Internet Usage Behaviors in the New Normal Era among High School Students in Nakhon Sawan Province, Thailand

Abstract

The situation of coronavirus disease 2019 has caused important measures, including social distancing to prevent the spread. The internet is an important communication channel for living in the new normal era especially for students who need to use the internet as a learning channel like an online classroom which may affect the health of students. This cross-sectional survey aimed to investigate internet usage behavior, and explore factors related to internet usage behaviors among high school students in Nakhon Sawan province, Thailand, through stratified-cluster random sampling. Data were collected from 409 students from grade 10-12 in academic year 2021. The inclusion criteria were both female and male students enrolled in selected high-schools, receipt of parental permission to participate in this study, and consent to complete an online questionnaire. The data obtained from the online questionnaire consisted of demographic characteristics, self-efficacy on internet usage, outcome expectations toward internet usage, and models for internet usage from friends and influencers. Data were analyzed by using an independent samples t-test, chi-square analysis, and descriptive statistics. This study was approved by the Ethical Review Committee for Human Research, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University (COA.NO. MUPH 2022-010) on February 1, 2022. The results of the study found that 50.4% of students in the new normal era were using the internet at a high level, or more than 70 hours weekly. Average weekly internet use was 91.88 hours. Most of them used a smartphone to access the internet, used it from 8 to 12 pm, and used Facebook and Instagram. The internet access activities were studying and searching due to education and academic knowledge (98.7%) followed by watching television, clips, and movies, and listening to music online. The study indicated that factors associated with internet usage were sex, self-efficacy, and outcome expectation (p < 0.05). The findings demonstrated that males used the internet more than females, and most activities included playing online games, following net idols and celebrities, and admiring people, disseminating information, online shopping, reading news or electronic-books, and entertainment news updates. Regarding internal factors, self-efficacy on internet usage among high internet users had higher scores than in (1) watching live broadcasts, (2) watching television, movie clips, or listening to music online, and (3) online shopping (p < 0.05). For expectations for outcomes from internet usage, students with a high level of internet usage in the new normal era had higher mean scores than those with a normal level of internet usage in the new normal era in (1) watching live broadcasts, (2) playing online games either alone or in a team, and (3) watching television, movie clips or listening to music online (p < 0.05). Environmental factors including models from influencers on the internet, and students with a high level of internet usage in the new normal era had higher mean scores than those with a normal level of internet usage in the new normal era in (1) reading news or e-books and (2) calling and talking to friends, family members and close people (p < 0.05). According to the results, the study suggested that schools should provide training to students on rational internet usage by developing students' self-efficacy and expectations in internet usage, focusing on outcomes that enhance students' learning achievement.