J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2005 May;44(3):364-370.

Emotional and Behavioral Problems Related with Internet Addiction in Adolescence

• Kim TH
• Ha EH
• Lee ES
• Cho SJ
• Song DH

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
As internet users increase rapidly, internet addiction is a rising addictive behavior associated with psychiatric problems of adolescence in Korea. The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalences of internet use and the relations of internet addiction to emotional and behavioral problems of adolecence in Korea.
METHODS
We assessed 1.555 middle and high school students in Koyang city, Korea using Young Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS), Center for Epidemiological Study for Depression (CES-D), Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), Youth Self Report (YSR), and Psychological Self (PS)-1 of Offer's Self Image Questionnaire (OSIQ).
RESULTS
Ninty eight subjects (6.3%) were Internet Addicted Group ('Addicted Group'):51 (6.2%) were middle school students, and 47 (6.5%) were high school students. Compared to girls, boys showed higher prevalences of internet addiction and higher mean score of YIAS. But there were no significant differences of prevalences and YIAS scores between middle and high school students. Addicted Group had significantly higher mean scores of all scales (subscales) than Non-Addicted Group.
CONCLUSION
Adolescents with internet addiction showed more psychiatric problems compared to adolescents without internet addiction, thus require therapeutic approaches to multiple psychopathologies in addition to the addictive behaviors.

Keyword

Adolescence; Internet addiction; Emotional and behavioral problems

MeSH Terms

Adolescent*
Behavior, Addictive
Depression
Epidemiologic Studies
Female
Humans
Internet*
Korea
Manifest Anxiety Scale
Prevalence
Surveys and Questionnaires
Self Report
Weights and Measures