Problematic internet activities among Ukrainian adolescents: gender and psychosocial differences

Abstract

The aim was to analyse Ukrainianadolescents’ (14 to 15 year of age) internet activity including the prevalence of normative and problem-atic activities and identification of teenage e-usersprofiles. Gender and psychosocial variable differences were also analysed. Material and methods: The study was conducted in2020 on Ukrainian adolescents aged 14 to 15 livingin Lviv (n = 1085), Drohobych (n = 499) and sur-rounding rural area (n = 454). Due to pandemic restrictions, an online questionnaire was used inLviv while a traditional questionnaire was circulated in Drohobych and the countryside. The sourceof methodology was the Polish Mokotów Study. Results: Teenagers spend the most of their timeonline on social media followed by watching videos, communicating via messaging and playinggames. Teens showing problematic online activity are divided into two parts: “Gamers” prone toproblematic use of computer games (17%) and“Social media users” with problematic use of so-cial media (25%). The rest are “Safe/functionale-users” (58%). The analysis indicates 2.5 timesmore boys among “Gamers” and 3.5 times moregirls among “Social media users”. Problematic online activity among adolescents was associatedwith depressive symptoms and sensation-seeking,lower family cohesion and poorer parental moni-toring. Discussion: Normative and problematic online acti-vities have become part of teenagers’ lives as 14 to15-year-olds spend more time online than on anyother activities. However, a large group of teenagersonline activities are problematic. Conclusions: The study results indicate the need totake into account e-users profiles and related psy-chosocial factors when developing prevention pro-grammes to address adolescents’ problematic onlinebehaviour.