Teens addicted to social media, replacing real-life relationships with virtual ones, finds study

A new research has found out that Internet addiction among teenagers is real and serious. According to a study conducted by the Kazan University, teenagers are actually dependent on social media and Internet to an indecipherable extent. A poll was conducted among adolescents and young people aged 14-19 which covered secondary schools and tertiary education institutions.

Regina Sakhieva, one of the co-authors of the research, explained, “We can detect adolescents’ dependence on social networks, where everyone can feel interesting and needed. Many people become addicted to communication in social networks and replacing real-life relationships with virtual ones. Even if you are aware of your addiction, it’s not always easy to get rid of it.”

The authors found out that the majority of those questioned had predispositions for Internet addiction. This included weak control over time spent online, over their own activity timelines, and priority setting. However, they still could limit their online activities in favour of face-to-face communication with friends and other daily activities, such as studies.

A programme of addiction prevention was proposed as a result of questionnaire analysis. The programme, aimed at promoting social experience, self-regulation, and self-management in the information space, critical thinking with regards to content consumption, was tested and proved to be effective.

“We see a solution in prevention measures implemented by all the participants of educational relations. That’s why the researchers proposed psychological and pedagogical guidance of prevention policies, including organisational efforts for prevention, special courses for teachers and psychologists, and new forms and methods of prevention work,” concluded Dr Sakhieva.

The findings are published in the journal Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education.

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