Zhou Ronggang, Fong Patrick S W, Tan Peking
School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing, P. R. China.
Department of Building & "Real Estate", Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, P. R. China.
PLoS One. 2014 Feb 21;9(2):e89598. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089598. eCollection 2014.
Internet use has become an increasingly common leisure time activity among Chinese citizens. The association between Internet use and engagement in leisure activities is especially unclear among China population. This study aims to investigate Internet usage and to determine whether active Internet use is a marker for low or high levels of leisure time activities.
METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: With the use of a face-to-face structured questionnaire interview, a total of 2,400 respondents who met all screening requirements were surveyed to answer the questions in eight major cities in China. 66.2% (n = 1,589) of all respondents were identified as Internet users. Of these Internet users, 30.0%, 24.1%, 26.4%, and 19.6% were clustered as "informative or instrumental users," "entertainment users," "communication users," and "advanced users," respectively. Regarding time spent on Internet use in leisure time, more than 96% reported going online in non-work situations, and 26.2% (n = 416) were classified as "heavy Internet users." A logistic regression analysis revealed that there were significant differences in some leisure activities between non-Internet users and Internet users, with an observed one-unit increase in the leisure time dependence category increasing the probability of engaging in mental or social activities. In contrast, Internet users were less engaged in physical exercise-related activities. In addition, advanced Internet users were generally more active in leisure time activities than non-Internet users and other types of users.
CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Internet use is one of very common leisure activities in Chinese citizens, and age, gender, income, and education are the key factors affecting Internet access. According to different types of leisure activities, Internet usage has different impacts on leisure activity engagement. High Internet dependence has no significant negative influence on engagement in mental or social leisure activities, but this group respondent tended to be less engaged in physical activities.
在中国公民中，使用互联网已成为越来越普遍的休闲活动。在中国人群中，互联网使用与参与休闲活动之间的关联尤其不明确。本研究旨在调查互联网使用情况，并确定积极使用互联网是否是休闲活动水平低或高的一个标志。
方法/主要发现：通过面对面的结构化问卷调查，在中国八个主要城市对总共2400名符合所有筛选要求的受访者进行了调查，以回答相关问题。所有受访者中有66.2%（n = 1589）被确定为互联网用户。在这些互联网用户中，分别有30.0%、24.1%、26.4%和19.6%被归类为“信息或工具性用户”、“娱乐用户”、“交流用户”和“高级用户”。关于休闲时间的互联网使用时长，超过96%的人报告在非工作情况下上网，26.2%（n = 416）被归类为“重度互联网用户”。逻辑回归分析显示，非互联网用户和互联网用户在一些休闲活动方面存在显著差异，休闲时间依赖类别每增加一个单位，参与心理或社交活动的概率就会增加。相比之下，互联网用户较少参与与体育锻炼相关的活动。此外，高级互联网用户在休闲活动中通常比非互联网用户和其他类型的用户更活跃。
结论/意义：使用互联网是中国公民非常普遍的休闲活动之一，年龄﹑性别﹑收入和教育是影响互联网接入的关键因素。根据不同类型的休闲活动，互联网使用对休闲活动参与有不同影响。高互联网依赖对心理或社交休闲活动的参与没有显著负面影响，但这组受访者往往较少参与体育活动。
