Relationship between cyberloafing and media consumption in adolescents

Introduction. Information and communication technologies have become an integral part of education and learning. However, the consequences and risks of such integration, including cyberloafing (i.e., the use of Internet technologies during classes for purposes not related to educational activities), have not been thoroughly studied. The paper aims to identify the correlation between cyberloafing and media consumption patterns among adolescents. Materials and methods. The study involved 121 adolescents 13-15 years of age. The cyberloafing scale and the media consumption questionnaire were used for data collection. The results obtained were processed with the Spearman rank correlation coefficient and IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 software. Results. It was found that during classes teenagers searched for information, which they considered interesting, or communicated online; adolescents described themselves as experienced or advanced Internet users. The most popular sources of information were the Internet, books and television. The use of the Internet correlates positively with online communication, online shopping and search for information not related to educational activities. The volitional control of media consumption correlates negatively with the frequency of online searching, while emotional and cognitive involvement in the media space correlates positively with the frequency of playing online games during classes. Conclusion. The results obtained demonstrate that the patterns of cyberloafing are associated with the quantitative and qualitative features of media consumption among adolescents. Cyberloafing depends on media competence, media perception, and media processing.