Excessive internet use in youth subcultures: effect of family factors

Abstract

Background: Youth subcultures are known for specific lifestyles, music preferences, shared values and behaviours of their members. Subculture affiliation seems to be associated with problem behaviours. In last decade internet became integral part of adolescents’ lives and everyday internet use can easily became problematic. Excessive internet use seem to fit into the framework of clustering of problematic behaviours. However, this phenomenon was not studied in youth subcultures yet. Our aim was to assess the association of youth subcultures and excessive internet use and explore the role of family protective factors in this association. Methods: We collected data on 15-year-old elementary school pupils (N=532; 49.6% boys; mean age=15.4) who participated in the Health Behaviour in School aged Children study in 2014. The association of subculture affiliation with excessive internet use was assessed by linear regression models and adjusted for gender, family well off, computer use, and parental monitoring, parental rules and family support. Findings: Subculture affiliation was associated with excessive internet use (p<0.01). All examined protective factors (except of monitoring by father) significantly decrease the probability of excessive internet use. Adjustment for lack of protective factors explained part of association between subculture affiliation and excessive internet use, however, this association remained statistically significant. Discussion: Our findings imply that protective factors play important role in prevention of excessive internet use but does not fully explain its association with subculture affiliation. However, preventive strategies targeting youth subcultures should take protective factors into account.