Mitigating the negative effects of internet browsing on young people’s resilience and outlook in life through classic Grimm fairy tales: exploratory randomized control study
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Hou, Congcong
Foscht, Thomas
Duffek, Barbara
Arigayota, Annisa
Eisingerich, Andreas
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background:
Internet browsing is a daily activity for many young people. However, how internet browsing affects young people’s resilience and positive (vs negative) outlook on life remains largely unaddressed. Critically, how reading classical fairy tales may help mitigate the influence of internet browsing on resilience and foster a more positive rather than negative outlook on life has yet to be explored.
Objective:
This study examines the influence of internet browsing on young people’s resilience and positive (vs negative) outlook on life. Furthermore, this study aims to examine the potential mitigating effect of reading classical Grimms' fairy tales, such as Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood, on the relationship between internet browsing and postgraduate students’ resilience and outlook on life.
Methods:
A randomized controlled study was conducted using a 2 (internet browsing vs no internet browsing) × 2 (reading a classical fairy tale vs no classical fairy tale) between-subjects design. All study participants (N=412) were postgraduate students and randomly assigned to one of the study’s 4 conditions and answered a brief questionnaire, examining their resilience and positive versus negative outlook on life. To examine the potential mitigating effect of classical fairy tales on the relationship between internet browsing and resilience as well as positive versus negative outlook on life, we conducted an exploratory bootstrapping-based moderated mediation analysis with 5000 resamples.
Results:
The results showed a significant moderating role of reading classical Grimms' fairy tales on the negative effect of internet browsing on postgraduate students’ resilience and outlook on life. Specifically, when study participants browsed the internet, they reported a more positive outlook on life when they read a Grimms' fairy tale (read fairy tale: mean 5.46, SD 0.151 vs not read fairy tale: mean 3.01, SD 0.150, SE 0.213, 95% CI –2.860 to –2.024; P<.001). Furthermore, the results showed that when participants browsed the internet, they indicated significantly greater resilience when they read a Grimms' tale (mean 4.62, SE 0.179, 95% CI 4.271-4.976) than when they did not (mean 2.59, SE 0.179, 95% CI 2.243-2.945). In addition, an exploratory analysis demonstrated that the effect of internet browsing on outlook on life is mediated by resilience (effect 0.85, SE 0.17, 95% CI 0.52-1.20).
Conclusions:
The findings of this study show that reading a classical Grimms' fairy tale, such as Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood, helped mitigate the negative effects of internet browsing on postgraduate students’ resilience and outlook on life.
Trial Registration:
ISRCTN 16972408; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN16972408
Internet browsing is a daily activity for many young people. However, how internet browsing affects young people’s resilience and positive (vs negative) outlook on life remains largely unaddressed. Critically, how reading classical fairy tales may help mitigate the influence of internet browsing on resilience and foster a more positive rather than negative outlook on life has yet to be explored.
Objective:
This study examines the influence of internet browsing on young people’s resilience and positive (vs negative) outlook on life. Furthermore, this study aims to examine the potential mitigating effect of reading classical Grimms' fairy tales, such as Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood, on the relationship between internet browsing and postgraduate students’ resilience and outlook on life.
Methods:
A randomized controlled study was conducted using a 2 (internet browsing vs no internet browsing) × 2 (reading a classical fairy tale vs no classical fairy tale) between-subjects design. All study participants (N=412) were postgraduate students and randomly assigned to one of the study’s 4 conditions and answered a brief questionnaire, examining their resilience and positive versus negative outlook on life. To examine the potential mitigating effect of classical fairy tales on the relationship between internet browsing and resilience as well as positive versus negative outlook on life, we conducted an exploratory bootstrapping-based moderated mediation analysis with 5000 resamples.
Results:
The results showed a significant moderating role of reading classical Grimms' fairy tales on the negative effect of internet browsing on postgraduate students’ resilience and outlook on life. Specifically, when study participants browsed the internet, they reported a more positive outlook on life when they read a Grimms' fairy tale (read fairy tale: mean 5.46, SD 0.151 vs not read fairy tale: mean 3.01, SD 0.150, SE 0.213, 95% CI –2.860 to –2.024; P<.001). Furthermore, the results showed that when participants browsed the internet, they indicated significantly greater resilience when they read a Grimms' tale (mean 4.62, SE 0.179, 95% CI 4.271-4.976) than when they did not (mean 2.59, SE 0.179, 95% CI 2.243-2.945). In addition, an exploratory analysis demonstrated that the effect of internet browsing on outlook on life is mediated by resilience (effect 0.85, SE 0.17, 95% CI 0.52-1.20).
Conclusions:
The findings of this study show that reading a classical Grimms' fairy tale, such as Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood, helped mitigate the negative effects of internet browsing on postgraduate students’ resilience and outlook on life.
Trial Registration:
ISRCTN 16972408; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN16972408
Date Issued
2025-08-06
Date Acceptance
2025-07-15
Citation
JMIR Formative Research, 2025, 9
ISSN
2561-326X
Publisher
JMIR Publications
Journal / Book Title
JMIR Formative Research
Volume
9
Copyright Statement
©Congcong Hou, Thomas Foscht, Barbara Duffek, Annisa Arigayota, Andreas Benedikt Eisingerich. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 06.08.2025. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Formative Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://formative.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e76770
Date Publish Online
2025-08-06