Multivariate Analysis Methods to Distinguish Adolescents’ Attitudes on Digital Consumption and Skills, Opinions on Technologies, and Adults’ Views
Abstract
Abstract
Do the type and amount of owned digital devices, time spent using them, and household habits in daily life allow us to distinguish groups of students that differ in personal features, perception of their digital skills, opinions on technologies, and communicating choices made by their parents or the adults that have a relevant role in their lives? The study here presented analyzed the results of a questionnaire administered to students of a high school in Reggio Emilia (Italy) as part of a mixed-methods research and, using multivariate analysis techniques (Multidimensional Scaling and Cluster Analysis), provides a clustering of around 300 students that replied to the survey. Four clusters emerged, differing in the number of owned devices and the time spent using them. This classification suggests four students’ behaviors towards technologies: device-oriented, strengthsoriented, meaning-oriented, and use-oriented.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Aroldi, P. (2010). Addomesticare i media nella vita quotidiana. Dal consumo alle pratiche. In F. Pasquali, B. Scifo, & N. Vittadini (a cura di), Crossmedia cultures. Giovani e pratiche di consumo digitali (pp. 3-20). Milano: Vita e Pensiero.
Barone, P. (2021). Evoluzione di un concetto. Adolescenza post-moderna. Journal of Phenomenology and Education, 25(61), 3-9. [20/02/2024].
https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1825-8670/12948
Bartholomew, D.J., Steele, F., Moustaki, I., & Galbraith, J.I. (2008). Analysis of multivariate social science data (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.
https://doi.org/10.1201/b15114
Boriati, D. (2021). Lo smartphone alla prova della Domestication Theory. Mediascapes Journal, 18, 114-127.
Browne, D.T., May, S.S., Colucci, L., Hurst-Della Pietra, P., Christakis, D., Asamoah, T., Hale, L., Delrahim-Howlett, K., Emond, J.A., Fiks, A.G., Madigan, S., Perlman, G., Rumpf, H.-J., Thompson, D., Uzzo, S., Stapleton, J., Neville, R., Prime, H., & The MIST Working Group (2021). From screen time to the digital level of analysis: A scoping review of measures for digital media use in children and adolescents. BMJ Open, 11(5), e046367.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046367
PMid:34011597 PMCid:PMC8137212
Castronova, E. (2009). Exodus to the virtual world: How online fun is changing reality. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.
Chen, L., & Shi, J. (2019). Reducing harm from media: A meta-analysis of parental mediation. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 96(1), 173-193. [21/02/2024].
https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699018754908
De Santis, A. (2022). Analisi multivariata e learning analytics. Metodi e applicazioni. Milano: Pearson.
Geng, J., Lei, L., Ouyang, M., Nie, J., & Wang, P. (2021). The influence of perceived parental phubbing on adolescents' problematic smartphone use: A two-wave multiple mediation model. Addict Behav, 121, 106995.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106995
PMid:34090204
Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J., Anderson, R.E., & Tatham, R.L. (2014). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Edinburgh Gate - Harlow (Essex, UK): Pearson.
ISTAT (2024). Indagine bambini e ragazzi | Anno 2023. Nuove generazioni sempre più digitali e multiculturali.
https://www.istat.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Bambini-e-ragazzi-2023.pdf
Kassambara, A. (2017). Practical guide to principal component methods in R. STHDA. Statistical Tools for High-throughput Data Analysis.
Lancini, M. (a cura di). (2019). Il ritiro sociale negli adolescenti. La solitudine di una generazione iperconnessa. Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.
Lee, J., Sung, M.J., Song, S.H., Lee, Y.M., Lee, J.J., Cho, S.M., & Shin, Y.M. (2018). Psychological factors associated with smartphone addiction in South Korean adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 38(3), 288-302. [26/02/2024].
https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431616670751
Manzato, A. (2011). Tecnologie quotidiane. Intorno al paradigma della domestication. Ocula. Occhio semiotico sui media, 12.
https://www.ocula.it/files/OCULA-FluxSaggi-MANZATO-Tecnologie-quotidiane-domestication.pdf
Pancani, L., Gerosa, T., Gui, M., & Riva, P. (2020). «Mom, dad, look at me»: The development of the Parental Phubbing Scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(2), 435-458. [27/02/2024].
https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407520964866
Panciroli, C., & Rivoltella, P.C. (2023). Pedagogia algoritmica. Per una riflessione educativa sull'Intelligenza Artificiale. Brescia: Editrice Morcelliana - Scholé.
