their parents, as variables that influence their assessment of discomfort from lack of Internet access and its consequences on daily life, while controlling another series of explanatory variables.

Survey measures

Perceived discomfort due to an inability to use the Internet. In the questionnaire, the respondents were asked to indicate how they would feel if they were unable to access the Internet for several days in a row, with the following response options: ‘It would be no problem’; ‘It would bother me a little but does not represent a serious problem’; ‘It would be hard, though it sometimes happens’; ‘I would feel bad if that were to happen’; and ‘I don’t know’. To conduct the linear regression analysis, the first three items have been recoded with a value of 0 and the fourth with a value of 1 that would indicate a high degree of discomfort from lack of Internet use. The item ‘I don’t know’ was treated as missing values by the system.

Time of use. This variable was measured through the question referring to the time spent online, discriminating between school days and weekends. The answers were collected on a scale of five categories: ‘I don’t connect’, ‘Less than 2 hours’, ‘2–3 hours’, ‘3–5 hours’ and ‘More than 6 hours’ (coded with values from 0 to 4).

Adolescent perception of the negative impact of Internet use on their daily life. This issue was approached as part of a question asking the students if they could indicate the situations they identified with. Three of the items reported were selected: ‘My marks have gone down because I am on the Internet a lot’; ‘I am online until the early hours of the morning’; and ‘Due to the Internet, I spend less and less time with my friends and family’ (dummy variables).

Years of use. This quantitative variable was calculated through the difference between age reported and age when Internet use started.

Time spent on each application. The adolescent respondents were asked how often they use a series of online applications, where they could respond by using a scale of four categories: often, sometimes, rarely or never (coded with values of 1–4, consecutively). The proposed items were instant messaging, social networks, chats and forums, network games and virtual worlds.

Preference for online communication. This was contained within a question in which the students were asked to indicate the situations they identified with through the item ‘I prefer being online to going out with my friends’. This variable was transformed into a dummy variable with values of 0 and 1.

Relationships based on trust and communication in the family. The questionnaire contained a question which asked the adolescents to indicate how they rated their relationship with their parents, being able to choose from six possibilities: ‘Total trust: my parents trust me and I tell them everything that happens to me’; ‘Fairly close: we often talk about issues that worry us’; ‘My parents are very authoritarian and we hardly communicate’; ‘My parents are very authoritarian, but they listen to me’; ‘My parents have no idea what is happening in my life and I think they don’t even care’; and, finally, the option ‘Other’. Items 1 and 2 of this qualitative variable were transformed into value 1 and items 3, 4 and 5 into value 0. The option ‘Other’ was treated by the system as missing values.

Results

General results

As indicated in Table 1, 19.2% of the adolescents stated that ‘it would be hard’ if they could not access the Internet for several days in a row and 7.5% of adolescents said they would have a really bad time, with little difference by age and gender.

Table 1.

Prevalence of indicators associated with problematic Internet use by sex and age group.

	Total^a	Male	Female	12–14 years old	15–17 years old
Perceived discomfort due to an inability to use the Internet
It would be no problem	33.1%	37.3%	28.9%	36.7%	28.8%
It would bother me a little but does not represent a serious problem	35.6%	33.2%	37.9%	32.5%	39.2%
It would be hard, though it sometimes happens	19.2%	16.4%	22.0%	18.2%	20.5%
I would feel bad if that were to happen	7.5%	7.1%	7.9%	7.3%	7.7%
I don’t know	3.9%	5.1%	2.7%	4.7%	3.0%
No answer	0.7%	0.9%	0.6%	0.6%	0.8%
Time of use on weekdays: hours^b
Less than 2 hours	49.4%			53.8%	44.1%
2–3 hours	28.1%			24.5%	32.5%
3–5 hours	11.5%			9.4%	14.1%
Over 5 hours	5.4%			4.1%	6.9%
I don’t connect	5.5%			8.1%	2.5%
Time of use on the weekend: hours^b
Less than 2 hours	24.9%			29.3%	19.6%
2–3 hours	32.5%			34.1%	30.5%
3–5 hours	22.3%			18.3%	27.2%
Over 5 hours	16.3%			13.6%	19.5%
I don’t connect	4.0%			4.7%	3.2%
Perception of the negative impact of being online on daily life
I spend less and less time with my friends and family	5.6%	4.9%	6.2%	5.1%	6.1%
My marks have gone down because I am on the Internet a lot	12.5%	12.0%	13.0%	9.4%	16.1%
I am online until the early hours of the morning	10.7%	10.4%	11.0%	7.0%	15.0%

