Internet use and problematic Internet use among adolescents in Japan: A nationwide representative survey

Abstract

IntroductionJapan is assumed to have serious health and social problems due to Internet overuse, but little is known about the actual conditions. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of problematic Internet use (PIU) and associated Internet use in adolescents in Japan.MethodsA nationwide survey of adolescent Internet use was conducted in 2012 and 2013. The participants were 100,050 students from randomly selected junior and senior high schools nationwide who gave valid responses to a self-reported questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions on Internet use and the Japanese version of the Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire (YDQ) as well as other questions related to lifestyle habits. Internet users were classified by gender according to three categories on the basis of their YDQ scores: adaptive use, maladaptive use, and PIU.ResultsThe estimated prevalence of PIU was 6.2% in males, 9.8% in females, and 7.9% in total; it closely correlated with female gender, school grades, and number of Internet hours. The following common and gender-specific applications that conferred a risk of PIU were identified: downloading (both genders), online gaming (males), social networking services, blogs, and bulletin boards (females).ConclusionsA cross-sectional survey using YDQ of a large number of high school students yielded a PIU prevalence of 7.9% in Japan. This study showed that problems associated with Internet overuse have already become serious; therefore, planning and implementation of prevention and control measures is urgently required.

Associations between problematic Internet use and psychiatric symptoms among university students in Japan

“…One interesting finding from our data is that the prevalence of PIU was trend‐level higher in young women than in young men, whereas most of the reported female prevalence in other countries is smaller. This result was similar to the result of Mihara et al . and Morioka et al .…”

“…One interesting finding from our data is that the prevalence of PIU was trend-level higher in young women than in young men, whereas most of the reported female prevalence in other countries is smaller. This result was similar to the result of Mihara et al 48 and Morioka et al 14 for junior high and high school students in Japan. Tateno et al showed that more men use the Internet for games, whereas more women use the internet for SNS, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LINE.…”

Problematic Internet use and its associations with health‐related symptoms and lifestyle habits among rural Japanese adolescents

“…The proportion of students with PIU was slightly higher among female students, though the difference was not significant (Tables , and S1), which is consistent with some previous studies in Japan . It is possible that differences in students’ Internet activities may be related to sex, which would lead to sex differences in the prevalence of PIU, though no conclusions have been reported .…”

“…A large‐scale survey on the prevalence of PIU among junior high‐school students in Japan was conducted for the first time in 2012 by the Health Laboratory Research Group using Young's diagnostic criteria . The survey's results showed a 6% prevalence of PIU among junior high‐school students nationwide, which was estimated to be 510 000 adolescents.…”

“…Moreover, Mihara et al . reported that the following common and sex‐specific applications contributed to the increased prevalence of PIU: downloading (both sexes), online gaming (boys), social networking, and blogging (girls) . Boys and girls may have different psychosocial mechanisms leading to PIU, and understanding of these mechanisms will provide better management strategies for each sex.…”