Pew Research Institute (2018). How teens and parents navigate screen time and device distractions. [11/03/2024].
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2018/08/PI_2018.08.22_teens-screentime_FINAL.pdf
Pew Research Institute (2019). How parents feel about - and manage - their teens' online behavior and screen time. [11/03/2024].
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/22/howparents-feel-about-and-manage-their-teens-online-behavior-and-screen-time/
Pew Research Institute (2020). Parenting children in the age of screens. [12/03/2024].
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/07/PI_2020.07.28_kidsand- screens_FINAL.pdf
Rivoltella, P.C. (2020). Nuovi alfabeti. Educazione e culture nella società post-mediale. Brescia: Editrice Morcelliana - Scholé.
Rossi, L., De Santis, A., Orsenigo, E., Valentini, M., & Minerva, T. (2023a). Generational relations, technology and digital communication: A comparison between multicultural and native families. Rivista Italiana di Educazione Familiare, 23(2), 59-71.
https://doi.org/10.36253/rief-15201
Rossi, L., Orsenigo, E., Pellizzari, C., De Santis, A., & Minerva, T. (2025). La percezione dei giovani del divide generazionale. Analisi qualitativa di focus group. Orientamenti Pedagogici, 72(2), 57-71.
Rossi, L., Orsenigo, E., Valentini, M., De Santis, A., & Minerva, T. (2023b). Contesto familiare/culturale nel divide generazionale introdotto dalle tecnologie digitali. The Lab's Quarterly, 25, 1-20.
Rossi, L., Valentini, M., Orsenigo, E., Pellizzari, C., De Santis, A., & Minerva, T. (2024). I giovani e la percezione delle competenze digitali. Uno studio qualitativo tramite focus group. RicercAzione, 16(1), 73-91.
Silverstone, R. (2006). Domesticating domestication: Reflections on the life of a concept. In T. Berker et al. (Eds.), Domestication of media and technology (pp. 229-248). Maidenhead (Berkshire, UK): Open University Press.
Trinchero, R., & Robasto, D. (2019). I mixed methods nella ricerca educativa. Milano: Mondadori Education.
Vaterlaus, J.M., & Tarabochia, D. (2021). Adolescent smartphone acquisition: An exploratory qualitative case study with late adolescents and their parents. Marriage & Family Review, 57(2), 143-164. [09/03/2024].
https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2020.1791302
Vuorikari, R., Kluzer, S., & Punie, Y. (2022). DigComp 2.2: The digital competence framework for citizens. With new examples of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7358/ecps-2025-031-ross
Copyright (©) 2025 Lino Rossi, Annamaria De Santis, Enrico Orsenigo, Cecilia Pellizzari, Maria Valentini, Tommaso Minerva – Editorial format and Graphical layout: copyright (©) LED Edizioni Universitarie

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Journal of Educational, Cultural and Psychological Studies (ECPS)
Registered by Tribunale di Milano (19/05/2010 n. 278)
Online ISSN 2037-7924 - Print ISSN 2037-7932
Research Laboratory on Didactics and Evaluation - Department of Education - "Roma Tre" University
Executive Editor: Gaetano Domenici - Associate Executive Editor & Managing Editor: Valeria Biasci †
Editorial Board: Eleftheria Argyropoulou - Massimo Baldacci - Joao Barroso - Richard Bates - Christofer Bezzina - Pietro Boscolo - Sara Bubb - Giuseppina Castellana - Jean-Émile Charlier - Lucia Chiappetta Cajola - Jean-Louis Derouet - Peter Early - Giancarlo Fortino - Constance Katz - James Levin - Pietro Lucisano - Roberto Maragliano - Massimo Marcuccio - Arianna Lodovica Morini - Romuald Normand - Michael Osborne - Donatella Palomba - Nazarena Patrizi - Michele Pellerey - Vitaly V. Rubtzov - Jaap Scheerens - Noah W. Sobe - Francesco Susi - Giuseppe Spadafora - Pat Thomson - Roberto Trinchero - Ira Vannini
Editorial Staff: Fabio Alivernini - Guido Benvenuto - Anna Maria Ciraci - Massimiliano Fiorucci - Luca Mallia - Massimo Margottini - Giovanni Moretti - Carla Roverselli
Editorial Secretary: Conny De Vincenzo
© 2001 LED Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia Diritto