IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i19p7122-d421208.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Information Technology Use and Cyberbullying Behavior in South Thailand: A Test of the Goldilocks Hypothesis

Author

Listed:
  • Ruthaychonnee Sittichai

    (Information Management Program, Kids and Youth Development Research Unit, Research Center for Educational Innovations and Teaching and Learning Excellence, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani 94000, Thailand)

  • Peter K. Smith

    (Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK)

Abstract

There has been concern about the effects of high levels of internet use on the mental well-being of young people. This has generally been phrased in terms of a displacement hypothesis, that the extent of internet use and mental well-being are directly proportional. This linear model has been contrasted with a Goldilocks Hypothesis, proposed by Przybylski and Weinstein. This supposes that moderate levels of internet use may be the least harmful, conforming to a curvilinear relationship. Here these hypotheses were tested on a sample of 1140 adolescents (42% boys, 58% girls) aged 12–18 years, in 12 schools from Southern Thailand. We first report levels of internet use, and of cybervictimization, taken as one important aspect of mental well-being. We then assess the relationship of four factors of internet use (frequency, time spent, number of places accessed, number of activities) with (a) being a victim of cyberbullying, and (b) being a frequent victim; taking these as indicators of mental well-being. For (a) there was limited evidence of a Goldilocks effect on two out of four measures. For (b) the evidence did support a Goldilocks effect for all four measures, but these were under-powered analyses and the findings did not reach statistical significance. If substantiated on larger samples, a curvilinear relationship between aspects of internet use and cyberbullying would suggest a ‘safe zone’ for adolescent internet use, bringing its benefits while minimizing risks of cyberbullying. In the future, similar research should use larger sample sizes or longitudinal measures when exploring nonlinear trends and include other aspects of mental well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruthaychonnee Sittichai & Peter K. Smith, 2020. "Information Technology Use and Cyberbullying Behavior in South Thailand: A Test of the Goldilocks Hypothesis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-15, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:19:p:7122-:d:421208
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7122/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7122/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Juan M. Machimbarrena & Esther Calvete & Liria Fernández-González & Aitor Álvarez-Bardón & Lourdes Álvarez-Fernández & Joaquín González-Cabrera, 2018. "Internet Risks: An Overview of Victimization in Cyberbullying, Cyber Dating Abuse, Sexting, Online Grooming and Problematic Internet Use," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Sonia Livingstone & Peter K. Smith, 2014. "Annual research review: harms experienced by child users of online and mobile technologies: the nature, prevalence and management of sexual and aggressive risks in the digital age," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 55691, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Amy Orben & Andrew K. Przybylski, 2019. "The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(2), pages 173-182, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elena Bozzola, 2021. "Media Use during Childhood and Adolescence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-2, January.
    2. Muhammad Budiana & Windy Dermawan & Yusa Djuyandi, 2020. "The contribution of Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Southern Thailand conflict," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(2 suppl.), pages 81-95.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Omar Hegazi & Samer Alalalmeh & Ahmad Alfaresi & Soheil Dashtinezhad & Ahmed Bahada & Moyad Shahwan & Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun & Tesleem K. Babalola & Haya Yasin, 2022. "Development, Validation, and Utilization of a Social Media Use and Mental Health Questionnaire among Middle Eastern and Western Adults: A Pilot Study from the UAE," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Ethel Quayle, 2016. "Researching online child sexual exploitation and abuse: are there links between online and offline vulnerabilities?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 71260, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Jose M. Martín-Criado & Jose A. Casas & Rosario Ortega-Ruiz, 2021. "Parental Supervision: Predictive Variables of Positive Involvement in Cyberbullying Prevention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-12, February.
