Background: Computer and Internet use by children and adolescents is widespread and begins at an early age. They commonly use computers for playing games, completing school assignments, email, and connecting to the Internet. On-line, the most frequent activities are school work, email, games, and finding information. We investigated factors that influence adolescents’ engagement in risky Internet behavior, in particular the factors relating to development identity.

Methods: All the students, aged between 15 to 18 years old, come from 7 high schools of Iasi. The authors examined the online construction of identity at 283 teenagers, who had been involved in an online activities and completed a survey to assess relationships among development identity and (a) amount of Internet use (with the identification of a possible computer addiction), (b) the interference of excessive use with school grades and social life;

Results indicated that the following factors were found to be predictors of adolescents development: frequency of Internet use, frequency of chatting, parental rules, type of personal information given out, amount of inappropriate messages received, whether inappropriate websites have been visited, and type of internet advice heard.

Conclusions: Our results showed a significant positive correlation between measures of Internet use and time spent online for the Internet. Implications for and development as impacted by social support networks, are discussed. Finally, Internet use was associated with identity status. These results suggest that the Internet may be an important aid for teenager as they searched for an young identity.

C. Stefanescu, G. Chele, R. Chirita, V. Chirita and M. Ilinca

University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania

Clinical Hospital of Psychiatry Socola, Iasi, Romania

Technical University, Iasi, Romania

P348.
Available online 16 February 2008.

European Psychiatry
Volume 22, Supplement 1, March 2007, Page S200
15th AEP Congress - Abstract book, 15th AEP Congress