Over the past 10 years, internet use has become an integral part of adolescent
socialization. Teenagers use the internet to communicate with known others as well as with
strangers. They engage in online entertainment in the form of gaming and surfing the web.
While adolescents mainly use the internet to maintain pre-existing friendships, some
adolescents make close friendships online. They also encounter negativity online in the
form of cyberbullying. Despite the pervasiveness of internet use, relatively little is known
about long-term effects of internet activities on adolescent psycho-social adjustment. This
group of studies aimed to identify change over time associated with various aspects of
internet use. First, the long-term associations between different internet-based activities
and adolescent social relationships were identified. Second, the differences between
adolescents who form close internet-based friendships and those who do not were
examined. Finally, the importance of internet-based bullying was identified. Overall,
results suggest that while some internet-based activities are associated with increased
positive effects, some internet activities are also associated with negative outcomes over
the long term. Having close online friends as part of one’s peer group is associated with
negative psychosocial factors. Cyberbullying was identified as a form of bullying that is
associated with many important outcomes. The implications of these findings call for an
increase in monitoring, involving not only supervision but direct communication, of
adolescents’ internet activities, and increased communication in families about internet use. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2008-08-27 21:52:03.178
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OKQ.1974/1413 |
| Date | 08 September 2008 |
| Creators | Blais, JULIE |
| Contributors | Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.). Theses (Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.)) |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 560623 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner. |
| Relation | Canadian theses |
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