Identification and characterization of adolescent internet user’s profiles

Abstract

The percentages of adolescent Internet use in general terms have been measured for nearly two decades now; however, it might be thought that not every teenager behaves online in the same way. This study aims to identify the different types or profiles of adolescents and to characterize them from an attitudinal, behavioral and socio-demographic viewpoint. A questionnaire was applied to a representative sample of 2,339 Compulsory Secondary School students (M = 13.77 years old) from Galicia (a North-Western region of Spain) for this purpose. A two-stage cluster analysis, based on the response pattern in relation to their attitudes toward Internet, was carried out. Four different segments with specific characteristics were identified: the first steppers, the trainees, the sensible users, and the heavy users. Besides the relevance of descriptive data, these results are of particular interest at an applied level, because they could lead to a better fit of programs to prevent risky behaviors and problematic Internet use in adolescents.