Internet Use and Well‐Being in Adolescence

Previous research suggests that Internet use may be associated with decreases in well‐being among adolescents. However, there has been little investigation of the relationship between well‐being and social aspects of Internet use. In the present study, 130 7th graders from a middle‐class public school in California completed dispositional measures of well‐being, and on three subsequent evenings they responded to questions regarding their Internet use (including detailed logs of instant messages) and daily well‐being. Time spent on‐line was not associated with dispositional or daily well‐being. However, as suggested by intimacy theory, the closeness of instant message communication partners was associated with daily social anxiety and loneliness in school, above and beyond the contribution of dispositional measures.