Use of internet and wellbeing: A mixed-device survey

The debate on the effects of Internet for people’s wellbeing is nowadays being paid more attention by the researchers in line with the worldwide constant in-creasing rates of Internet use. However, current data are contradictory and support opposite positions. We focused on the relation between Internet use and wellbeing for a sample of university Italian students (n = 101) involved in a mixed-device survey. They completed weekly, for five weeks, an on-line questionnaire measuring the amount of time spent virtually and non-virtually for different purposes (social, learning, and leisure Internet use, and social non-virtual use) and wellbeing in terms of emotions and life satisfaction. We ana-lyzed the data with Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM). The results indicated that the amount of time for virtual and non-virtual activities influ-enced differently emotions, but it was not related to life satisfaction. The find-ings are discussed taking into account their theoretical and applied relevance.