Table 2.
Distributions of UCLA loneliness scores among different Internet use habits.
| UCLA loneliness scores | Mean | SD | Eta squared | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lower scores | higher scores | p value | |||||
| Official purpose (study/work) | rarely/never | 211 (46.7%) | 72 (42.1%) | 0.238 | 43.0 | 12.1 | 0.00 |
| sometimes | 81 (17.9%) | 26 (15.2%) | 41.9 | 12.0 | |||
| often/always | 160 (35.4%) | 73 (42.7%) | 41.8 | 12.2 | |||
| Stress release | rarely/never | 201 (44.5%) | 60 (35.1%) | 0.001 | 40.9 | 12.0 | 0.02 |
| sometimes | 128 (28.3%) | 38 (22.2%) | 42.2 | 10.2 | |||
| often/always | 123 (27.2%) | 73 (42.7%) | 44.4 | 13.6 | |||
| Killing time | rarely/never | 105 (23.2%) | 25 (14.6%) | 0.005 | 38.9 | 10.6 | 0.03 |
| sometimes | 123 (27.2%) | 37 (21.6%) | 41.8 | 10.3 | |||
| often/always | 224 (49.6%) | 109 (63.7%) | 44.0 | 13.2 | |||
| Communication | rarely/never | 223 (49.3%) | 96 (56.1%) | 0.267 | 43.7 | 12.3 | 0.02 |
| sometimes | 116 (25.7%) | 41 (24%) | 42.0 | 11.7 | |||
| often/always | 113 (25%) | 34 (19.9%) | 39.8 | 11.8 | |||
| Associating | rarely/never | 359 (78.8%) | 128 (74.9%) | 0.026 | 42.2 | 12.3 | 0.00 |
| sometimes | 59 (13.1%) | 17 (9.9%) | 41.8 | 11.4 | |||
| often/always | 37 (8.2%) | 26 (15.2%) | 44.4 | 11.9 | |||
| Expanding hobbies and network of friends | rarely/never | 341 (75.4%) | 132 (77.2%) | 0.549 | 42.6 | 12.2 | 0.00 |
| sometimes | 56 (12.4%) | 16 (9.4%) | 41.3 | 10.0 | |||
| often/always | 55 (12.2%) | 23 (13.5%) | 41.8 | 13.7 | |||
| Resourcing | rarely/never | 26 (5.8%) | 5 (2.9%) | 0.258 | 42.1 | 8.7 | 0.00 |
| sometimes | 59 (13.1%) | 19 (11.1%) | 42.6 | 11.0 | |||
| often/always | 367 (81.2%) | 147 (86%) | 42.4 | 12.5 | |||
| Sharing problems | rarely/never | 376 (83.2%) | 135 (78.9%) | 0.46 | 42.0 | 12.2 | 0.01 |
| sometimes | 50 (11.1%) | 23 (13.5%) | 44.1 | 11.1 | |||
| often/always | 26 (5.8%) | 13 (7.6%) | 44.5 | 12.6 | |||
| Building community network | rarely/never | 388 (85.8%) | 153 (89.5%) | 0.421 | 42.8 | 12.4 | 0.01 |
| sometimes | 27 (6%) | 9 (5.3%) | 40.6 | 9.5 | |||
| often/always | 37 (8.2%) | 9 (5.3%) | 38.7 | 10.6 | |||
| Online dating | rarely/never | 441 (97.6%) | 158 (92.4%) | 0.011 | 42.1 | 12.1 | 0.01 |
| sometimes | 5 (1.1%) | 5 (2.9%) | 47.5 | 10.4 | |||
| often/always | 6 (1.3%) | 8 (4.7%) | 50.6 | 12.9 | |||
| Assessing pornography | rarely/never | 371 (82.1%) | 121 (70.8%) | 0.008 | 41.5 | 11.9 | 0.02 |
| sometimes | 49 (10.8%) | 31 (18.1%) | 45.4 | 12.5 | |||
| often/always | 32 (7.1%) | 19 (11.1%) | 45.8 | 13.0 | |||
| Using anonymous online bulletin boards (2ch etc.) | rarely/never | 316 (69.9%) | 93 (54.4%) | <.001 | 40.9 | 11.3 | 0.03 |
| sometimes | 87 (19.2%) | 40 (23.4%) | 44.0 | 12.2 | |||
| often/always | 49 (10.8%) | 38 (22.2%) | 46.9 | 14.4 | |||
| Blogging and SNS | rarely/never | 219 (48.5%) | 83 (48.5%) | 0.894 | 42.3 | 12.1 | 0.00 |
| sometimes | 86 (19%) | 35 (20.5%) | 43.3 | 11.4 | |||
| often/always | 147 (32.5%) | 53 (31%) | 41.9 | 12.7 | |||
| Release personal updates and work presentations | rarely/never | 380 (84.1%) | 139 (81.3%) | 0.246 | 42.4 | 12.2 | 0.00 |
| sometimes | 32 (7.1%) | 19 (11.1%) | 44.2 | 11.7 | |||
| often/always | 40 (8.8%) | 13 (7.6%) | 40.6 | 11.8 | |||
| Assessing Youtube/iTunes etc. | rarely/never | 210 (46.5%) | 54 (31.6%) | 0.003 | 40.8 | 11.0 | 0.01 |
| sometimes | 114 (25.2%) | 53 (31%) | 44.1 | 12.3 | |||
| often/always | 128 (28.3%) | 64 (37.4%) | 43.1 | 13.3 | |||
| P2P and FTP | rarely/never | 364 (80.5%) | 128 (74.9%) | 0.298 | 42.3 | 12.4 | 0.00 |
| sometimes | 52 (11.5%) | 25 (14.6%) | 42.7 | 10.3 | |||
| often/always | 36 (8%) | 18 (10.5%) | 42.6 | 12.7 | |||
| Online gaming | rarely/never | 382 (84.5%) | 134 (78.4%) | 0.05 | 41.9 | 12.2 | 0.01 |
| sometimes | 43 (9.5%) | 17 (9.9%) | 43.5 | 10.7 | |||
| often/always | 27 (6%) | 20 (11.7%) | 46.0 | 12.8 | |||
| Online survey or quiz | rarely/never | 27 (6%) | 12 (7%) | 0.891 | 46.0 | 12.6 | 0.01 |
| sometimes | 78 (17.3%) | 29 (17%) | 42.2 | 11.7 | |||
| often/always | 347 (76.8%) | 130 (76%) | 42.1 | 12.2 | |||
| Financial transaction | rarely/never | 227 (50.2%) | 96 (56.1%) | 0.294 | 43.2 | 12.5 | 0.01 |
| sometimes | 110 (24.3%) | 41 (24%) | 42.9 | 11.6 | |||
| often/always | 115 (25.4%) | 34 (19.9%) | 40.0 | 11.7 | |||
| Online shopping/auctions | rarely/never | 99 (21.9%) | 33 (19.3%) | 0.393 | 41.6 | 10.8 | 0.00 |
| sometimes | 174 (38.5%) | 60 (35.1%) | 42.5 | 11.6 | |||
| often/always | 179 (39.6%) | 78 (45.6%) | 42.7 | 13.2 | |||
Chi-square test were used to explore the relationship between loneliness and various everyday internet use habits. To ensure the validity of our statistical tests, the homogeneity of variances using Levene's and Welch's tests were assessed. One-way ANOVA to facilitate the comparison of means. Effect sizes, employing Cohen's classification for eta-squared were calculated to gauge the magnitude of effects, small (.01), medium (.06), or large (.14). (N=623).