A Comparison of Computer Usage Between Immigrant and Native-Born Children

Background

Computer usage is becoming increasingly popular among children, as children are opting to spend more time behind the computer screen and social media/games rather than outside. As well as having many positive impacts, it has been suggested that too much screen time behind a computer can have several negative effects for children, such as physical complaints and also psychological drawbacks. Little research, however, has been conducted on immigrants’ use of technology, in particular computer usage, in relation to the child’s family’s affluence and SES. To fill this knowledge gap, this study will investigate immigrant children and their use of computers (e.g., game playing, surfing the internet, emailing, doing homework) in comparison to native-born children, to see which group exhibits more healthier behavior (not as much time spent on the computer).

Methods

The study used the data from the Healthy Behavior in School Children (HBSC, 2009-2010), a multi-stage and nationally representative survey of students in grades five through to grade ten (N=12,642). In addition to demographic background, risk behaviors and health-related information, the HBSC also asks respondents to identify (1) the time if computer use for homework, playing games, and for chatting/surfing the net (dependent variable) and (2) whether they are native born or foreign born (0=yes, 1=no; independent variable). Other control variables include: gender, age, family affluence scale, mother occupation SES score, and father occupation SES score. Multiple linear regression is used to examine the association between immigrant status and computer use among children.

Results

In general, immigrants had higher computer usage time compare to native born both in weekdays (3.35 vs. 2.91) and over weekends (3.77 vs. 3.40). In particular, there was a significant relationship between immigrant status and computer use for playing computer/video games on the weekdays (p<.001): Immigrant children spent more time on this than native-born children (2.71 vs. 2.59). However, this relationship was not significant on the weekends. Immigrant females had a significantly higher computer use than immigrant males on weekdays (3.55 vs. 3.1, p<.001). 

Conclusions

Findings suggest that overall, immigrant children spend more time on computers during the week and weekend compared to their native-born counterparts. Since immigrant children parents were more likely to have a lower occupation prestige compared to native born, it could be contended that they are most likely working longer hours and have less time to spend with their children at home, so children are occupied by using the computer. Another explanation could be that immigrant children may not have the same opportunities as native born, such as after school activities and sports (as these cost money). These explanations should be tested in future research. This study provides insight on computer and media usage among children, in particular focusing on immigrant children and the reasoning for their higher usage. Future research should also evaluate the impacts of computer use on child development among immigrant children. Research on this topic can inform social work practice implications, such as more after-school programs for immigrant children, and more support for immigrant families.