Digital skills among youth: A dataset from a three-wave longitudinal survey in six European countries.

This dataset provides longitudinal survey data from a European project, ySKILLS, which was focused on the role of digital skills in youths' development. It contains data from 10,821 participants from Grades 6-10 (in Wave 1) in Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. The data was collected between Spring 2021 and Spring 2023, the participants were recruited through schools, where the data collection also took place, except for online data collections due to restrictions caused by COVID-19. The dataset is novel in its multidimensional approach to the construct of digital literacy. It provides insight into the development of digital skills in youth and the role of digital skills and internet usage in youths' positive and negative online experiences and wellbeing. It also contains data that allows for the analysis of the role of digital skills in class networks. The data are beneficial for researchers interested in the examination of youths' online skills, internet usage, online experiences, and wellbeing from a longitudinal perspective.

Social relational factors of excessive internet use in four European countries.

OBJECTIVES: Adolescents who deal with more emotional problems have been found to seek escape online, and struggle with excessive internet use (EIU). Poor social relationships have been linked with emotional problems. The current study investigated positive family and school relationships as protective factors against emotional problems and a preference for online social interaction (POSI), both specified as mediators of the association of family and school relationships with EIU. Cross-cultural differences in the model were tested. METHODS: A multi-group SEM was tested on representative samples of 4104 adolescents (Mage = 14.40 years, SD = 1.65, range 12-17, 50% female) from four European countries from Southern, Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe (Italy, Norway, Czech Republic, and Serbia, respectively). RESULTS: Results suggested consistent associations across countries. Positive family relationships and positive school relationships were associated with lower EIU, with 63-64% of the effect of family, and 91-93% of the effect of school relationships mediated by emotional problems and POSI. CONCLUSIONS: Positive family and school relationships protect adolescents against excessive internet usage, regardless of culture and indirectly-through emotional problems and POSI.