Analyzing the Relationship Between Smartphone Usage Time and Awareness of Internet Dependence Among High School Students

Abstract

The prolonged use of smartphones among adolescents, referred to as Internet addiction, is a social problem that has been discussed worldwide. Although the long-term use is regarded as an issue, actual use time has not been measured, and the discussions are not based on evidence. Moreover, the relationship between Internet use time and dependency has not been examined. Therefore, this research aimed to clarify Internet addiction from the perspective of usage time. High school students who use the Internet were selected as subjects, and their smartphone usage time and dependency were measured. According to actual measurements, their daily usage time was 4.02h. However, there was no relationship between usage time and dependency attitude. Therefore, the problem of heavy use and Internet addiction should be considered as individual policies. Specifically, for prolonged use, it is necessary to take measures to make young people aware of their unconscious behavior.