Does the internet change adolescents into aggressive assholes? Or do socially incompetent teens naturally gravitate towards spending time on the internet?

In a research paper published by the Journal of Adolescent Health, researchers at Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan said that they had found evidence that teenagers addicted to the Internet exhibited more aggressive behaviour than their non-addicted counterparts.

In a study polling 9,405 Taiwanese teenagers about their Internet activities and behaviour, the researchers found that those with signs of “internet addiction” were more likely to say they had hit, shoved or threatened someone in the past year.

This link remained, even when the investigators accounted for other factors — including the teenagers’ scores on measures of self-esteem and depression, as well as their exposure to TV violence.

Based on their responses, twenty-five percent of male respondents and thirteen percent of females were diagnosed as being addicted to the Internet – which according to the research team was described as being a preoccupation with online activities, “withdrawal” symptoms like irritability or moodiness if unable to access the internet for a while and skipping real life activities in order to devote more time to online ones.

Among those people considered to fit the “addicted to the Internet” profile, thirty-seven percent had reported aggressive behaviour the previous year. Although, the type of Internet activity also appeared to be a factor.

Online chatting, gambling, gaming, and spending time at online forums or pornography sites were all linked to aggressive behaviour. In contrast, teens that devoted their time to online research and studying were less likely than their peers to be violence-prone.

According to the researchers, certain online activities may encourage adolescents to “release their anger” or otherwise be aggressive in ways they normally would not try in the real world. Although, whether this eventually pushes them to be more aggressive in real life is not yet clear, the researchers said.

So, the findings do not prove conclusively that Internet addiction breeds violent behaviour in teens. Since, “it is possible that violence-prone teenagers are more likely to obsessively use the Internet”, explained lead researcher Dr. Chih-Hung Ko.

However, Dr. Ko recommends that parents and teachers talk to children about their Internet use and their general attitudes toward violence, and then intervene as early as possible to prevent teenagers from becoming addicted to the Internet.

You might also enjoy reading:-

• Teenagers who watch pro-wrestling take more health risks
• Teen sex can be psychologically and emotionally healthy
• TV sex linked to real teen pregnancies
• Sexually active girls more prone to depression than virgins
• Drinking gets you laid

Posted by Jonathan in Psychology, Sociology

No Comments »