For the global data, the sampling error stood at ±2.2 for p and q = 50/50 and a 95% level of confidence, assuming simple random sampling.

In the variables relating to time of use, the ‘I don’t know’ and ‘No answer’ have been removed, and the blanks correspond to information in that the differences were not statistically significant for Chi square < .05.

The data collected show that some 17% of adolescents devote 3 or more hours to being online on weekdays and 5.5% spend over 5 hours online. On the weekends, connection times escalate, as the percentage of those who spend 3 or more hours online doubles and the percentage of those connected for over 5 hours triples. Age influences Internet connection times positively.

Of these three possible effects on their daily life, 12.5% of the adolescents chose the option ‘My marks have gone down because I am on the Internet a lot’, 10.7% chose ‘I am online until the early hours of the morning’ (which means a drop in the amount of required hours slept) and, finally, in terms of social relationships, 5.6% acknowledged that ‘Due to the Internet, I spend less and less time with my friends and family’. In all, 17.6% of the adolescents perceived that they had experienced one of these effects on their daily lives, 4.6% had perceived two of them and 1.1% reported they had noted all three (χ² < .05).

Of the respondents who reported discomfort due to lack of access, 11.2% stated that Internet use had been detrimental to their relationships with friends and family, while 42% stated that it had had a negative effect on their school marks and 37.8% reported they were online until the early hours. Of the respondents, 39% did not recognize they had experienced Internet use having a negative effect on any of these dimensions of their daily lives (χ² < .05).

Predictors of perceived discomfort due to an inability to use the Internet

Binary logistic regression seeks to determine whether or not there is an association between perceived discomfort due to an inability to use the Internet and a preference for online communication or between such perceived discomfort and a perception of family relationships based on trust; it also seeks to determine the weight of each of the variables on that discomfort. In the analysis, other control variables linked to problematic Internet use have been introduced, in particular, sex, age, years of use, negative consequences on daily life and the use of different Internet applications.

The results shown in Table 2 indicate that age (odds ratios (OR) = 0.850 and p value = .020) – although not years of use – and time of daily use (OR = 1.517 and p value = .000) and weekend use (OR = 1.39 and p value = .004), a perception of school marks suffering as a consequence of Internet use (OR = 2.901 and p value = .000) and Internet use into the early hours of the morning (OR = 1.686 and p value = .031) predict discomfort from lack of online access. In short, those most likely to perceive discomfort due to a lack of access to the Internet are the younger adolescents and those whose daily Internet use is the greatest. School marks and using the Internet until the early hours of the morning are positively related to a perceived dependence on the Internet, possibly acting as disturbing variables if they had not been included in the model. Finally, time spent using instant messaging and virtual worlds also operates as a variable predicting discomfort due to lack of access.

Table 2.

Hierarchical logistic regression for the perception of discomfort due to lack of access (I would feel bad if that were to happen).

