CHSJ

Curr Health Sci J, vol. 51, no. 2, 2025

High School Teachers’ Awareness of Internet Addiction and Related Factors Among Greek Adolescent Students

[Original Paper]

N. VLACHOPOYLOS(1,2), A.E. MANTADAKI(3), E. MOYRELLOY(4), P. VOLKOS(3), E. SMYRNAKIS(1,5), I. RAMOUTSAKI(6), G. PITSOULIS(7), A. PAPADAKIS(7), E. KOUTENTAKI(7), A. KAMEKIS(7,8), M. LINARDAKIS(9), N. RIKOS(10), E.K. SYMVOULAKIS(3)


(1)Primary Health Care Research Network of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece;
(2)251 Hellenic Air Force General Hospital, Athens, Greece;
(3)Clinic of Social and Family Medicine, Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Greece;
(4)Department of the History of Medicine and Medical Deontology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Greece;
(5)Laboratory of Primary Health Care, General Practice and Health Services Research, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece;
(6)Teachers’ Counselor in Crete, Teacher-Counselor in the Hellenic Open University, Greece;
(7)Authority of the Region of Crete, Greece;
(8)School of Medicine, University of Crete, Greece;
(9)Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Greece,
(10)Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece


Abstract:

In recent years, concerns about internet addiction (IA) have grown. The study aimed to assess to what extent teachers are informed about IA and are familiar with the internet, and to investigate their personal views and their perceptions of students’ daily habits. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from Nov 2023-to-Apr 2024 across public high schools (Day Lyceums) in Crete, Greece, with high school teachers from 42 randomly selected schools completing an original structured questionnaire on internet use. Habits and IA were assessed through regression analysis. Of the 349 high school teachers with a mean age of 47.1 years (±9.1), 65.9% were female. The teachers primarily used the internet for educational purposes (70.5%) or for social media/communication (50.7%). In fourteen questions regarding IA, feeling curiosity when using the internet was the most prevalent response (74.2%), while the mean total IA score (scale 0-100) was low (36.3±14.2). Discussions with students about rational internet use were more common among female teachers in relation to male (83.9% vs. 73.9%, respectively, p=0.026), those with longer work experience (14.3 years vs. 11.4 years, p=0.014), and those who had a lower mean IA score (34.6 vs. 41.3, p<0.001). In general, teachers who discussed rational internet usage with students had a lower IA score (unstandardized ?=-6.62, p<0.001). High school teachers' perceptions highlight the complex relationship between teachers and internet use. Our findings underscore the crucial role that teachers play in promoting healthy lifestyles and the need for better training in digital literacy and internet safety practices.


Keywords: Internet addiction, teachers’ awareness, physical activity, high school students, prevention.



Corresponding: Manolis Linardakis, Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece, e-mail: linman@med.uoc.gr


DOI 10.12865/CHSJ.51.02.12 - Download PDF
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