Examining the relationship between young adults' internet use (IU) and their psychological well-being (PWB): A risk and resilience perspective

Background: Early online research described the relationship between IU and PWB from two perspectives: a social compensation hypothesis (e.g., Internet alleviates social anxieties related to face-to-face encounters) and a rich-get-richer hypothesis (e.g., Internet provides an alternative medium for socially-savvy individuals to maximize their socialization). The escalation of online communication in recent years, however, may have changed these relationships. We re-examine these perspectives by testing the association between PWB and YA's reasons for IU.

Methods: Using an adapted web-version of Respondent-Driven Sampling (webRDS), we recruited a sample of YA (ages 18 to 24; N=3,400) for a web-survey. Participants answered sociodemographic questions and scales examining PWB (e.g., depression, anxiety, self-esteem), IU and addiction, frequency of online communication for social and coping purposes, and online and offline peer support. We used multivariate regression to examine the relationship between each PWB measure and the IU constructs.

Results: Depression symptoms were related to more internet addiction and online communication to cope, and to less online communication for socializing and peer support. Anxiety symptoms were related to internet addiction and online communication to cope. Self-esteem was associated with less internet addiction and online communication to cope, and more online communication for socializing and peer support.

Conclusions: Our findings support both the social compensation and the rich-get-richer hypotheses. Some YA may use the Internet to cope with psychological distress, whereas others may enhance their PWB via online socialization. We discuss our findings and highlight the importance of providing online PWB resources to YAs in the United States.