Compulsive digital use among school-age children and association with escapism and feeling of loneliness: A call for action.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Compulsive Digital Use (CDU), escapism, and loneliness among school-age children. DESIGN AND METHODS: A quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive correlational study was conducted at 16 governmental preparatory schools affiliated with the Ministry of Education in Alexandria, Egypt. A simple random sampling of 300 school-age children participated in the study after obtaining the informed consent from the parents/guardians and assent from children. RESULTS: The main study findings showed that 74% of school-age children had a subthreshold level of CDU, and 21.7% demonstrated a pathological/ addictive level. Compulsive digital use showed a significant positive correlation with both total escapism and loneliness scores (r = 0.689, p < 0.001 and r = 0.329, p = 0.005, respectively). CONCLUSION: Children spend more than the recommended daily duration online. They reported having sleeping problems, especially insomnia, and poor academic achievement due to internet overuse. Most children had subthreshold level of CDU and one-quarter of them reached the addictive level. They reported that internet use helped them escape from the world of reality, unpleasant and worrisome things, as well as problems and pressures. Children reported loneliness and felt that people were around but not with them. Female gender and the employment of both parents were significantly associated with developing CDU. Escapism and loneliness among children were positively correlated with CDU. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Awareness-raising campaigns regarding internet usage should be launched for school-age children and their parents to address its emerging psychosocial risks and challenges.

Cyberbullying among Adolescents in Egypt: A Call for Correlates with Sense of Emotional Security and Psychological Capital Profile.

PURPOSE: Modern technology created a borderless world that generated a new covert psychological form of bullying conveyed through electronic mediums. Cyberbullying phenomenon could infiltrate adolescents' personal life and undermine their psychological health status. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Egyptian adolescents' exposure to cyberbullying and their sense of emotional security and psychological capital profile. DESIGN AND METHOD: A descriptive correlational study was carried out at eight youth centers in Alexandria, Egypt. A random selection of 400 adolescents completed the Cyberbullying Exposure and Psychological Capital Questionnaires. They also rated their emotions on the Security-Insecurity Inventory. RESULTS: The total mean score of emotional security among adolescents cybervictims was 68.34 ± 27.83 compared to 109.16 ± 24.63 for those who did not expose to cyberbullying (t = -12.16, P < 0.001). Likewise, the total mean score of the psychological capital profile was low among cybervictims (61.76 ± 2.65) compared to those who had not been cyberbullied (99.94 ± 5.52), p = 0.003. CONCLUSION: Adolescents' sense of emotional security and psychological capital profile were negatively correlated with their exposure to cyberbullying. National campaigns should be launched to raise adolescents' awareness of cyberbullying threats. PRACTICE IMPLICATION: Our findings bear important nursing implications regarding the prevention and management of cyberbullying phenomenon. Cyberbullying could be combated by adopting school-based interventions and parents' guidelines. Schools should offer anti-cyberbullying programs, while the nurse should instruct parents to keep an open channel of communication with their children, indirectly supervise their online behaviors, remain vigilant for the indicators of cybervictimization, and intervene when necessary. The nurses also play a crucial role in equipping the adolescents with the proper way to handle such problems.