201 research outputs found
Internet use during the COVID-19 outbreak: A resource for well-being or an amplifier of psychological distress? A study on an Italian sample
No full textInternet usage increased globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined the role of online/offline relational resources to see whether the Internet improved well-being or amplified psychological distress, also considering the mediating role of Internet use motives. A sample of 573 Italian adults (Mean age = 40.28 years; SD = 16.43; 64% women) reported their motives for Internet use during lockdown and completed standardized measures on loneliness, online social support, well-being and problematic Internet use (PIU). A path analysis showed that loneliness positively predicted PIU and negatively predicted well-being, whereas perceived online social support positively predicted well-being. Loneliness was significantly associated with social/coping motives, which in turn were associated with PIU. Moreover, loneliness mediated the relationship between online social support and PIU. No significant mediating role was found for knowledge and studying/working motives. These findings call for tailored efforts to blunt the impact of social isolation and foster social connectivity
Being online in the time of COVID-19: Narratives from a sample of young adults and the relationship with well-being
No full textDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, Internet might influence daily functioning in both positive and negative ways. Within the conceptual framework of the semiotic cultural psycho-social theory, this study examines the meanings of being online during the COVID-19 pandemic based on narratives collected from Italian university students (Mean age = 22.78; SD = 2.70). Computer-assisted content analysis was used to map the main Dimensions of Meaning (DM) characterizing their texts; ANOVA was used to examine (dis)similarities between DM related to sociodemographic characteristics and connotations of Internet use; Pearson's correlations were computed to examine the relationships between DM and well-being. Two DM emerged: (a) being online in daily life ('rupture' versus 'continuity') and (b) Internet functions during the pandemic ('health emergency' versus 'daily activities'). Notably, participants high on the 'daily activities' polarity of Internet functions connoted the Internet as a resource and reported higher levels of well-being, whereas participants high on the opposite polarity of "health emergency" connoted the Internet as a refuge and reported lower levels of well-being. Findings suggest that Internet use and its impact on well-being during the pandemic relates to the personal and social cultural meanings attributed to being onlin
The social-cultural context of risk evaluation. An exploration of the interplay between cultural models of the social environment and parental control on the risk evaluation expressed by a sample of adolescents
No full textThe objective of this study is to analyse the relationship between adolescent evaluation of health risk behaviours and family practices, while accounting for moderating effects of the cultural models through which adolescents interpret their social environment.
Cultural models, perceived family practices and evaluation of the risk associated to alcohol consumption, drugs use, reckless driving and unprotected sexual behaviours were assessed among 392 adolescents (mean age: 16.88 ± 0.752) recruited in five different Italian high schools of the southern Italy.
The findings show that, beside family dimensions (parental knowledge of children’s activities, parental inquiry about children’s activities, family rules on bed time), a component of adolescents’ cultural model – related to evaluation of the micro-social environment – has a direct effect on risk evaluation, stronger than the other variables; another component – related to the evaluation of the macro-social environment – moderates the role of the family dimensions.
These results suggest the importance of cultural and social dimensions in the intervention programs
Facing life problems through the Internet. The link between psychosocial malaise and problematic Internet use in an adolescent sample
No full textIntroduction: Scholars have highlighted the role of negative affect as key correlates of Problematic Internet Use (PIU). According to the assumption that Internet-related behaviours can be seen as mechanisms to cope with everyday life (Kardefelt-Winther, 2017), the present study aims to explore the relation between PIU and psychosocial malaise, expecting that adolescents with high levels of social anxiety, negative emotions, and loneliness are more likely to be associated to the problem group of internet users.
Methods: Measures of PIU (GPIUS-2), social anxiety (IAS, negative affectivity (PANAS), and loneliness (ILS) were detected in a sample of 766 students attending yr. 9 - 11 (13-19 years old; 47% females) of public high schools in the territory of Lecce (Apulia –Italy). A sub-group of problematic internet users was identified (n=185) and a control group was selected (n=187). A logistic regression was applied in order to esteem the effect of psychosocial variables on the differentiation between problematic and control internet users.
Results: Results of the present cross-sectional study show that a higher level of social anxiety, negative emotions, and loneliness increases the probability of belonging to the group of problematic internet users.
