The associations between family characteristics and problematic Internet use among adolescents in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

The current study assessed the family correlates of problematic Internet use (PIU) in a nationally representative sample of Saudi adolescents. Students (grades: 7–12; N = 2,546) from three cities in Saudi Arabia (random selection of schools) filled out a survey on Young’s Internet Addiction Test (YIAT) and family characteristics (e.g. parents’ socioeconomic status [SES], family harmony, family members’ Internet use, and parental Internet controls). A multilevel log-binomial regression assessed family correlates of PIU (YIAT ≥40). The mean (SD) age was 15.6 (±1.8) years; 54% were girls; PIU prevalence was 41.8%. A poor SES (OR = 1.2, 95% CI 1.0, 1.4), low family harmony (bottom quartile OR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.2, 1.7), no parental restriction/supervision (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.2, 1.8), and heavy Internet use by siblings (OR = 1.3, 95% CI 1.1, 1.5) were significantly associated with PIU. Certain identified family risk factors are amenable to interventions given the high PIU prevalence among Saudi adolescents.

KEYWORDS:

• Family characteristics
• Internet addiction disorder
• Saudi Arabia
• epidemiological factors
• adolescent

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr. Fahad Abdullah Almatham, Prof. Muhsin Almuhsin, Dr. Syed Baquibillah, Dr. Ilias Hossain, Dr. Ahmed Rajab, and Dr. Saadi AlJundi for their help with the proposal development. We also thank the following people for their contributions—field supervisors for data collection: Abdullah AlKhani and Mohammed Ali (Jeddah), Saed Enabi and Amjad Chamsi Basha (Riyadh), Renad Aljarbue, Tawfiq Rajab and Azzam AlRobean (Qassim); data collection and data entry: Alhanouf Al-Rshide, Ghadir Al-Akhfash, Khadijah Al-Durrah, Maha Al-Enazi, Sara Al-Chalati, and Thekra Al-Khalaf; data cleaning and data management: Ayman Ibrahim; and English language editing: Erin Strotheide.

Disclosure statement

Dr. Colder Carras is the CEO of Gaming and Wellness Association, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to research and education about healthy video game play. She is also the CEO of the consulting firm Carras Colder Carras, LLC, and has conducted paid consulting for clients related to video game research and government grant making.

Author contributors

JS and NS: Design of the work, data acquisition, analysis, and drafting; AAS, MCC, ABL, AMA, ACB, AAM: Data interpretation and critical revision of manuscript. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

Data availability statement

Data will be made available upon reasonable request to corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant (Grant No. 4600000114) from the Research Development Office of the Ministry of Education, Saudi Arabia. It did not have any role in the design, data collection, analysis, or manuscript preparation.