The Relation of Internet Use to Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Chinese Adolescents

Prosocial and antisocial Internet use is investigated in this study by constructing an objective measure called the Adolescent Internet Use Questionnaire (AIUQ). The sample consists of 509 secondary school students in Hong Kong. Based on the previous review of the literature, the present study tests the following two hypotheses: (a) sex difference hypothesis: boys are more delinquent in Internet use than are girls; (b) positive association hypothesis: there is a positive association between Internet behavior and daily social behavior. In other words, positive Internet behavior is positively associated with positive daily social behavior, and negative Internet behavior is positively associated with negative daily social behavior. In general, the two hypotheses are supported by the data in this study. The internal consistency reliability and predictive validity of the major indices of the AIUQ are also substantiated by the present data.