The use of information and communication technologies and resilience in adolescence

[摘要] English: There has been an exponential uptake of information and communication technology (ICT) in the past decade. The majority of empirical research focuses on the possible adverse effects of this escalating ICT use on adolescent development. Few studies investigate any benefits of ICTs for adolescents. This study looks at the effect of frequency of ICT use on adolescent resilience, by examining its effect on social involvement, intrapersonal functioning and emotional regulation in adolescence. Gender and age-related differences are also studied. A criterion cohort design was used to gather data in two waves on a stratified, random sample of 1000 adolescents (across diverse demographic assemblages) from ten Free State high schools. Mean ages ranged from 13.9 years for Wave 1 to 16.4 years for Wave 2. A biographical questionnaire was used to gather information about age, gender and frequency of ICT use. The Behavioural and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS2) (Epstein & Sharma, 1998), and the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (RCSA) (Prince-Embury, 2006) were used to obtain strengths and resilience data. Participants were grouped into four groups based on their daily ICT use: a group with no use, two groups with moderate ICT use, and a group with excessive ICT use. The relationship between different variables in both cohorts was statistically analysed to determine the effects of gender, and the number of hours of daily ICT use, on participants' social involvement, intrapersonal functioning, and emotional regulation.Most participants in Wave 1 (56%) and Wave 2 (83%) used ICTs moderately, with a smaller number of adolescents reporting excessive daily use (Wave 1 = 23%; Wave 2 = 16%). No ICT usage decreased drastically (21% to 0.23%) from Wave 1 to 2. More girls than boys (24% compared to 16%) didn't useICTs daily in Wave 1, whilst the proportion of boys and girls in all other ICT use groups of Wave 1 and 2 were remarkably similar. In Wave 1, sense of relatedness scores and hours of ICT use per day differed significantly (F=7.465; p=0.000). Group differences were found between the non-users and both moderate ICT user groups, as well as between the more than 0 to 3 hours per day ICT use group and excessive ICT users. Themoderate user group's sense of relatedness scores were the highest of all user groups, and the excessive user group's scores were the lowest. Younger adolescents with dissimilar frequencies of ICT use significantly differed in terms of their emotional reactivity (F=6.811; p=0.000). Specific differences were found between the group that used ICTs more than 0 to 3 hours per day (lowest emotional reactivity scores) and the excessive ICT use group (highest emotional reactivity scores), with high emotional reactivity indicative of low emotional regulation. In Wave 1 and 2 there were significant differences between adolescent boys' and girls' intrapersonal strengths (Wave 1: F=5.847; p=0.016 and Wave 2: F=9.587; p=0.002), with females recording higher intrapersonal strength scores in Wave 1, and males in Wave 2.Wave 2 females and males differed significantly (F=6.103; p=0.014) on interpersonal strength scores, with older adolescent boys reporting higher interpersonal strengths than older adolescent girls. Older adolescents with different daily ICT usage, differed significantly on sense of mastery scores (F=4.666; p=0.010), with specific differences between the two moderate ICT user groups (with the more than 3 hours to 6 hours group reporting the highest sense of mastery scores). The older cohort's girls reportedsignificantly lower affective strength scores than the older boys. The results from this, the first large quantitative study of its kind in South Africa, contribute to the body of empirical work on ICT use and adolescent resilience. The findings can inform adolescent caregivers about the significant effect between moderate ICT use and optimal adolescent resilience, as well as possible detrimental effects of excessive use.

[发布机构] University of the Free State