The Nonlinear Association Between Internet Using Time for Non-Educational Purposes and Adolescent Health
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to consider the association between Internet using time for non-educational purposes and adolescent health, and to examine how health status differs between Internet users and non-users. METHODS: We analyzed 2009 data from the Korea Adolescent Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey, conducted on a nationally representative sample of students in grades 7 to 12. A total of 75 066 adolescents were categorized into four groups according to their Internet using time excluding using for educational purposes: non-Internet users (NIUs), occasional Internet users (OIUs) (<1 h/d), moderate Internet users (MIUs) (≥ 1 and <2 h/d), and heavy Internet users (HIUs) (≥ 2 h/d). Health factors included eight health risk behavior indices, four mental health indices and six physical health indices. RESULTS: THE DISTRIBUTION OF INTERNET USE WAS AS FOLLOWS: NIUs 17.4%, OIUs 68.1%, MIUs 12.7%, and HIUs 1.7%. In multivariate analysis, using OIUs as a reference, U- or J-shaped associations were observed for five health risk behavior indices (current smoking, current drinking, drug abuse, sexual intercourse, sedentary behavior on weekdays) and four mental health indices (stressed, depressed, suicidal ideation, attempted suicide) in both genders. After removing confounding effects, including age, region, school type, subjective school record, subjective economic status, presence of parents, living with family, and sedentary behavior, these associations were still observed. CONCLUSIONS: Health professionals should consider both Internet non-users (for non-educational purposes) and heavy users to be high-risk groups in terms of health status. Also, more well-designed studies are needed to clarify what factors are working in these nonlinear associations.
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In boys, with OIU as reference, NIU was associated with attempted suicide (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.61-2.18).
“Boys: NIU (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.61-2.18)”
From Social media, internet use and suicide attempts in adolescents (2019) · cites this paper as Kim, 2012
The Results report that, with OIUs as the reference group, the odds of attempted suicide were significantly higher in both genders and describe a U-shaped association that includes NIUs. Our copy does not provide the specific estimate of OR 1.87 or its 95% CI of 1.61–2.18; searches for those numbers found no matching passage. The available passages have section labels but no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn girls, with OIU as reference, NIU (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.05-1.43), MIU (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.18-1.60), and HIU (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.41-2.95) were associated with attempted suicide.
“Girls: NIU (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.05- 1.43), MIU (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.18-1.60), HIU (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.41-2.95).”
From Social media, internet use and suicide attempts in adolescents (2019) · cites this paper as Kim, 2012
The Results (page unavailable) say that, with OIUs as the reference, odds ratios for attempted suicide were significantly above 1 in NIUs, MIUs and HIUs in both genders, including girls. The passages do not give the claimed odds ratios or 95% confidence intervals, and searches for those numbers did not find them in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredOccasional internet users (OIUs) were the largest group, with lowest rates of attempted suicide.
“OIUs were the largest group, with lowest rates of attempted suicide.”
From Social media, internet use and suicide attempts in adolescents (2019) · cites this paper as Kim, 2012
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Cites
Adolescent Internet use: What we expect, what teens report
Gross, E. F. (2004) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2004.09.005 · Cited by 866 · see citing works
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Sedentary behaviour and the risk of depression: a meta-analysis
Zhai, L., Zhang, Y., & Zhang, D. (2015) · British Journal of Sports Medicine · doi:10.1136/bjsports-2014-093613 · Cited by 500 · see citing works
Marchant, A., Hawton, K., Stewart, A., Montgomery, P., Singaravelu, V., Lloyd, K., Purdy, N., Daine, K., & John, A. (2017) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181722 · Cited by 464 · see citing works
Liu, M., Wu, L., & Yao, S. (2016) · British Journal of Sports Medicine · doi:10.1136/bjsports-2015-095084 · Cited by 364 · see citing works
Suchert, V., Hanewinkel, R., & Isensee, B. (2015) · Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.03.026 · Cited by 329 · see citing works
Social media, internet use and suicide attempts in adolescents
Sedgwick, R., Epstein, S., Dutta, R., & Ougrin, D. (2019) · Current Opinion in Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/yco.0000000000000547 · Cited by 260 · see citing works
Houghton, S., Lawrence, D., Hunter, S. C., Rosenberg, M., Zadow, C., Wood, L., & Shilton, T. (2018) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-018-0901-y · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Sanders, T., Parker, P. D., del Pozo-Cruz, B., Noetel, M., & Lonsdale, C. (2019) · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/s12966-019-0881-7 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Zink, J., Belcher, B. R., Imm, K., & Leventhal, A. M. (2020) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-020-08572-1 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
“Furthermore, the majority (11 of the 14, one among a clinical sample) of these studies were conducted in large samples of over 1500 participants, including children and those in early- and mid- adolescence [29, 39, 40, 43, 56, 62, 81, 84, 87, 89, 90].”
Background
- Authors
- Kim, J. Y.
- Affiliations
- Daegu Catholic University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Kim, Jong Yeon
- ORCID
- Kim, Jong Yeon
- Venue
- Journal of Preventive Medicine & Public Health
- Published
- 2012-01-31
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 37-46
- ISSN
- 1975-8375 (ISSN-L)
- 2233-4521
- PMC
- PMC3278603
- OpenAlex
- W2097432268
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 9.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Keywords
- adolescent health, health risk behaviors, mental health, physical health, sedentary behavior, smoking, alcohol consumption, drug abuse, sexual intercourse, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, depression, stress, adolescents
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Female, Health Status, Humans, Korea, Male, Risk-Taking, Time Factors, Health Behavior, Internet
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