A longitudinal study of the effects of internet use on subjective well-being

Abstract

This study examined how internet use is related to subjective well-being, using longitudinal data from 19 nations with representative online samples stratified for age, gender, and region (N = 7122, 51.43% women, M age = 45.26). Life satisfaction and anxiety served as indices of subjective well-being at time 1 (t1) and then six months later (t2). Frequency of internet use (hours online per day) at t1 correlated with lower life satisfaction, r = -.06, and more anxiety, r = .13 at t2. However, after imposing multivariate controls, frequency of internet use (t1) was no longer associated with lower subjective well-being (t2). Frequency of social contact by internet and use of internet for following rumors (t1) predicted higher anxiety (t2). Higher levels of direct (faceto-face plus phone) social contact (t1) predicted greater life satisfaction (t2). In multivariate analyses, all effect sizes were small. Society-level individualism-collectivism or indulgencerestraint did not show a direct effect on outcomes nor moderate individual-level associations. Results are discussed in the framework of the internet as a displacement of social contact versus a replacement of deficits in direct contact; and as a source of positive and negative information.

Mediation of Problematic Use in the Relationship Between Types of Internet Use and Subjective Well-Being in Schoolchildren

“…That is, when the effect of any additional variable is not controlled for, boys and girls do not present a considerably different behavior in the different types of Internet use nor in the problematic use of the Internet, a finding consistent with other studies applied to comparable populations ( Cabello et al, 2020 ). Despite recent evidence that shows differences in intensity of use according to gender ( Twenge and Martin, 2020 ), it was found in the present work that these are not necessarily plain to see but are more clearly manifested when the effect is mediated or controlled by more variables ( Paez et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Also, evidence claims that students’ subjective well-being is positively linked to their school’s digital development and their social well-being and the school climate they are in ( Donoso et al, 2021 ). Furthermore, a higher frequency of Internet use, given that context variables are adequately controlled, is not associated with lower subjective well-being ( Paez et al, 2020 ).…”

Don’t Stress Me Now: Assessing the Regulatory Impact of Face-to-Face and Online Feedback Prosociality on Stress During an Important Life Event

“…All in all, our results suggest that emotional effects of prosocial online feedback may be better evidenced at the intrapersonal level, which could inspire further research to assess these relationships (and particularly, with larger samples). These intrapersonal effects suggest interesting possibilities for other important psychological variables of considerable scholarly attention, such as well-being and life-satisfaction (e.g., Paez et al, 2019). Future studies may gauge specific variables contributions in underlying individual effects for greater specificity, such as feedback congruity with the emotion shared; or the effects of specific reply content and social media "reaction" buttons on the perceptions of online feedback prosociality.…”

Uso y frecuencia de conexión a internet y bienestar subjetivo en jóvenes argentinos

“…Para medir la satisfacción con la vida, se utilizó el Índice de Bienestar Personal de Lau, Cummins y McPherson (2005), utilizada previamente en Argentina en el estudio transcultural de Páez et al (2019b). Se le consultó al participante su nivel de satisfacción con cinco áreas de su vida, con base a un continuo de respuesta de 1 (completamente insatisfecho) a 5 (completamente satisfecho).…”