The Relationship Between Internet Addiction and Problem Behaviors Amongst Hong Kong Adolescents: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study

Wenyu Chai,Daniel Tan-lei Shek,Lu Yu

doi:10.54127/mqdb8910

Abstract

Both Internet addiction and adolescent risk behaviors are worldwide public health concerns. Unfortunately, their relationship is grossly under-researched. Adopting a longitudinal research design, this study examined the longitudinal association between Internet addiction and problem behaviors among adolescents in Hong Kong and tested whether early Internet addiction predicted later adolescent problem behaviors. A total of 2,669 junior secondary school students completed three waves of questionnaires testing their Internet addiction behavior and other problem behaviors including drug use, self-harm, suicidal behaviors, delinquency behaviors, and compensated dating. Chi-square analysis showed that Internet addicted students had a high probability to display these problem behaviors at each wave. Logistic regression analyses suggest that early Internet addiction was a precursor of later problem behaviors among adolescents. The results shed light on the relationship between Internet addiction and adolescent problem behaviors, and provide reference for prevention and intervention of these problem behaviors.

Highlights

Both Internet addiction and adolescent risk behaviors are worldwide public health concerns
Adopting a longitudinal research design, this study examined the longitudinal association between Internet addiction and problem behaviors among adolescents in Hong Kong and tested whether early Internet addiction predicted later adolescent problem behaviors
The present study examined the relationship between Internet addiction and adolescent problem behaviors in Hong Kong based on three waves of longitudinal research data

Summary

Introduction

Both Internet addiction and adolescent risk behaviors are worldwide public health concerns Two largescale studies showed that around 17% to 26.8% Hong Kong secondary school students exhibited Internet addiction in recent years (Shek & Yu, 2016; Wu et al, 2016). These statistics give an alarm to public policymakers, youth workers and educators. There is lack of understanding of the relationship between Internet addiction and other adolescent risk behaviors such as drug use, self-harm, suicidal behavior, and delinquency behavior. Drug use could cause brain damage such as deficits in memory, attention, and executive functioning (Lundqvist, 2010)

Methods

Results

Conclusion