    4. Khifza Bibi & Ambreen Fatima & Rizwana Amin & David L. Rowland, 2022. "Understanding Serial Mediators of Problematic Pornography Use in Pakistani Men and Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-17, November.
    5. Annalisa Guarini & Damiano Menin & Laura Menabò & Antonella Brighi, 2019. "RPC Teacher-Based Program for Improving Coping Strategies to Deal with Cyberbullying," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-14, March.
    6. Muhammad Budiana & Windy Dermawan & Yusa Djuyandi, 2020. "The contribution of Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Southern Thailand conflict," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(2 suppl.), pages 81-95.
    7. Gülsen Erden & Asil Ali Özdoğru & Sami Çoksan & Hale Ögel-Balaban & Yakup Azak & İlkiz Altınoğlu-Dikmeer & Aysun Ergül-Topçu & Yeşim Yasak & Gözde Kıral-Uçar & Seda Oktay & Pelin Karaca-Dinç & Ezgi Di, 2022. "Social Contact, Academic Satisfaction, COVID-19 Knowledge, and Subjective Well-being Among Students at Turkish Universities: a Nine-University Sample," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(4), pages 2017-2039, August.
    8. Teo Keipi & Atte Oksanen & James Hawdon & Matti Näsi & Pekka Räsänen, 2017. "Harm-advocating online content and subjective well-being: a cross-national study of new risks faced by youth," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(5), pages 634-649, May.
    9. Josefina Lozano-Martínez & Irina Sherezade Castillo-Reche & Francisco José Morales-Yago & Francisco Javier Ibáñez-López, 2022. "Control Violence Begins in Adolescent Dating: A Research from Students’ Perception," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-14, July.
    10. Michelle F. Wright & Ikuko Aoyama & Shanmukh V. Kamble & Zheng Li & Shruti Soudi & Li Lei & Chang Shu, 2015. "Peer Attachment and Cyber Aggression Involvement among Chinese, Indian, and Japanese Adolescents," Societies, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-15, April.
    11. Amy Orben & Andrew K. Przybylski & Sarah-Jayne Blakemore & Rogier A. Kievit, 2022. "Windows of developmental sensitivity to social media," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    12. Vowels Matthew J., 2024. "Typical Yet Unlikely and Normally Abnormal: The Intuition Behind High-Dimensional Statistics," Statistics, Politics and Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(1), pages 87-113, March.
    13. Xiongkai Tan & Sha Zhang & Ruichen Ge & Hong Zhao, 2024. "Connectivity in crisis: the contrasting roles of mobile and non-mobile Internet on subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    14. Xiao, ZhiMin, 2017. "Of young people and Internet cafés," SocArXiv 2d8rz, Center for Open Science.
    15. Schneider, Sebastian O. & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Higher Order Risk Preferences: Experimental Measures, Determinants and Related Field Behavior," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224643, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    16. Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland & Viktor Schønning & Bodil Elisabeth Valstad Aasan & Randi Træland Hella & Jens Christoffer Skogen, 2021. "Pupils’ Use of Social Media and Its Relation to Mental Health from a School Personnel Perspective: A Preliminary Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-15, August.
    17. Ahmad, Amal, 2022. "Imperfect information and learning: Evidence from cotton cultivation in Pakistan," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 176-204.
    18. Nate Breznau & Eike Mark Rinke & Alexander Wuttke & Hung H. V. Nguyen & Muna Adem & Jule Adriaans & Amalia Alvarez-Benjumea & Henrik K. Andersen & Daniel Auer & Flavio Azevedo & Oke Bahnsen & Dave Bal, 2022. "Observing many researchers using the same data and hypothesis reveals a hidden universe of uncertainty," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 119(44), pages 2203150119-, November.
    19. Jessica Ortega-Barón & Sofía Buelga & Ester Ayllón & Belén Martínez-Ferrer & María-Jesús Cava, 2019. "Effects of Intervention Program Prev@cib on Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-13, February.
    20. Beatriz Villarejo-Carballido & Cristina M. Pulido & Lena de Botton & Olga Serradell, 2019. "Dialogic Model of Prevention and Resolution of Conflicts: Evidence of the Success of Cyberbullying Prevention in a Primary School in Catalonia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-11, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:19:p:7122-:d:421208. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.