Personal Factors, Internet Characteristics, and Environmental Factors Contributing to Adolescent Internet Addiction: A Public Health Perspective

Abstract

Individual characteristics, family- and school-related variables, and environmental variables have equal importance in understanding Internet addiction. Most previous studies on Internet addiction have focused on individual factors; those that considered environmental influence typically only examined the proximal environment. Effective prevention and intervention of Internet addiction require a framework that integrates individual- and environmental-level factors. This study examined the relationships between personal factors, family/school factors, perceived Internet characteristics, and environmental variables as they contribute to Internet addiction among adolescents based on the public health model. A representative sample of 1628 junior high school students from 56 regions in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do participated in the study via questionnaires with the cooperation of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the district office of education. The study analyzed psychological factors, family cohesion, attitudes toward academic activities, Internet characteristics, accessibility to PC cafés, and exposure to Internet game advertising. About 6% of the adolescents were categorized as being in the severely addicted group. Between-group comparisons showed that the addicted group had started using the Internet earlier; had higher levels of depression, compulsivity, and aggressiveness as well as lower family cohesion; and reported higher accessibility to PC cafés and exposure to Internet game advertising. Multiple logistic regression indicated that for adolescents, environmental factors had a greater influence than family or school-related factors. Policy implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.

Factors associated with severity, incidence or persistence of internet gaming disorder in children and adolescents: a 2‐year longitudinal study

“…Environmental risk factors such as accessibility and industry-driven marketing factors may also serve an important role in developing IGD. It has been found that higher exposure to internet game advertisements increases the risk for internet game addiction among a representative sample of Korean youths [8]. Possession of easily accessible digital devices or a lack of parental rules concerning gaming behavior has been suggested as factors that influence the development of gaming disorder [6].…”

Adolescents' and Parents' Perspectives: A Gaming Disorder Intervention in Singapore

“…In recent studies conducted in China (Wang et al, 2013), Hong Kong (Wang et al, 2014), Japan (Mihara et al, 2016), Korea (Chung et al, 2019), Spain (Tejeiro Salguero & Moran, 2002), and the United States (Gentile et al, 2009), 8% to 16% of adolescents are identified as having a gaming addiction (World Health Organization [WHO], 2018a). This complex phenomenon has various unique aspects, including psychological (e.g., personality, life satisfaction, past psychological maltreatment, loneliness), social (e.g., socioeconomic, family, learning environments, cyberPsycho effects), and cultural (e.g., differences in government, ethnicity, and culture; Bozoglan, 2018;Young, 2017) factors.…”

The association of parent-child communication with Internet addiction in left-behind children in China

“…Students were asked to select one response option to a 5-point Likert scale from "not at all" to "always". The scores for all 20 items were summed (therefore from 20 to 100), and a total score of 50 or beyond meant a presence of the Internet addiction behavior [12,28]. The reliability and validity of YIAT-C have been established in Chinese children [12], and in the present study, the Cronbach's alpha was 0.921.…”