Abstract
BackgroundIn the ever-growing and technologically advancing world, an increasing amount of social interaction takes place through the Web. With this change, loneliness is becoming an unprecedented societal issue, making youth more susceptible to various physical and mental health problems. This societal change also influences the dynamics of addiction.ObjectiveEmploying the cognitive discrepancy loneliness model, this study aimed to provide a social psychological perspective on youth addictions.MethodsA comprehensive survey was used to collect data from American (N=1212; mean 20.05, SD 3.19; 608/1212, 50.17% women), South Korean (N=1192; mean 20.61, SD 3.24; 601/1192, 50.42% women), and Finnish (N=1200; mean 21.29, SD 2.85; 600/1200, 50.00% women) youths aged 15 to 25 years. Perceived loneliness was assessed with the 3-item Loneliness Scale. A total of 3 addictive behaviors were measured, including excessive alcohol use, compulsive internet use, and problem gambling. A total of 2 separate models using linear regression analyses were estimated for each country to examine the association between perceived loneliness and addiction.ResultsLoneliness was significantly related to only compulsive internet use among the youth in all 3 countries (P<.001 in the United States, South Korea, and Finland). In the South Korean sample, the association remained significant with excessive alcohol use (P<.001) and problem gambling (P<.001), even after controlling for potentially confounding psychological variables.ConclusionsThe findings reveal existing differences between youths who spend excessive amounts of time online and those who engage in other types of addictive behaviors. Experiencing loneliness is consistently linked to compulsive internet use across countries, although different underlying factors may explain other forms of addiction. These findings provide a deeper understanding in the mechanisms of youth addiction and can help improve prevention and intervention work, especially in terms of compulsive internet use.
Highlights
Addictive behaviors are a continuous burden to public health, affecting millions of individuals globally
In the South Korean sample, the association remained significant with excessive alcohol use (P
According to our model 1, loneliness was significantly associated with alcohol use in the United States and South Korea, but not in Finland
Summary
Background Addictive behaviors are a continuous burden to public health, affecting millions of individuals globally. It is widely known that youths typically engage in behaviors that are harmful, sometimes deviant, and place them at risk for injury, https://mental.jmir.org/2020/1/e14035 XSLFO RenderX. Youths can be considered more susceptible to initiating at least some type of addictive behavior during the periods of adolescence and emerging adulthood. In the ever-growing and technologically advancing world, an increasing amount of social interaction takes place through the Web. In the ever-growing and technologically advancing world, an increasing amount of social interaction takes place through the Web With this change, loneliness is becoming an unprecedented societal issue, making youth more susceptible to various physical and mental health problems. Loneliness is becoming an unprecedented societal issue, making youth more susceptible to various physical and mental health problems This societal change influences the dynamics of addiction
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