title: Sadness, suicide, and their association with video game and internet overuse among teens: results from the youth risk behavior survey 2007 and 2009.
abstract: We investigated the association between excessive video game/Internet use and teen suicidality. Data were obtained from the 2007 and 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), a high school-based, nationally representative survey (N = 14,041 and N = 16,410, respectively). Teens who reported 5 hours or more of video games/Internet daily use, in the 2009 YRBS, had a significantly higher risk for sadness (adjusted and weighted odds ratio, 95% confidence interval = 2.1, 1.7-2.5), suicidal ideation (1.7, 1.3-2.1), and suicide planning (1.5, 1.1-1.9). The same pattern was found in the 2007 survey. These findings support an association between excessive video game and Internet use and risk for teen depression and suicidality.
authors.affiliation: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. emessias@gmail.com
authors.forename: Erick
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Messias
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saini
authors.forename: Manzoor
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Usman
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Peeples
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018910:Video Games / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*