Washington, April 26 -- A new study has established a strong association between computer and Internet use in adolescents and their engagement in multiple-risk behaviours (MRB), including illicit drug use, drunkenness and unprotected sex.
'This research is based on social cognitive theory, which suggests that seeing people engaged in a behaviour is a way of learning that behaviour,' says lead researcher and doctoral candidate in School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Valerie Carson.
'Since adolescents are exposed to considerable screen time, over 4.5 hours on average each day, they're constantly seeing images of behaviours they can then potentially adopt,' he added.
The researchers also found that increased computer use is linked with, approximately, 50 pc increased engagement with a cluster of six MRB. These include smoking, drunkenness, non-use of seatbelts, cannabis, illicit drug use, and unprotected sex.
The study shows that high television viewing is also associated with a moderate increased engagement in these MRB.
The fact that considerable amount of advertising that used to be shown on television, is now being shown on the Internet, also supports the finding.
Furthermore, computer usage by adolescents has also significantly increased in recent years.
'TV and video games have more established protocols in terms of censorship, but Internet protocols aren't as established,' says Carson.
'Parents can make use of programs that control access to the Internet, but adolescents in this age group are quite savvy about technology and the Internet,' he added.
The research has been published in the Journal of Preventative Medicine.
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Asian News International.
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