	Discomfort due to lack of access
	OR	95% CI
Control variables
Sex	1.238	0.805–1.905
Age	0.850*	0.742–0.975
Years of use	1.082	0.972–1.204
Time of use on weekdays	1.517**	1.219–1.887
Time of use on the weekend	1.390**	1.110–1.740
I spend less and less time with friends and family	1.480	0.770–2.841
My marks have gone down	2.901**	1.879–4.478
Use into the early hours	1.686*	1.049–2.710
Time of use of
Instant messaging	1.282*	1.051–1.563
Social networks	1.277	0.914–1.785
Chat/forums	1.121	0.936–1.343
Network games	0.968	0.782–1.198
Virtual worlds	1.274*	1.006–1.614
Preference for online communication	5.031**	2.370–10.679
Relationships based on trust and communication in the family	0.535**	0.340–0.841
Constant
R² of Cox and Snell	.109
R² of Nagelkerke	.261

OR: odds ratios; CI: confidence interval.

N = 1819.

Sex: male = 0; female = 1.

p < .05; **p < .01.

Controlling all these factors that the literature associates with problematic Internet use, it is observed that a preference for online communication acts as a key risk factor in the perception of this discomfort while family relationships based on trust and communication protect against this feeling.

Predictors of negative consequences for daily life

The logistic regression analyses conducted explore the impact of these two factors (a preference for online communication and the perception of parent–child relationships based on trust and communication) on the perception that Internet use has had a negative influence on certain areas of daily life (relationships with friends and family, school marks and use into the early hours of the morning), controlling other variables that affect problematic Internet use.

In Table 3, we can see that time of use at weekends (OR = 1.393 and p value = .012), a drop in school marks (OR = 2.791 and p value = .000) and use until the early hours of the morning (OR = 2.025 and p value = .014) have a positive association with the perception of negative consequences on social relationships. In short, the adolescents using the Internet for longer at weekends, seeing their school marks suffer and being online until the early hours are most likely to perceive that they spend less time with friends and family. Finally, time of use of virtual worlds (OR = 1.337 and p value = .44) also predicts this perception.

Table 3.

Hierarchical logistic regression for adolescent perception of negative consequences of Internet use on daily life.

	I spend less and less time with friends and family		My school marks have gone down		Use in the early hours
	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI
Control variables
Sex	1.439	0.880–2.354	1.100	0.789–1.534	0.973	0.673–1.408
Age	0.997	0.853–1.166	1.183**	1.063–1.317	1.113	0.987–1.225
Experience of use	0.969	0.855–1.097	0.996	0.916–1.083	1.218**	1.113–1.333
Time of use on weekdays	0.806	0.612–1.061	1.374**	1.148–1.646	1.104	0.906–1.345
Time of use on the weekend	1.393*	1.077–1.802	1.091	0.919–1.295	1.509**	1.243–1.832
Discomfort due to lack of access	1.385*	0.725–2.648	2.832**	1.844–4.351	1.877**	1.183–2.980
I spend less and less time with friends and family			2.904**	1.747–4.828	2.179**	1.243–3.822
My marks have gone down	2.791**	1.663–4.683			2.441	1.664–3.580
Use into the early hours	2.025*	1.154–3.554	2.433**	1.662–3.561
Time of use of
Instant messaging	0.953	0.770–1.180	1.024	0.880–1.191	1.136	0.961–1.342
Social networks	1.164	0.842–1.609	1.641**	1.202–2.241	1.374	0.998–1.891
Chat/forums	1.044	0.845–1.289	0.971	0.838–1.126	1.004	0.855–1.178
Network games	0.905	0.705–1.161	1.029	0.870–1.217	0.985	0.820–1.183
Virtual worlds	1.337*	1.008–1.1774	0.978	0.781–1.226	0.967	0.761–1.230
Preference for online communication	6.082**	2.834–13.050	0.459	0.163–1.294	2.136	0.958–4.665
Relationships based on trust and communication in the family	0.966	0.541–1.729	0.643*	0.443–0.934	0.398**	0.272–0.581
Constant	.015		.001		.001
R² of Cox and Snell	.042		.107		.125
R² of Nagelkerke	.126		.201		.253

OR: odds ratios; CI: confidence interval.

N = 1819.

Sex: male = 0; female = 1.

p < .05; **p < .01.

Controlling all these factors, we see that a preference for online communication predicts, to a significant degree (OR = 6.082 and p value = .000), a perception of negative consequences on social relationships, whereas the perception of family relationships based on trust and communication does not.

