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Longitudinal impacts of pubertal timing and weight status on adolescent Internet use: Analysis from a cohort study of Taiwanese youths

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  • Meng-Che Tsai
  • Carol Strong
  • Wan-Ting Chen
  • Chih-Ting Lee
  • Chung-Ying Lin

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the longitudinal impacts of pubertal timing and weight status on Internet use in adolescents. Methods: Three waves of data on a longitudinal cohort of 7th grade students (N = 2430) were retrieved from the Taiwan Youth Project. Univariate and multivariate regression models were applied using crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) to examine the concomitant impacts of pubertal timing and weight status on adolescent Internet use. Results: The dataset identified 210 (8.7%) students using the Internet for more than 20 hours/week, and 81 (3.3%) were viewing pornographic material online. Early maturing and thin-weight adolescents were at 35% and 46% increased risks of spending long hours on Internet use, respectively. While early puberty was associated with online pornography viewing among males (adjusted OR 1.84, 95% CI 1.04–3.28), early puberty was contrarily a protective factor against online gaming in females (adjusted OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.36–0.96). Conclusion: Early puberty was found to be positively related to adolescent Internet use. Appropriate health education and guidance regarding Internet use should be provided to those with different developing needs.

Suggested Citation

  • Meng-Che Tsai & Carol Strong & Wan-Ting Chen & Chih-Ting Lee & Chung-Ying Lin, 2018. "Longitudinal impacts of pubertal timing and weight status on adolescent Internet use: Analysis from a cohort study of Taiwanese youths," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-10, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0197860
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197860
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    Cited by:

    1. José Antonio Ponce-Blandón & Inocencio Espejel-Hernández & Macarena Romero-Martín & María de las Mercedes Lomas-Campos & Nerea Jiménez-Picón & Juan Gómez-Salgado, 2020. "Videogame-related experiences among regular adolescent gamers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Kristiana Siste & Christiany Suwartono & Martina Wiwie Nasrun & Saptawati Bardosono & Rini Sekartini & Jacub Pandelaki & Riza Sarasvita & Belinda Julivia Murtani & Reza Damayanti & Tjhin Wiguna, 2021. "Validation study of the Indonesian internet addiction test among adolescents," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(2), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Chia-Yi Liu & Jen-Hao Kuo & Ting-Hsuan Lee & Carol Strong & Meng-Che Tsai & Chih-Ting Lee, 2021. "Examining the Relationship between Gender Contentedness and Sex-Related Experiences among Taiwanese Youth," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-10, October.
    4. Chenyu Lv & Ofir Turel & Qinghua He, 2021. "The Onset of Menstruation and Social Networking Site Use in Adolescent Girls: The Mediating Role of Body Mass Index," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-9, September.

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