Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace

Prevalence and impact of Internet Gaming Disorder: A population-based study

2024-10-31T09:42:09+01:00

Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has emerged as a significant public health concern, yet not enough is known about its prevalence among the general population as well as its relationship to well-being, mental health, specifically depression and anxiety, and gaming genres. This study aimed to address these questions. The research was conducted on a representative sample of the Croatian general population including 4,994 participants, aged between 15 and 64 years (M = 40.75, SD = 15.49). The Ten-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test, Mental Health Inventory-5, Personal Well-being Index, Gaming time and Game Genres Preferences were used. The prevalence of the IGD in the general population of Croatia, aged 15-64 years, was estimated at 0.48%, 95% CI [0.30%, 1%], and among video game players (N = 1,239) at 1.63%, 95% CI [1.11%, 3%]. The highest prevalence was observed among young males. IGD showed the strongest relationship with depression, and weaker relationships with anxiety and well-being. Among the individual criteria, negative consequences for significant relationships, deception and escape had the strongest, while tolerance, loss of control and withdrawal had the weakest relationship to depression, anxiety and well-being, in a relative sense. Sports games and casual games players had lower risk for IGD, while other genres did not differ in their risk for IGD. Online and offline games did not differ in their risk for IGD. This study has shown that IGD has a relatively low prevalence among the general population and video game players, and that not all IGD criteria are equally relevant. Future longitudinal studies and studies on clinical samples are needed.

Supportive parenting and adolescents digital citizenship behaviors: The mediating role of self-regulation

2024-09-30T13:25:27+02:00

A plethora of studies have shown that parenting practices can lead to problematic Internet use. However, few studies have explored how parents foster positive online behavior in adolescents. This study addresses this gap by using self-determination theory to examine how supportive parenting practices, such as autonomy support and structure provision, can influence digital citizenship behaviors in adolescents. The study considered the mediating role of adolescents’ self-regulation, and examined how sex and adolescence stage moderate these relationships. The study included 570 Mexican adolescents (48% girls and 52% boys), and structural equation modeling and multigroup invariance statistics were conducted for analysis. The results showed that autonomy support was positively associated with all dimensions of digital citizenship, while structure provision was only positively associated with online civic engagement. Self-regulation was found to mediate the relationship between autonomy support, structure provision, and digital citizenship behaviors. The multigroup analysis confirmed that sex and adolescence stage did not affect the relationship between parenting practices and digital citizenship behaviors. Overall, the results suggest that supportive parenting practices can encourage positive digital citizenship behaviors among adolescents.

Online experience sharing without explicit social interaction does not foster social bonding

2024-11-17T23:42:48+01:00

Humans have a unique capacity to bond with others through shared experiences, even in the absence of explicit communication. Yet it is unknown whether this capacity is flexible enough to accommodate the different kinds of virtual environments on which we increasingly rely. In the current pre-registered study, we examined whether this capacity still operates effectively on shared screens during non-communicative video mediated interactions, in dyads and in groups. Participants (N = 144 US participants, 71 female, 72 male, 1 non-binary) either watched a video on a shared screen together with (pre-recorded) partners or watched individually while these partners attended to something else. Equivalence tests showed that self-reported social bonding scores were practically equivalent between conditions. Thus, in contrast to several in-person studies, there was no difference in social bonding between conditions. These results show that, in the absence of explicit communication, some of humans’ most fundamental social bonding mechanisms might not operate as effectively in video mediated social interactions. As such, without sufficient active social or emotional engagement, the social costs of increasingly relying on video mediated social interactions might be greater than previously thought.

Tackling hate speech online: The effect of counter-speech on subsequent bystander behavioral intentions

2024-10-09T18:23:49+02:00

Counter-speech is considered a promising tool to address hate speech online, notably, by promoting bystander reactions that could attenuate the prevalence or further dissemination of hate. However, it remains unclear which types of counter-speech are most effective in attaining these goals and which might backfire. Advancing the literature, we examined the effect of four types of counter-speech (i.e., educating the perpetrator, calling on others to intervene, diverting the conversation, and abusing the perpetrator) on a range of bystander behavioral intentions in an experimental study (N = 250, UK-based adults). Overall, counter-speech did not affect bystanders’ subsequent responses to hate speech. Having said this, as expected, diversionary counter-speech increased intentions to ignore hate speech, which suggests unintended consequences. The study illustrates that counter-speech may not be sufficiently impactful in regulating bystanders’ reactions to hate speech online.

The adolescent Internet Adaptability Scale: Development and psychometric properties

2024-09-05T16:55:16+02:00

This study presents the development and validation of the Adolescent Internet Adaptability Scale (AIAS), designed to assess adolescents’ adaptive capacities in Internet use. The scale development encompassed multiple phases with diverse sample sizes: item pool generation through interviews (n = 15), scale structure analysis via Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA, n = 553) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA, n = 4,637), along with reliability (n = 4,637) and validity (n = 4,637) analyses. The reliability phase included alpha, composite reliability, and retest reliability (n = 132), while the validity phase covered structural, convergent, discriminant, criterion-related validity, and measurement invariance tests. The AIAS, comprising eight dimensions—Internet curiosity, Internet self-efficacy, Internet learning ability, Internet socialization ability, Internet information search ability, Internet information protection ability, Internet self-control ability, and Internet positive coping ability—demonstrates strong reliability and validity. It shows positive correlations with Internet use—parental active help, well-being, and meaning in life, and negative correlations with Internet addiction and depression, with stronger associations observed with positive indicators. These findings highlight the Internet’s potential as a platform for strength acquisition. The AIAS, with its comprehensive nature, is promising for tailoring adolescent support from a positive psychology perspective, enabling holistic assessment and targeted interventions. It also advances understanding of youth development in the digital era, proving valuable for clinical and research applications. Ongoing evaluation, cross-cultural validation, and longitudinal research are essential for realizing its full potential. This multidimensional scale significantly advances the assessment of adolescent Internet use, equipping stakeholders to effectively address adolescents’ digital behaviors for enhancing well-being.