TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2010//
TI  - Internet addiction: prevalence, discriminant validity and correlates among adolescents in Hong Kong
JO  - British journal of psychiatry
A1  - Fu, King-Wa
A1  - Chan, Wincy S. C.
A1  - Wong, Paul W. C.
A1  - Yip, Paul S. F.
SP  - 486
EP  - 492
VL  - 196
IS  - 6
N2  - BACKGROUND: Despite increasing concern over the potential adverse effects of excessive internet use, especially in young people, there is some debate over its definition, magnitude and discriminant validity. AIMS: To examine the prevalence of adolescents' internet addiction in Hong Kong, China; to test its differentiation from other correlates; and to examine its relationships with correlates in a representative community sample of adolescents. METHOD: A two-wave panel household survey with 208 adolescents (aged 15-19 years) was conducted. Participants were asked to self-report their patterns of internet usage, symptoms of internet addiction, suicidal ideation, psychiatric symptoms and psychosocial conditions during the study period. RESULTS: The prevalence rate for having five or more symptoms of internet addiction was estimated to be 6.7% (95% CI 3.3-10.2). The discriminatory characteristic of internet addiction was marginally demonstrated. Positive dose-response relationships were found between the number of symptoms of internet addiction and 1-year changes in scores for suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence supports the specificity of internet addiction and its symptoms seem to co-occur with individuals' suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0007-1250
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.109.075002
ID  - ref1
ER  -