TY - JOUR
T1 - Internet use and problematic Internet use among adolescents in Japan
T2 - A nationwide representative survey
AU - Mihara, Satoko
AU - Osaki, Yoneatsu
AU - Nakayama, Hideki
AU - Sakuma, Hiroshi
AU - Ikeda, Maki
AU - Itani, Osamu
AU - Kaneita, Yoshitaka
AU - Kanda, Hideyuki
AU - Ohida, Takashi
AU - Higuchi, Susumu
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by a Health Science Research Grant from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in Japan ( H22-Junkankitou(Seishuu)-Shitei-20 ). The authors are most grateful to the junior and senior high schools and the students of those schools who kindly participated in this survey.
Funding Information:
This work was funded by a Health Science Research Grant from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in Japan. The funding organization had no role in the design or conduct of the study or the collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data or the preparation, review, or approval of the article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Authors
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Introduction Japan is assumed to have serious health and social problems due to Internet overuse, but little is known about the actual conditions. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of problematic Internet use (PIU) and associated Internet use in adolescents in Japan. Methods A nationwide survey of adolescent Internet use was conducted in 2012 and 2013. The participants were 100,050 students from randomly selected junior and senior high schools nationwide who gave valid responses to a self-reported questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions on Internet use and the Japanese version of the Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire (YDQ) as well as other questions related to lifestyle habits. Internet users were classified by gender according to three categories on the basis of their YDQ scores: adaptive use, maladaptive use, and PIU. Results The estimated prevalence of PIU was 6.2% in males, 9.8% in females, and 7.9% in total; it closely correlated with female gender, school grades, and number of Internet hours. The following common and gender-specific applications that conferred a risk of PIU were identified: downloading (both genders), online gaming (males), social networking services, blogs, and bulletin boards (females). Conclusions A cross-sectional survey using YDQ of a large number of high school students yielded a PIU prevalence of 7.9% in Japan. This study showed that problems associated with Internet overuse have already become serious; therefore, planning and implementation of prevention and control measures is urgently required.
AB - Introduction Japan is assumed to have serious health and social problems due to Internet overuse, but little is known about the actual conditions. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of problematic Internet use (PIU) and associated Internet use in adolescents in Japan. Methods A nationwide survey of adolescent Internet use was conducted in 2012 and 2013. The participants were 100,050 students from randomly selected junior and senior high schools nationwide who gave valid responses to a self-reported questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions on Internet use and the Japanese version of the Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire (YDQ) as well as other questions related to lifestyle habits. Internet users were classified by gender according to three categories on the basis of their YDQ scores: adaptive use, maladaptive use, and PIU. Results The estimated prevalence of PIU was 6.2% in males, 9.8% in females, and 7.9% in total; it closely correlated with female gender, school grades, and number of Internet hours. The following common and gender-specific applications that conferred a risk of PIU were identified: downloading (both genders), online gaming (males), social networking services, blogs, and bulletin boards (females). Conclusions A cross-sectional survey using YDQ of a large number of high school students yielded a PIU prevalence of 7.9% in Japan. This study showed that problems associated with Internet overuse have already become serious; therefore, planning and implementation of prevention and control measures is urgently required.
KW - Adolescents
KW - Internet use
KW - Japan
KW - Prevalence
KW - Problematic Internet use
KW - Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire
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U2 - 10.1016/j.abrep.2016.10.001
DO - 10.1016/j.abrep.2016.10.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84994704857
VL - 4
SP - 58
EP - 64
JO - Addictive Behaviors Reports
JF - Addictive Behaviors Reports
SN - 2352-8532
ER -
