Abstract
IntroductionInternet use has become an increasingly common leisure time activity among Chinese citizens. The association between Internet use and engagement in leisure activities is especially unclear among China population. This study aims to investigate Internet usage and to determine whether active Internet use is a marker for low or high levels of leisure time activities.Methods/Principal FindingsWith the use of a face-to-face structured questionnaire interview, a total of 2,400 respondents who met all screening requirements were surveyed to answer the questions in eight major cities in China. 66.2% (n = 1,589) of all respondents were identified as Internet users. Of these Internet users, 30.0%, 24.1%, 26.4%, and 19.6% were clustered as “informative or instrumental users,” “entertainment users,” “communication users,” and “advanced users,” respectively. Regarding time spent on Internet use in leisure time, more than 96% reported going online in non-work situations, and 26.2% (n = 416) were classified as “heavy Internet users.” A logistic regression analysis revealed that there were significant differences in some leisure activities between non-Internet users and Internet users, with an observed one-unit increase in the leisure time dependence category increasing the probability of engaging in mental or social activities. In contrast, Internet users were less engaged in physical exercise-related activities. In addition, advanced Internet users were generally more active in leisure time activities than non-Internet users and other types of users.Conclusion/SignificanceInternet use is one of very common leisure activities in Chinese citizens, and age, gender, income, and education are the key factors affecting Internet access. According to different types of leisure activities, Internet usage has different impacts on leisure activity engagement. High Internet dependence has no significant negative influence on engagement in mental or social leisure activities, but this group respondent tended to be less engaged in physical activities.
Highlights
Internet use has become an increasingly common leisure time activity among Chinese citizens
Of all respondents who reported that they had used the Internet within the past week were categorized as ‘‘Internet users’’, and 29.2% (n = 700) of them who responded that they had not used the Internet within the past month were labeled as ‘‘non-Internet users.’’ Because only 4% (n = 111) of the respondents reported that they had accessed the Internet one week before during last month, this category of participants was not included in the subsequent analyses
According to [16], Internet user typology reflects how different user groups use the Internet in various ways and how dissimilar is the potential of user types to exploit the benefits of the Internet
Summary
Internet use has become an increasingly common leisure time activity among Chinese citizens. The association between Internet use and engagement in leisure activities is especially unclear among China population. One of potential reasons for this negative effect on quality of life is the imbalanced allocation of time between Internet use and other regular leisure activities. By changing Internet use patterns and spending suitable amounts of time on regular leisure activities, quality of life may be enhanced [3,8,9]. A significant body of research has focused on understanding this issue, the association between Internet use and leisure activity engagement is still a controversial issue. It is important to understand Internet usage and to determine whether active and high Internet use is a marker for low or high levels of regular leisure time activities
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