Children’s Internet Use Profiles in Relation to Behavioral Problems in Lithuania, Latvia, and Taiwan

Vilmantė Pakalniškienė, Roma Jusienė, Sandra B. Sebre, Jennifer Chun-Li Wu and Ilona Laurinaitytė
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Vilmantė Pakalniškienė: Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, LT-01513 Vilnius, Lithuania
Roma Jusienė: Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, LT-01513 Vilnius, Lithuania
Sandra B. Sebre: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art, University of Latvia, LV-1083 Riga, Latvia
Jennifer Chun-Li Wu: Department of Early Childhood and Family Education, College of Education, National Taipei University of Education, Taipei 10671, Taiwan
Ilona Laurinaitytė: Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, LT-01513 Vilnius, Lithuania

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: This study explored the profiles of elementary-school-aged children’s Internet use in relation to their emotional and behavioral problems. Participating in this cross-sectional study were 877 child–parent dyads from Latvia, Lithuania, and Taiwan. Children (8–10 years old) provided information on three variables: the amount of time they spent online, frequency of online activities, and knowledge of how to do things online. Latent profile analysis including these three variables provided a four-class solution for child Internet use. A comparison between Latvia, Lithuania, and Taiwan on the percentage of the sample distribution in each class showed that there was no difference between sites for the high class (high ratings on all three variables). The largest differences were for the low and average classes (low and average ratings on all three variables, namely, time online, frequency, and knowledge): the Lithuanian and Taiwanese samples were similar in that a higher percentage of each sample was in the low class, whereas the Latvian sample had children equally distributed between the low class and the average class. Analysis of the data from the entire sample for differences in parent-reported child behavioral difficulties suggested that children in the high class had an elevated level of behavioral problems and compulsive Internet use.

Keywords: internet use; school-aged children; latent profiles; SDQ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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