Everyday internet usage is particularly significant in the population of adolescents and young people. Besides numerous benefits, internet usage brings certain risks of addictive behavior. Internet ...Addiction Test (IAT) is the most spread scale for measuring internet addiction. The aim of this study was to investigate internet addiction on a sample of Croatian adolescents.
Overall, 352 students aged between 15 and 20 from randomly selected high schools participated in the study. We have collected the data on the Internet Addiction Test along with basic demographic information. The main analyses included the factorization of IAT test and the measurement of prevalence of internet addiction with the analysis of the gender differences.
The results showed that 3.4% of high school students reported high levels of internet addiction, while 35.4% of respondents reported some signs of addiction. Three-factor structure of IAT was obtained with dimensions: Emotional and cognitive internet preoccupation, then Neglecting work and lack of self-control and the last one is Social problems. Although the first factor has the most significant role in internet addiction risk, gender differences were found only in the last two factors, where boys have higher scores on Social Problems, while girls have higher scores on Neglecting work and lack of self-control.
Based on our results, the prevention activities should be focused on the area of emotional and social competence and the responsible use of internet. Since the result show that a third of the sample show moderate signs of addiction, programs of both indicated and selective prevention should be systematically planned for the general population of adolescents as well as for the groups in risk. The obtained gender differences indicate that the preventive and treatment programs should take into account gender specifics.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a transition to online services in almost all aspects of life. Today, online access is an important aspect of child well-being more than ever. The aim of the study was to ...investigate online activities and gender differences of children with a special focus on harmful online content, cyberbullying, and Internet addiction. Our research was conducted among students from one Croatian county (average age = 14.97, N = 494). The Internet Addiction Test, the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, as well as questions constructed for the purposes of this research (e.g., online contents) were used. Between 20% and 30% of students spend four or more hours a day online. Furthermore, 14.57% of students showed moderate signs of addiction, and 1.42% already showed severe signs of addiction, where girls had significantly higher results. The results indicated that 12.75% of students were victims, 5.87% were perpetrators, and 8.3% were, at the same time, committing and experiencing cyberbullying. Children who commit and/or experience cyberbullying achieve higher results on the scale of Internet addiction than children who do not participate in cyberbullying. These findings contribute to our understanding of Internet usage and especially its problematic aspect in such a complex time as the COVID-19 pandemic, and they can be useful for planning future interventions with children.
Online contacts and other activities on the Internet came into focus given the increased use during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online environment is a setting for problematic Internet use, including ...cyberbullying, and research so far shows that inclusion in cyberbullying depends on the amount of screen time. Increases in screen time during the pandemic could affect the growth of the prevalence rates of children’s involvement in cyberbullying. The aim of this paper is to compare the Internet habits, cyberbullying and parental role in children’s online activities before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the use of the Internet increased due to online classes and implemented measures to prevent the spread of the infection. The Institute of Public Health of Split-Dalmatia County conducted a quantitative online survey of Internet habits and problematic Internet use in two waves in 2017 and 2020 with adolescents from 12–18 (N2017 = 536; N2020 = 284). Research included adherence to ethical standards of research with children. An online activity questionnaire for children, a questionnaire of parental behaviors and the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire—ECIPQ were used. The results of the research point out that cyberbullying rates in the pandemic decreased. The results show that the cumulative effect of parental monitoring is medium with approximately 5% of explained variance for experiencing and 6% for committing violence. The similar set of predictors is statistically significant in both regressions. Parental actions of monitoring applications, informing children and monitoring search history are identified as protective factors for committing or experiencing cyber violence. These findings are important for understanding the effect of the general digitization of society, which leads to an extensive increase in the use of online content and various digital tools, and the role of the parents, especially as protective potential for cyberbullying among children.
Easy access to communication and information technologies has increased our dependence on technology for various aspects of our lives. Nevertheless, this remarkable growth of Internet Usage has been ...inextricably paired with a rise of excessive and dysfunctional Internet use. Conceptualized around 1996, a few years after the inception of the World Wide Web, Internet addiction has developed into a global issue influencing varying segments of the population at different levels. Despite heated debates on its addictive nature, consensus is emerging regarding the existence of this problematic behavior. In this paper we provide a comprehensive overview of the literature on Internet addiction in last 20 years. Purpose of this paper is to present crucial findings on Internet addiction to health profession. Besides numerous benefits of Internet use, the virtual environment brings various risks in every age group. The Internet is very significant in the everyday activities of children and youth and professional interventions with this age group should be specific considering their developmental characteristics. Exposure to online risks can have long-lasting and intense negative effects. Effective programs in prevention and treatment should include a multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary approach. Detail review of the symptomatology, diagnosis model an possibilities of treatment can be multiple beneficial to the health professionals and other helping professions due to actual needs for interventions in the field of the internet addiction treatment. Internet addiction is slowly becoming a societal concern as it particularly affects adolescents and children, who are more exposed and consequently more vulnerable. Findings presented in the paper can benefit in practice of treatment internet addiction and also as framework for further researches in the field.
