Excessive internet use by young Europeans: psychological vulnerability and digital literacy?

This paper combines clinical-psychological and digital literacy frameworks to shed new light on explanations for excessive Internet use (EIU). The combination of these opposing approaches leads to a more comprehensive explanation of intense use with negative outcomes. A survey with a random sample of 18,709 Internet-using children between 11 and 16 years old was carried out in 25 European countries. The study shows that there are interactional and indirect relationships between psychological and digital literacy variables and EIU. Psychologically vulnerable children with higher levels of digital engagement have the most negative outcomes while the least at risk are non-vulnerable children with high levels of literacy (interactional relationship). In reality, psychologically vulnerable children’s risk of negative outcomes is exacerbated by their tendency to spend more time online but countered by their lower literacy levels (contradicting direct and indirect relationships). Among those who are not vulnerable, digital literacy is weakly related to negative outcomes. The implications of these results for future research are that explanations for EIU should incorporate psychological and digital literacy indicators. Practical implications are that clinical psychologists working with EIU should consider digital literacy in developing interventions and that digital inclusion interventions should consider the potential negative impact of increased Internet use on vulnerable young people. This paper’s original contribution lies in showing that whether intense Internet use is related to negative outcomes depends on the psychological characteristics of the child

Theoretical Integration of ySKILLS:Towards a New Model of Digital Literacy

This report integrates findings from various ySKILLS deliverables into a new model, unravelling their theoretical implications. Our team developed a new theoretical model, where digital literacy mediates between antecedents and consequences, with the broader concept of digital literacy at the core rather than digital skills

Digital skills among youth: a dataset from a three-wave longitudinal survey in six European countries

This dataset provides longitudinal survey data from a European project, ySKILLS, which was focused on the role of digital skills in youths’ development. It contains data from 10,821 participants from Grades 6-10 (in Wave 1) in Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. The data was collected between Spring 2021 and Spring 2023, the participants were recruited through schools, where the data collection also took place, except for online data collections due to restrictions caused by COVID-19. The dataset is novel in its multidimensional approach to the construct of digital literacy. It provides insight into the development of digital skills in youth and the role of digital skills and internet usage in youths’ positive and negative online experiences and wellbeing. It also contains data that allows for the analysis of the role of digital skills in class networks. The data are beneficial for researchers interested in the examination of youths’ online skills, internet usage, online experiences, and wellbeing from a longitudinal perspective

Communication Research XX(X) 1 -23 Gendered Internet Use Across Generations and Life Stages

Abstract Gender inequalities in Internet use are smaller among younger people. It is unclear whether these differences can be explained by the varying circumstances in which different generations grew up or by other factors that vary within an individual's life time. This article tests a model which proposes that generation determines the level of Internet use and life stage determines gender differences in Internet use. Descriptive analyses of a representative sample of 1,578 British Internet users confirm that there continue to be small but significant gender differences for most uses of the Internet. The findings from a series of linear regressions suggest that gender differences vary for different life stages related to occupation and marital status. This is true especially for typically male uses. The article concludes that other factors related to life stage will continue to influence gender differences in Internet use in the future

Gendered internet use across generations and life stages

Gender inequalities in Internet use are smaller among younger people. It is unclear whether these differences can be explained by the varying circumstances in which different generations grew up or by other factors that vary within an individual’s life time. This article tests a model which proposes that generation determines the level of Internet use and life stage determines gender differences in Internet use. Descriptive analyses of a representative sample of 1,578 British Internet users confirm that there continue to be small but significant gender differences for most uses of the Internet. The findings from a series of linear regressions suggest that gender differences vary for different life stages related to occupation and marital status. This is true especially for typically male uses. The article concludes that other factors related to life stage will continue to influence gender differences in Internet use in the future

Offline social identity and online chat partner selection

This study examines whether the impact of offline identities on computer-mediated communication is stable across different social contexts or whether it depends on which identity aspect is salient. Field experiments with 206 teenagers tested the influence of gendered, ethnic, youth and personalized identities on teenagers' chat behaviour and cognitions. The findings show that offline identity varies in its relation to Internet self-efficacy but not chat partner selection. Self-efficacy differed significantly between boys and girls when youth and gender identities were emphasized but not when stressing personal identity. Across conditions, teenagers were most likely to choose chat partners from similar ethnic and opposite sex backgrounds. This partly supports the Social Identification and Deindividuation framework and argues that offline identities impact online behaviour and self-perception but that this effect depends on which identity aspect is activated