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Internet Use and Well‐Being in Adolescence
Author(s) -
Gross Elisheva F.,
Juvonen Jaana,
Gable Shelly L.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/1540-4560.00249
Subject(s) - loneliness , closeness , psychology , the internet , social psychology , instant messaging , instant , anxiety , well being , developmental psychology , world wide web , computer science , psychotherapist , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , psychiatry
Previous research suggests that Internet use may be associated with decreases in well‐being among adolescents. However, there has been little investigation of the relationship between well‐being and social aspects of Internet use. In the present study, 130 7th graders from a middle‐class public school in California completed dispositional measures of well‐being, and on three subsequent evenings they responded to questions regarding their Internet use (including detailed logs of instant messages) and daily well‐being. Time spent on‐line was not associated with dispositional or daily well‐being. However, as suggested by intimacy theory, the closeness of instant message communication partners was associated with daily social anxiety and loneliness in school, above and beyond the contribution of dispositional measures.