The aim of this study was to investigate the opinion of authors on the overall quality and effectiveness of reviewers’ contributions to reviewed papers. We employed an on-line survey of thirteen ...journals which publish articles in the field of life, social or technological sciences. Responses received from 193 authors were analysed using a mixed-effects model in order to determine factors deemed the most important in the authors’ evaluation of the reviewers. Qualitative content analysis of the responses to open questions was performed as well. The mixed-effects model revealed that the authors’ assessment of the competence of referees strongly depended on the final editorial decision and that the speed of the review process was influential as well. In Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) analysis on seven questions detailing authors’ opinions, perception of review speed remained a significant predictor of the assessment. In addition, both the perceived competence and helpfulness of the reviewers significantly and positively affected the authors’ evaluation. New models were used to re-check the value of these two factors and it was confirmed that the assessment of the competence of reviewers strongly depended on the final editorial decision.
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PARTNERS IN A DIGITAL AGE: FAMILY MEDIATION POSSIBILITIES7 ABSTRACT Digital tools enable numerous advantages in everyday life, and the usage of the Internet is increasing in all ...age groups. Communication through modern technologies is conducted in everyday private and professional relationships, and therefore digital environment brings numerous changes in the area of interpersonal relationships. The influence of the online environment on partner relationships is in the focus of researchers and practitioners alike. The aim of this paper is to present modern trends in the area of partner communication in the digital environment and to present the possibilities and challenges for family mediators in the contemporary digital age particularly significant in actual crisis of COVID 19 pandemic. The first part of the paper is focused on partner relationships in the modern, digital age and it presents the results of the research in the area of partner communication in the online environment, as well as the implications for the practitioners in the area of partner relationships. The second part of the paper presents the possibilities of family mediation in the online environment. Digital tools and possibilities of online communication have many benefits in the professional practice of helping professionals who, due to the additional demands of the online environment, have the responsibility to improve their digital competencies and to implement modern technologies in their daily practice. Since the online environment brings specific ethical challenges to professionals, this paper will present the ethical standards needed for the area of online family mediation. The paper briefly presents the digital tools and applications which can be useful to the partners and family mediators during the family mediation process. Key words: digital environment, partner communication, family mediation, digital tools.
Digitalni alati omogućuju brojne koristi u svakodnevnom životu, a korištenje interneta u porastu je u svim dobnim skupinama. Komunikacija posredstvom modernih tehnologija odvija se u svakodnevnim ...privatnim i profesionalnim odnosima pa digitalno okruženje donosi brojne promjene na području interpersonalnih odnosa. Utjecaj online okruženja na partnerske odnose u fokusu je istraživača kao i stručnjaka praktičara. Svrha ovog rada je prikazati suvremene trendove u području partnerske komunikacije u digitalnom okruženju te prikazati mogućnosti i izazove za obiteljske medijatore u današnje digitalno doba što je posebice značajno u doba aktualne krize s COVID 19 pandemijom. Prvi dio rada fokusira se na partnerske odnose u današnje, digitalno doba te prikazuje nalaze istraživanja na području partnerske komunikacije u online okruženju kao i implikacije za praktičare na području partnerskih odnosa. U drugom dijelu rada prikazane su mogućnosti obiteljske medijacije u online okruženju. Digitalni alati i mogućnosti online komunikacije višestruko su korisni u profesionalnoj praksi pomažućih stručnjaka koji zbog dodatnih zahtjeva online okruženja imaju odgovornost usavršavati svoje digitalne kompetencije te implementirati moderne tehnologije u svoju svakodnevnu praksu. S obzirom da online okruženje pred stručnjake donosi specifične etičke izazove u ovom radu će biti prezentirani etički standardi značajni za područje obiteljske medijacije na daljinu. U radu su ukratko prezentirani digitalni alati i aplikacije koji mogu biti od koristi partnerima kao i obiteljskim medijatorima tijekom procesa obiteljske medijacije.
