Mood Emot.  2025 Mar;23(1):11-20. 10.35986/me.2025.23.1.11.

Prevalence and Factors Influencing Behavioral Addictions among School Adolescents: A Study in the Gwangju-Jeonnam Region

• Kim N
• Yoon BH
• Yun H
• Kim HY
• Jung HR
• Jeong Y
• Park S
• Sea YH

• KMID: 2568052
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.35986/me.2025.23.1.11

Abstract

Background
The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and associated psychosocial factors of behavioral addictions among school adolescents living in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions in Korea.
Methods
A self-reported survey was conducted from December 4, 2023, to January 31, 2024, including 855 middle and high school students residing in the Gwangju-Jeonnam regions. Aside from the information on demographic characteristics, data on depression, anxiety, Internet gaming addiction, gambling problems, and resilience was obtained.
Results
The prevalence of Internet gaming addiction among adolescents was 5.4%, while the prevalence of gambling problems was 3.3%. The male adolescents had a significantly higher risk of behavioral addiction compared with the female adolescents. The logistic regression analysis revealed that male and depression were significant risk factors for Internet gaming addiction. For gambling problems, male was identified as a significant risk factor.
Conclusion
The findings of this study suggested that the prevalence of behavioral addiction among school adolescents has been relatively higher than that of previous studies, emphasizing the need for community-based prevention and intervention strategies tailored to the sex difference and psychological factors associated with adolescent behavioral addictions.

Keyword

Adolescent; Behavior; addictive; Depression; Resilience; psychological; Prevention; intervention