Conclusions: The findings show that for a better understanding of PIU onset and maintenance among adolescents, it is important to take into account the life problems which may lead young people to overindulge in internet use
Unplanned reaction or something else? The role of subjective cultures in hazardous and harmful drinking
No full textThis study compares the impact of levels of impulsivity and subjective cultures through which subjects interpret their experience of the social environment on the probability of hazardous and harmful alcohol use. A sample of 501 participants from Southern Italy completed a series of questionnaires in order to detect their subjective cultures and levels of impulsiveness (attentional, motor and non-planning). Moreover, alcohol consumption, drinking behavior, alcohol-related problems and adverse reactions during the past year were assessed. A sub-group of hazardous and harmful drinkers (n = 106; 21%) was identified and a healthy control group (n = 127; 25%) was selected. Members of the hazardous and harmful group view the social environment as a significantly more unreliable place, and also scored higher on motor impulsiveness and lower on non-planning impulsiveness. Discussion considers theoretical and clinical implications of the results
Facing Life Problems Through the Internet. The Link Between Psychosocial Malaise and Problematic Internet Use in an Adolescent Sample
No full textScholars have highlighted the role of negative affect as key correlates of Problematic Internet Use (PIU) According to the assumption that Internet-related behaviours can be seen as mechanisms to cope with everyday life (Kardefelt-Winther, 2017), the present study aims to explore the relation between PIU and psychosocial malaise, expecting that adolescents with high levels of social anxiety, negative emotions, and loneliness are more likely to be associated to the problem group of Internet users. Measures of PIU (GPIUS-2), social anxiety (IAS), negative affectivity (PANAS), and loneliness (ILS) were detected in a sample of 766 students attending Year 9-11 (13-19 years old; 47% females) of public high schools in the territory of Lecce (Apulia-Italy). A sub-group of problematic Internet users was identified (n = 185) and a control group was selected (n = 187). A logistic regression was applied to estimate the effect of psychosocial variables on the differentiation between problematic and control Internet users. Results of the present cross-sectional study show that a higher level of social anxiety, negative emotions, and loneliness increases the probability of belonging to the group of problematic Internet users. No significant differences between males and females were found in GPIU levels. The findings show that, for a better understanding of PIU onset and maintenance among adolescents, it is important, to take into account the life problems which may lead young people to overindulge in Internet use
Towards a cultural understanding of addictive behaviours. The image of the social environment among problem gamblers, drinkers, internet users and smokers.
No full textThe current study examines whether cultural differences in the way of interpreting the social environment affect the probability of different kinds of addictive behaviours. Subjective cultures of the social environment were detected through the questionnaire on the Interpretation of the Social Environment (ISE) in a convenience sample of 771 participants from Italy. Problem gambling, drinking, internet use and smoking were assessed. A problem group was identified and a healthy group was selected for each of the four kinds of harmful behaviours. Logistic regressions were used to compare problem groups and control on ISE scores of subjective cultures. Problem groups of gamblers, drinkers and internet users were found to differ from control in their evaluation of the social environment, which they considered very unreliable. The problem group of smokers differs from control in their relationship with the social environment, viewed as an anomic place. The findings support the idea that subjective cultures associated with a critical image of the social environment, disparaging social ties and the rules of living together, are more likely to be associated to a maladaptive pattern of behaviour, as addiction can be understood
BEING ONLINE DURING COVID-19 AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH WELL-BEING: NARRATIVES AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
No full textDuring COVID-19 outbreak various technological devices have provided a basis for maintaining social
connections with friends, family, work and community networks, and media have reported a global
increase in Internet use. Scholars debate whether Internet use represented a resource for well-being or on
the opposite a risk for health.
In the frame of Semiotic, Cultural Psychosocial Theory, we argue that the meaning of Internet use and its
impact on well-being might depend on semiotic resources people possessed to represent the crisis and to
use the Internet in a healthy manner.
The study examines the meanings of being online during the COVID-19 pandemic based on narratives
collected from Italian young students (N=323; Mean age = 22.78, SD = 2.70; 77.3% women; 81.9%
living with their parents), recruited by Microsoft Forms online survey during first Italian Lockdown, and
explores whether different views of being online related to different connotations of the Internet during
the pandemic and different levels of well-being.
Computer-assisted Content Analysis was used to map the main Dimensions of Meaning (DM)
characterizing the texts. Then, ANOVA was used to examine (dis)similarities between DM related to
Internet connotations (e.g., resource, danger or refuge); Pearson’s correlations were computed to examine
the relationships between DM and well-being.
Two DM emerged, the first represent the relationship between being online and the daily life context; the
second, the Internet functions during the pandemic. Relations between DM, internet connotation and
well-being were found.
Findings highlight how a plurality of representations of being online are active in the cultural milieu and
their potential role in explaining the different impact of Internet use on well-being during pandemic
Konsep diri dalam eksistensialisme Rollo May
No full textThe main purpose of this research is to describe the concept of “self" according to Rollo May, by departing from the previous concepts of “self”, in this case, from the perspective of psychology and existentialism. The results of this study was found that existentialism is a practical philosophy that brings humans to understand life with self-awareness, and anxiety leads to individual awareness as a person who exists in the world.The author uses a qualitative literature method which focuses on one of Rollo May's books, Man's Search for Himself, and assisted by other works. So the first step of the writer describes the concept of “self” which came before Rollo May, then draws a common thread from previous theories, to search for areas that have not been touched, and arrive at the concept of the importance of awareness of “self” as an existing perso
What Adolescents Have to Say about Problematic Internet Use: A Qualitative Study Based on Focus Groups
No full textIn this paper, the study presented is designed to gain a deeper insight into how adolescents describe, understand, and suggest dealing with Problematic Internet Use (PIU). Eight focus groups were activated with a total of 70 students from the 9th and 11th grades (Mean Age = 15.53 ± 1.202; Female = 44.4%) in four different schools in Southern Italy. A Thematic Analysis was applied to the verbatim transcripts, and seven macro-categories were identified throughout the discourses collected: definition of PIU, symptomatology, impact, determinants, intervention strategy, opportunities and limits of the digital world, and needs that adolescents try to satisfy by surfing the net and which the offline world does not fulfill. Participants converge in seeing PIU in terms of addiction but adopt heterogeneous viewpoints in talking about the reasons for problematic engagement and possible preventive intervention strategies. In the overall picture emerging from the responses, PIU appeared to be the outcome of a psychological dynamic emerging from the interaction of individual, interpersonal, and sociocultural dimensions
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