title: Frequency and characteristics of Internet use by Spanish teenagers. A cross-sectional study.
abstract: Internet has completely changed communication among people in today's world, especially among young users. The objective of this study is to establish the frequency of Internet use by teenagers, and most used apps.
  
  
  
  This was a crosssectional study. In November 2013, students attending two mandatory secondary schools in Albacete were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire with close-ended and open questions. Questionnaires were completed in the classroom, either "online" or "with pen and paper". Answers were entered in a computer database using the SPSS 17.0 software. Statistical analysis included a comparison of proportions (χ² test) and mean/median values (Student's t test/non-parametric tests).
  
  
  
  Nine hundred and sixty-seven students participated; their mean age was 13.8 years old (range: 11-20); 53.5% were girls. Most students (70.9%) lived in the city. Most belonged to a middle (51.3%) and high (34.8%) socioeconomic status. Also most students went online on a daily basis (73.4%); only 0.9% indicated that they never did. The most frequently used apps included WhatsApp (77.1%), social networks (70.1%) and music apps (66.6%). Among girls, the most common Internet use was social networks (p= 0.004), WhatsApp (p < 0.0001), Instagram (p < 0.0001) and listening to music (p= 0.004). Boys most commonly used the Internet to browse the web (p < 0.0001), Skype (p=0.001), play (p < 0.0001) andwatchmovies or TV shows (p= 0.035).
  
  
  
  Internet takes up a large part of the time in adolescents' lives, especially as a means of communications, being WhatsApp and social networks the most commonly used apps.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Universitario Zona IV de Albacete, Albacete, España.
authors.forename: Ricardo E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Reolid-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Universitario Zona IV de Albacete, Albacete, España.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flores-Copete
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Universitario Zona IV de Albacete, Albacete, España.
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: López-García
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Universitario Zona IV de Albacete, Albacete, España.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alcantud-Lozano
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Universitario Zona IV de Albacete, Albacete, España.
authors.forename: María Candelaria
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ayuso-Raya
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Universitario Zona IV de Albacete, Albacete, España.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Escobar-Rabadán
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D063731:Mobile Applications; D012574:Schools; D061108:Social Media; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescent; Computers; Internet; Means of social communication; Mobile phone