Investigation of Correlated Internet and Smartphone Addiction in Adolescents: Copula Regression Analysis

Minji Lee, Sun Ju Chung, Youngjo Lee, Sera Park, Jun-Gun Kwon, Dai Jin Kim, Donghwan Lee and Jung-Seok Choi
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Minji Lee: Department of Statistics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea
Sun Ju Chung: Department of Psychiatry, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul 07061, Korea
Youngjo Lee: Department of Statistics, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Sera Park: I Will Center, Seoul Metropolitan Boramae Youth Center, Seoul 07062, Korea
Jun-Gun Kwon: I Will Center, Seoul Metropolitan Boramae Youth Center, Seoul 07062, Korea
Dai Jin Kim: Department of Psychiatry, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
Donghwan Lee: Department of Statistics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea
Jung-Seok Choi: Department of Psychiatry, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul 07061, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-12

Abstract: Internet and smartphone addiction have become important social issues. Various studies have demonstrated their association with clinical and psychological factors, including depression, anxiety, aggression, anger expression, and behavioral inhibition, and behavioral activation systems. However, these two addictions are also highly correlated with each other, so the consideration of the relationship between internet and smartphone addiction can enhance the analysis. In this study, we considered the copula regression model to regress the bivariate addictions on clinical and psychological factors. Real data analysis with 555 students (age range: 14–15 years; males, N = 295; females, N = 265) from South Korean public middle schools is illustrated. By fitting the copula regression model, we investigated the dependency between internet and smartphone addiction and determined the risk factors associated with the two addictions. Furthermore, by comparing the model fits of the copula model with linear regression and generalized linear models, the best copula model was proposed in terms of goodness of fit. Our findings revealed that internet and smartphone addiction are not separate problems, and that associations between them should be considered. Psychological factors, such as anxiety, the behavioral inhibition system, and aggression were also significantly associated with both addictions, while ADHD symptoms were related to internet addiction only. We emphasize the need to establish policies on the prevention, management, and education of addiction.

Keywords: internet addiction; smartphone addiction; copula regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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