Beyond addiction

The project explores the social aspects of digital presence from the perspective of young people and adults.

Its central aim is to analyse the perceived problem of digital addiction among children, adolescents and adults, to list the needs and activities for preventing it, and to examine whether a mechanism for continuously monitoring the use of digital technologies and media in schools and beyond could be set up.

At the same time, we work towards defining the basic concepts and classifications related to young people's use of digital technologies. In line with the project's starting points, we pay particular attention to distinguishing between desirable and undesirable, or recommended and discouraged, digital practices.

The research project Beyond addiction: social aspects of digital presence from the perspective of young people and adults (CRP V5-2565) is carried out at the Centre for Social Informatics, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences. It is funded by ARIS, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia.

The project's central concept is digital presence, which goes beyond a narrow understanding of digital addiction and allows a more holistic, graded understanding of young people's digital habits, from functional, developmentally appropriate use to risky forms of behaviour. We are developing a conceptual framework that includes social, developmental and technological factors and allows risk factors to be identified more precisely and preventive measures to be targeted more effectively.

The project's objectives include: 1) a conceptual definition of forms of digital presence (functional, problematic, risky), 2) an empirical assessment of how widely digital technologies are used among young people in schools, 3) groundwork for professional recommendations, guidelines and a protocol for cooperation between schools, parents and experts, and 4) a proposed measuring instrument for long-term monitoring of the use of digital technologies in education.

The research approach combines quantitative and qualitative methods: surveys among pupils, students, parents and school staff, focus groups with young people, ethnographic observation studies in schools, and an analysis of practices.

The project will also form an expert group of representatives from education, health, social services, the non-governmental sector and others, tasked with preparing the groundwork for guidelines for educational institutions and a proposed protocol for action when risky use of digital technology is detected.

The results will serve as expert groundwork for strategic decision-making and for designing prevention programmes at the national level, in line with the National Programme for Education 2023–2033. The project will also set up a database for further research and propose a sustainable model for monitoring digital presence.

The project also makes an important scientific contribution: it offers a new terminological and methodological basis for studying young people's digital behaviour, fills gaps in Slovenian research and allows Slovenia to join wider international research on digital education, youth policy and social digital literacy.

* Note:

The responsibilities of the Ministry of Education were assumed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth.

The responsibilities of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities were assumed by Ministry of Demography, Family and Social Affairs.