Pandemija COVID-19 utjecala je na sve aspekte života potaknuvši ubrzanu i neplaniranu digitalizaciju, a značajna je promjena bila uvođenje učenja na daljinu u obrazovnom sustavu. Tijekom prosinca ...2020., u vrijeme trajanja online nastave, provedeno je follow up online istraživanje putem anketnog upitnika. Svrha je rada istražiti navike korištenja interneta, sigurnost djece na internetu i dječju percepciju roditeljske uloge među učenicima sedmih i osmih razreda osnovne škole (N=210) Splitsko dalmatinskežupanije, prosječne dobi 13,5 godina te utvrditi postoje li razlike u navedenim varijablama prema spolu te usporedba tih rezultata s prvim valom istraživanja provedenim 2017. godine (N=286, prosječna dob13,76). Očekivano, učenici procjenjuju da su na internetu tijekom pandemije boravili dulje nego prije pandemije(87 %) te kako roditelji znaju manje od njih o korištenju interneta (59 %). Istraživanjem je utvrđeno da je pandemija utjecala na veću percepciju uključenosti roditelja putem razgovora o korištenju interneta, roditeljskog informiranja o rizicima te zajedničkog korištenja interneta.
The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has affected almost every aspect of life including accelerated and unplanned digitalization, with particular emphasis on changes in school education provision and the introduction of distance learning. During December 2020, when educational activities were carried out in an online environment for most children, a follow-up survey was conducted using a survey questionnaire. The purpose of this paper is to present the research results on the Internet use habits, children’s Internet safety as well as children’s perception of the parental role among seventh and eighth grade elementary schoolchildren (N = 210), at average age of 13.5 years, to determine if there are changes in the abovementioned variables according to gender, and to compare these results with the first wave research conducted in 2017 (N = 286, average age13.76). The research results indicate that students during the pandemic spent more time on the Internet than before the pandemic (87%). 59% of schoolchildren believed that their parents possessed poorer Internet skills than children themselves, and most students reported how their parents informed them on the potential risks of Internet use. The research found that the pandemic increased the perception of parental involvement through talking about using the Internet, parents’ informing the children about risks, and spending time together using the Internet.
The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has affected almost every aspect of life including accelerated and unplanned digitalization, with particular emphasis on changes in school education provision and ...the introduction of distance learning. During December 2020, when educational activities were carried out in an online environment for most children, a follow-up survey was conducted using a survey questionnaire. The purpose of this paper is to present the research results on the Internet use habits, children’s Internet safety as well as children’s perception of the parental role among seventh and eighth grade elementary schoolchildren (N = 210), at average age of 13.5 years, to determine if there are changes in the abovementioned variables according to gender, and to compare these results with the first wave research conducted in 2017 (N = 286, average age 13.76). The research results indicate that students during the pandemic spent more time on the Internet than before the pandemic (87%). 59% of schoolchildren believed that their parents possessed poorer Internet skills than children themselves, and most students reported how their parents informed them on the potential risks of Internet use. The research found that the pandemic increased the perception of parental involvement through talking about using the Internet, parents’ informing the children about risks, and spending time together using the Internet.
The article first defines the notion of violence among children and young persons, presents types of violence and the characteristics of individual roles in violent behavior. Then, the period of ...adolescence when young people undergo many physical, biological, emotional and psychological changes is described. Also, peer influence on an adolescent is described in detail due to its great importance in that period when attitudes and thoughts defining the person in an adult age are formed. The beginning of separation from parents in the search for own identity and autonomy as well as formation of closer relationships with young people outside the family environment with which they can identify, i.e. their peers who become an important factor in adolescents' socialization and a source of support, represent important elements in this process. Peer violence in the adolescence period has certain specific characteristics, such as passage from elementary to middle school in early adolescence and from middle to high school in later phases of adolescent maturation. Violent behavior mostly does not occur in isolated conditions in presence of only a victim and a violator but in front of an auditorium of children in different roles whereby peers have a significant influence on the behavior of actors in the violence among children and young people. The article presents theories which explain in detail the role of other peers in violence among young people: dominance theory, attraction theory and homophily hypothesis. The conclusion provides certain suggestions which could be useful for future research of violence in this age group. Adapted from the source document.
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