The relationship between personality dimensions and problematic Internet use in children aged 11 to 14 years
Vol.30,No.4(2020)
ENGLISH ISSUE
Problematic Internet Use (PIU) is defined as a person’s inability to self-regulate Internet usage. This addiction can have a negative influence on mental and physical health, as well as on quality of life. This phenomenon of PIU has arisen as a result of technological development and has become a worldwide issue. As a form of addictive behaviour, PIU manifests itself through poorly controlled behaviour concerning computer use, Internet access, online gambling, gaming, etc., which leads to distress. Children and young people are particularly susceptible to this type of addiction. Relevant research in the field has identified several risk factors that may influence the occurrence of this type of addiction. Personality traits may be one of the risk factors. The aim of this study is to explore the interconnection between personality traits based on the Five-Factor Personality Model (FFM) and problematic Internet use and to explore which personality traits may be protective and which may be considered risk factors. Research data were collected for the purpose of standardization and cultural adaptation of psychological instruments for children. The research is based on an extracted number of 102 respondents from a representative sample of primary school students aged 11 to 14 years. Research is ongoing, and partial data is presented in this paper. Problematic Internet usage was measured with the short version of the Youth Version of the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire, which includes 9 questions (PIUQ-9). The full version of this instrument has 18 questions. This scale is on 5-point Likert scale, with a minimum total score 9 and a maximum of 45. It was developed by Demetrovics, Szeredi, & Rózsa (2008). This scale has three subscales: obsession, neglect, and control disorder. The Big Five Questionnaire for children (BFQ-C) has been used for measuring personality traits. This instrument was developed by Barbaranelli et al. (2003). This is a 65-item questionnaire, 5-point Likert scale with 13 items related to each of the five dimensions of openness/intellect, conscientiousness, extraversion/energy, agreeableness, neuroticism (OCEAN).Findings from this Macedonian study identify the relevant influence of personality traits on problematic Internet usage (PIU). Four personality traits can be considered as protective factors (extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness), and one (emotional instability) as a risk Factor for problematic usage of the Internet.
children; five factor personality model; problematic Internet use
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