Risk Factors for Excessive Social Media Use Differ from Those of Gambling and Gaming in Finnish Youth

Importance of training volume through the use of step trackers apps promoted from the subject of physical education to change body composition, physical fitness and physical activity in adolescents and the influence of gender✰,✰✰

The aim of the present study was to determine the changes in physical activity level (PA), kinanthropometric and derived variables, and physical fitness in adolescents, as a result of an out-of-school intervention with mobile step tracker apps promoted from the field of physical education, according to the volume of training completed and gender. A randomized controlled trial was carried out with 400 adolescents (210 males and 190 females) aged 12 to 16 years old (mean age: 13.96 ± 1.21 years-old). Adolescents were divided into experimental group (EG) (n = 240) and control group (CG) (n = 160). Two measurements were carried out, separated by a 10-week intervention, and PA, kinanthropometric variables and physical condition were measured. During the intervention, EG must use Strava (n = 74); Pokémon Go (n = 59); Pacer (n = 60); and MapMyWalk (n = 47) a minimum of 3 times per week, covering an incremental distance from 7,000 steps per day (week 1) to 12,500 steps per day (week 10). After that, EG were divided in quartile according to the volume of training completed. The results obtained showed a significant increase between pre-and post in PA (p = 0.009-0.044) and curl-up (p < 0.001-0.040) in EG regardless the quartile of compliance, and a reduction in fat variables (p < 0.001) and an increase in CMJ in 75-100 % compliance group (p = 0.005). The introduction of the covariate gender did not introduce changes in the intra-group evolution. On inter-group differences, differences were only found for the post-test values between 0-25 % Vs 25-50 % and between 50-75 % Vs 75-100 % with the group that completed a longer distance being the one that showed the lowest values in the post-test in both cases. When including the covariate gender, no significant differences were found for either the pre-test or the post-test on either variable. To conclude, a higher training volume with mobile apps seems to be relevant in the increase PA and strength and decrease of fat mass. The gender factor is not influential in the intra-group changes, but it is influential in the inter-group differences.

Adolescents' online communication and well-being: Findings from the 2018 health behavior in school-aged children (HBSC) study

BACKGROUND

Digital transformation has influenced all areas of adolescents' lives, including the ways adolescents maintain friendships. Interpersonal communication is one of the most common activities while online. Online communication may provide adolescents with opportunities to expand their social contacts, but these encounters can be risky, especially when the communication is with unknown people on the internet. This study examined the associations between different forms of online communication behavior and well-being.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data were collected from Finnish adolescents as part of the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study in 2018. The participants were 3,140 Finnish adolescents aged 11-15 years. Descriptive analyses were used to examine the frequency of different forms of online communication behaviors. The associations between online communications and individual factors were analyzed using the X² test and 95% confidence intervals. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the extent to which adolescents' online communication behavior explained the variance in adolescents' well-being indicators.

RESULTS

Overall, 60% of the adolescents reported communicating intensively with close friends, with higher rates of intensive communication reported by girls, higher age groups, and the high health literacy group. 22% of adolescents reported intensive communication with friends they got to know through the internet (online friends), while intensive online communication with unknown people was reported by 13% of adolescents. Overall, around one-fourth of adolescents preferred sharing personal matters online rather than in face-to-face encounters, and 10% of adolescents reported using the internet daily to get to know new people, and to look for like-minded company. The SEM analysis showed that keeping online contact with offline friends was linked to a positive outcome in all the measured well-being indicators; however, intensive communication with people contacted only online (online friends and unknown people) was negatively associated with well-being indicators (lower self-rated health, lower life satisfaction, higher loneliness, and problematic social media use).

CONCLUSION

Both positive and negative associations were observed between online communication and well-being, depending on the target and content of the communication. The results indicate that online communication has benefits for adolescents who have more offline social life. Overall, one should ensure that the impact of interventions is proportionately greater for adolescents at the bottom end of the health gradient.