Focusing attention on the perception that Internet use has been detrimental to school marks, we see that age (OR = 1.183 and p value = .002), daily use (OR = 1.374 and p value = .001), a perception of discomfort from lack of access (OR = 2.832 and p value = .000), a perception of less time dedicated to relationships with family and friends (OR = 2.904 and p value = .000) and use into the early hours of the morning (OR = 2.433 and p value = .000) predict this. As opposed to the perception of negative consequences on social relationships, it is the older adolescents who are more likely to perceive negative consequences for their school marks. Finally, time spent using social networks (OR = 1.641 and p value = .002) has a positive association with this perception.

Controlling all the above-mentioned factors, only a perception of relationships based on trust and communication with their parents (OR = 0.643 and p value = .020) protects against an assessment of worsening school marks.

If we focus on use until the early hours of the morning, it is observed that years of Internet use (OR = 1.218 and p value = .000), time of use at weekends (OR = 1.509 and p value = .000), discomfort from lack of access (OR = 1.877 and p value = .008), the consequences on social relationships (OR = 2.179 and p value = .008) and the worsening of school marks (OR = 2.441 and p value = .000) have a positive association with this indicator. Therefore, contrary to what occurred with other indicators, experience of use – and not age – predicts use into the early hours of the morning. Finally, time spent using communication- and entertainment-oriented online applications does not show a statistically significant association with nocturnal Internet use, although frequent use of social networks has a significance that is close to that established in this study (χ² = .051).

Once these variables have been controlled, it is observed that only a perception of relationships with parents that are based on trust and communication (OR = 0.398 and p value = .000) prevents use until the early hours.

Discussion and conclusion

The virtual world is an inseparable part of the social and personal lives of adolescents and is closely linked to their physical world. Numerous studies have shown that aspects of the offline world (such as family relationships) or a preference for online relationships associated with certain psychological aspects of the subjects’ personalities predicts problematic and addictive use by adolescents.

In the field of psychology, various indices have been developed that seek to diagnose problematic and addictive Internet use and to analyse the factors that predict it. Although studies focusing on this aim have proliferated, their nature is still being debated and very little is known about the mechanisms that generate it and mark the boundary between pathological use and unwanted consequences of being online. This work investigates the repercussions of two factors – perceptions of family relationships and preferences for online communication – on various indicators of problematic use which are included in the indices used to research the phenomenon. In particular, it analyses perceived discomfort due to lack of Internet access and the perception of the consequences on social and family relationships, academic results and nocturnal Internet use.

The results of our study indicate that the prevalence of these indicators is not very high among the Spanish adolescent population and that their co-existence is even lower, according to the subjective perception of the interviewees.

The logistic regression analyses show that discomfort due to lack of access maintains a positive association with a perception of school marks suffering (the probability of showing discomfort triples) and, somewhat more limited, with use into the early hours of the morning. Among the various indicators of negative effects on the adolescents’ daily lives, there are also moderate associations, whereby, in general, the probability of experiencing one triples if they have also perceived another of these consequences.

The data also indicate that an assessment of discomfort owing to a lack of Internet access tends to decrease with age, controlling, among other factors, the years they have been using the Internet and time of use of manifold online communication and entertainment applications. This variable also has an impact on a perception of deteriorating school performance, but in the opposite sense. Insofar as time of use has been incorporated into the analysis and, therefore, the mediating effects thereof have been controlled, one explanation could be that with advancing age, and thus with each academic year, academic demands also increase. The factor of the years that the subject has been using the Internet operates in the same way concerning being online until the early hours of the morning: the more years of use, the more likely nocturnal Internet use is.

The time spent using social networks and virtual worlds makes it possible to predict discomfort due to lack of access; however, its repercussions or negative consequences on aspects of daily life vary. More intensive use of social networks is associated with a perception of deteriorating school performance, while the use of virtual worlds correlates with consequences for social relationships.

