Effects of Internet and Smartphone Addictions on Depression and Anxiety Based on Propensity Score Matching Analysis

Yeon-Jin Kim, Hye Min Jang, Youngjo Lee, Donghwan Lee and Dai-Jin Kim
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Yeon-Jin Kim: Department of Psychiatry, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul 07061, Korea
Hye Min Jang: Department of Statistics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea
Youngjo Lee: Department of Statistics, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Donghwan Lee: Department of Statistics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea
Dai-Jin Kim: Department of Psychiatry, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul 06591, Korea

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-10

Abstract: The associations of Internet addiction (IA) and smartphone addiction (SA) with mental health problems have been widely studied. We investigated the effects of IA and SA on depression and anxiety while adjusting for sociodemographic variables. In this study, 4854 participants completed a cross-sectional web-based survey including socio-demographic items, the Korean Scale for Internet Addiction, the Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale, and the subscales of the Symptom Checklist 90 Items-Revised. The participants were classified into IA, SA, and normal use (NU) groups. To reduce sampling bias, we applied the propensity score matching method based on genetics matching. The IA group showed an increased risk of depression (relative risk 1.207; p < 0.001) and anxiety (relative risk 1.264; p < 0.001) compared to NUs. The SA group also showed an increased risk of depression (relative risk 1.337; p < 0.001) and anxiety (relative risk 1.402; p < 0.001) compared to NCs. These findings show that both, IA and SA, exerted significant effects on depression and anxiety. Moreover, our findings showed that SA has a stronger relationship with depression and anxiety, stronger than IA, and emphasized the need for prevention and management policy of the excessive smartphone use.

Keywords: anxiety; depression; Internet addiction; smartphone addiction; propensity score (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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