The impact of offline and online practices on teenage loneliness

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Abstract

The article examines approaches to studying loneliness, as well as the phenomenon of loneliness in a crowd. Particular attention is paid to the influence of online technologies on the prevalence of loneliness. Using the constructed least squares regression model, it was determined which offline and online practices affect the subjective feeling of loneliness. The constructed model allowed to explain 91% of the variability of the dependent variable - the subjective feeling of loneliness. The sample population consisted of 136,438 people - adolescents aged 14-17 years in 86 regions of the country. 26% of respondents lived in rural areas, 21% in urban-type settlements, 38% in small towns (up to 500 thousand residents), 10% in large cities (from 500 thousand to 1 million residents) and 5% in cities with a population of over a million, 39% of teenagers were male and 61% were female. The theoretical model was based on the humanistic existentialism of J.-P. Sartre, the A. Giddens´ structuration theory and the theory of coping strategies of E. Gentin and R. Chen. The results obtained demonstrate that the phenomenon of loneliness in a crowd is not widespread among Russian teenagers. The majority of online practices that reduce the feeling of loneliness are passive consumption of content (watching videos, reading news, searching for the necessary information, etc.). Content production (blogging, creative activities), on the contrary, increases this feeling in teenagers. The dependence of the feeling of loneliness on offline practices can be mostly interpreted by what coping strategies these practices can be attributed to: active or passive. Passive coping strategies (eating tasty dishes, visiting shopping centers, etc.) led to an increase in the feeling of loneliness, and active coping strategies (searching for new acquaintances, visiting clubs and sections, etc.) led, accordingly, to a decrease in the feeling of loneliness. The patterns discovered in this study allow us to formulate directions for further research into the mechanisms by which this or that practice forms or, conversely, protects adolescents from the feeling of loneliness.

About the authors

Sergey Tkach

St. Petersburg State University

Email: s.tkach@spbu.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5016-9187
SPIN-code: 6740-2773
Leading Sociologist, Center for Applied Sociology St. Petersburg, Russia

Maia M. Rusakova

St. Petersburg State University

Email: m.rusakova@spbu.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4597-2837
SPIN-code: 8271-1174
ResearcherId: N-3281-2017
Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Director, Center for Applied Sociology St. Petersburg, Russia

Yakov D. Sanadze

St. Petersburg State University

Email: y.sanadze@spbu.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3539-4957
SPIN-code: 5405-2133
Leading Specialist, Sociological Clinic for Applied Research St. Petersburg, Russia

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