It is noted that the perception of family relationships based on trust and communication acts as a powerful factor which protects against discomfort from lack of access, as well as negative consequences to school marks and use into the early hours of the morning. While the influence on perceived discomfort of a preference for online communication is much more limited, it does significantly affect social and family relationships.

In short, the adolescents’ perception that Internet use has negative repercussions on their social relationships is associated with intensive use of the Internet on weekends (which are traditionally devoted to leisure associated with social relationships), the use of virtual worlds (linked to identity altered communications) and a preference for online communication (associated with disorders related to social relationships). These results suggest that the negative effects of excessive exposure to the Internet on social and family relationships, giving rise to social isolation and negatively affecting adolescents’ ability to interact socially in a face-to-face manner, could stem from prior pathologies such as social anxiety; this would therefore explain their preference for online communication over face-to-face interactions.

The perception that school performance has suffered due to Internet use is associated with more time spent on social networks on weekdays and with the perception of relationships that depart from the ideal democratic and communicative model of the family in late modernity. A possible interpretation of these results could be that adolescents who feel they have unsatisfactory family relationships evade the situation by seeking refuge in communicating with their friends, using social networks when they cannot do so in person (on weekdays) and devoting an amount of time that has negative repercussions on their school performance, and that this occurs to a greater extent the older they are.

Use into the early hours of the morning is associated with years of Internet use, with time of use at weekends and with parent–child relationships that are not based on trust. One possible explanation for these results could be that those adolescents whose relationships with their parents are not based on trust and communication also have, to a greater extent, rules limiting Internet access on school days, and therefore, they go online when their parents do not restrict their use or cannot see them. Another, alternative interpretation is that they use cyberspace as an escape route.

In conclusion, the data indicate that a preference for online communication and the adolescents’ perception of the type of relationship they have with their parents have different associations with the manifold dimensions of what is considered addictive or problematic Internet use. This would indicate that studies on problematic and addictive Internet use are bringing together differential phenomena, each with specific causes, in a single index; it would be advisable to distinguish between different profiles of problematic use associated with different causes and forms of Internet use.

The preference for the virtual world can negatively affect the social lives of individuals and the cause, as many different studies indicate, could be related to previous, psychological factors. However, the type of family relationship is more associated with negative repercussions on school performance and on use into the early hours of the morning. Both factors would be linked to perceived discomfort owing to an inability to access the Internet.

To end, although, as adolescence progresses, peer groups progressively displace families in respect of their influence, the role of the institution of the family continues to be essential in adolescents’ lives, at least as regards preventing problematic Internet use. The creation of a cohesive family atmosphere, characterized by relationships based on trust and with open communication, plays an important role that prevents problematic Internet use associated with negative repercussions on school performance, nocturnal use and perceived discomfort from lack of access.

Furthermore, our study confirms the significance of a preference for online communication and the use of virtual worlds for predicting problematic Internet use and links it essentially with negative repercussions on social relationships.

As for the limitations of the study, although the type of synchronous analysis applied allows us to identify relationships between variables, it prevents the direction of the causality of the relationships from being determined and hinders identification of the mechanisms that generate these problematic uses. Longitudinal studies can clarify the meaning of these relationships. In addition, we must not lose sight of the fact that the results of the study are based on self-administered questionnaires with questions that record subjective perceptions of discomfort and problems arising from Internet use. An articulation between quantitative and qualitative approaches that allows us to capture the adolescents’ experience in their own terms would allow progress to be made in understanding this complex phenomenon and must be stressed in further research.

The inclusion of cultural variables and, in particular, of aspects relating to the models for measurement and family relationships currently existing in Spain, as well as cross-national perspectives, is essential to delve deeper in studying this phenomenon.

Footnotes

Funding

This paper is based on the research project with public and national funding: “Analysis of the use and consumption of media and social networks on the Internet among Spanish adolescents. Characteristics and high-risk practices” (CSO2009-09577), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

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