Aspects of Internet Use among Adolescents in Saudi Arabia

Background: In Saudi Arabia, there is a growing concern about Internet use among adolescents, who make up a significant portion (≈ 15%) of the population.

Method: We administered a survey to students (Grades 7-12, n =2321) in randomly selected middle and high schools in three cities of Saudi Arabia in the spring of 2020 prior to COVID-19. We inquired about their demographics, lifestyle factors, devices, motivation for Internet use, and their family members’ use.

Results: The mean (± SD) age of starting to use the Internet was 10.45 ± 3.02. Smartphones were the most used device (86.0%), followed by computers (6.3%), tablets (5.2%), game consoles (4.5%), and smart TVs (1.9%). The primary motivations for Internet use were social media (64.9%), watching videos (19.6%), gaming (6.2%), and other (studying, communication, etc.) (9.3%). Participants mostly described their parents’ Internet use as moderate and their siblings’ use as heavy. About a third (32.2%) of participants' parents did not supervise or place restrictions on their children's Internet use, a quarter (27.8%) of the parents only supervised their Internet use, a quarter (23.3%) placed restrictions only, and 16.7% engaged in both supervision and restriction.

Conclusion: Adolescents report that their own Internet use via smartphones is high, and a high proportion of family members are heavy Internet users.