title: Substance abuse precedes Internet addiction.
abstract: The purpose of the current study was to evaluate possible overlapping substance abuse and internet addiction in a large, uniformly sampled population, ranging in age from 13 to 18 years. Participants (N=73,238) in the current study were drawn from the 6th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBWS-V) for students from 400 middle schools and 400 high schools in 16 cities within South Korea. Of adolescent internet users, 85.2% were general users (GU), 11.9% were users with potential risk for internet addiction (PR), and 3.0% were users with high risk for internet addiction (HR). There was a difference in the number of students with alcohol drinking among the GU, PR, and HR groups (20.8% vs 23.1% vs 27.4%). There was a difference in the number of students who smoked among the GS, PR, and HR groups (11.7% vs 13.5% vs 20.4%). There was a difference in the number of students with drug use among the GU, PR, and HR groups (1.7% vs 2.0% vs 6.5%). After adjusting for sex, age, stress, depressed mood, and suicidal ideation, smoking may predict a high risk for internet addiction (OR=1.203, p=0.004). In addition, drug use may predict a high risk for internet addiction (OR=2.591, p<0.001). Because students with a high risk for internet addiction have vulnerability for addictive behaviors, co-morbid substance abuse should be evaluated and, if found, treated in adolescents with internet addiction.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Chung Ang University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
authors: Young Sik
authors: YS
authors: Lee
authors: Doug Hyun
authors: DH
authors: Han
authors: Sun Mi
authors: SM
authors: Kim
authors: Perry F
authors: PF
authors: Renshaw
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D017668:Age of Onset; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*
references: World J Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Mar;11(2 Pt 2):382-9
references: 19247849
references: Alcohol Alcohol. 2012 Jan-Feb;47(1):18-24
references: 22012847
references: Cyberpsychol Behav. 2008 Dec;11(6):735-7
references: 18954290
references: Scand J Psychol. 2009 Apr;50(2):121-7
references: 18826420
references: J Youth Adolesc. 2010 Feb;39(2):103-13
references: 20084557
references: J Affect Disord. 2008 Jul;109(1-2):165-9
references: 18045695
references: J Prev Med Public Health. 2010 Sep;43(5):403-10
references: 20959711
references: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2000 Jun;24(4):417-63
references: 10817843
references: Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2010 Aug;18(4):297-304
references: 20695685
references: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1998 Nov;55(11):982-8
references: 9819066
references: PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e33513
references: 22438940
references: J Psychiatr Res. 2009 Apr;43(7):739-47
references: 18996542
references: Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2009 Aug;63(4):455-62
references: 19490510
references: BMC Psychiatry. 2011 Aug 26;11:144
references: 21871089
references: Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Nov 15;58(10):787-95
references: 15993856