Association Between Smoking and Problematic Internet Use Among Japanese Adolescents: Large-Scale Nationwide Epidemiological Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to clarify the association between smoking and problematic Internet use (PIU), such as Internet addiction (IA) and excessive Internet use (EIU), among Japanese adolescents. A self-administered questionnaire was administered to students enrolled in randomly selected junior and senior high schools throughout Japan. Responses were obtained from 100,050 students (0.94:1 ratio of boys to girls). The prevalence of IA (as indicated by a Young Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction score ≥5) in all participants, boys, and girls was 8.1%, 6.4%, and 9.9%, respectively. The prevalence of EIU (≥5 hours/day) in all participants, boys, and girls was 12.6%, 12.3%, and 13.0%, respectively. The results of multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for IA and EIU were significantly higher among students who smoked (including those who previously smoked) than among those who never smoked (p < 0.01 for all comparisons). In addition, the AORs were the highest for students who smoked ≥21 cigarettes per day. The prevalence and AORs of IA and EIU tended to increase with smoking frequency and number of cigarettes smoked per day, indicating a dose-dependent relationship. Thus, IA and EIU have strong associations with smoking. This study revealed that adolescents who routinely smoked or those who smoked more cigarettes per day had a higher risk of PIU than adolescents who did not. These findings suggest that there is a close association between smoking and PIU among Japanese adolescents.

Associations between problematic Internet use and psychiatric symptoms among university students in Japan

“…This result was similar to the result of Mihara et al . and Morioka et al . for junior high and high school students in Japan.…”

“…According to a review of Internet addiction among youth in Japan, there were 11 publications as of 2014 in which no Englishlanguage papers were reported. 33 Following this review, some new studies by Tateno et al, 19 Hirao, 34 Morioka et al, 14,34 and So et al 28 were reported.…”

“…Regarding regional differences, prevalence of PIU was 1.0-9.0% in European adolescents, 1.0-12.0% in Middle Eastern adolescents, and 2.0-18.0% in Asian adolescents. 13 In Japan, Morioka et al 14 carried out a large epidemiological survey. They reported that the penetration rate of PIU was 8.1% among junior and high school students.…”

Problematic Internet Use and Smoking among Chinese Junior Secondary Students: The Mediating Role of Depressive Symptomatology and Family Support

“…Our findings show that PIU is a potential significant risk factor of smoking. Results corroborate with those previous studies showing a significant association between IA and smoking [26,27] and extend the knowledge that smoking is also associated with SNA. Addiction with the Internet may interfere with normal, adaptive functioning, leading to engagement in risky behaviors.…”

“…Similarly, a few studies have documented the association between PIU and smoking. For example, one study investigated the association of smoking and PIU among adolescents reported a dose-dependent relationship between smoking and IA, in which IA tended to increase with current smoking habit or the number of cigarette smoked [26]; a longitudinal study among high school students in China and USA reported a positive predictive relationship between baseline compulsive Internet use and change in substance use (which included smoking) at one-year follow-up among female students [27].…”