Differences in the use of technological media by secondary school students in rural and urban areas, depending on gender

Abstract

This study examines the impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Andalusian adolescents, focusing on diferences depending on the urban or rural context. The objective is to analyse the frequency of Internet use, mobile phones, video games and television in Compulsory Secondary Education students according to gender and school, identifying possible inequalities depending on the residential environment. Three hundred eighty-eight students aged 12 to 18 years (M = 14.37) from two centers in Seville participated, one located in a rural area and the other in an urban area, with 51.8% men and 48.2% women, who completed the Problematic Use of New Technologies questionnaire. This study follows a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional, descriptive, relational and comparative design. The results revealed that, although the use of technological media is similar in both schools, students from urban areas use video games more than those from rural areas, probably due to greater access to technology in urban environments. On the other hand, women show similar usage patterns in both types of context. The use of the Internet, mobile phones and television is uniform, and there are no significant differences between genders or location.