Mobile Phone Addiction as an Emerging Behavioral Form of Addiction Among Adolescents in India

Prevalence and Predictors of Internet Addiction Among Adolescents Before the First Wave of COVID-19 Lockdown in India

Background Internet dependency behavior was found to be prevalent among adolescents even before the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns across the world including India. Adolescent users develop Internet addiction due to various risk factors. Aim The aim is to measure the prevalence and psychosocial predictors of internet addiction among adolescents before the first wave of the COVID-19 lockdown in India. Methods A cross-sectional, descriptive study before the first wave of the COVID-19 lockdown, included 1199 adolescents of both genders, aged 11 to 19 years, at selected educational settings from a city in south India, by using Young's Internet addiction test (IAT)-20 and structured questioner. Results The study found almost all the participants (100%) were using the internet in a day and the highest number of subjects started using the internet during their 6th standard of education (13%). Before the first wave of COVID-19 lockdown, the prevalence of a total of mild, moderate, and severe forms of internet addiction among adolescents was 65%. Individual, family, and community-related risk factors were found significant association with Internet addiction. The age of 14-16 years (OR 2.050, p= 0.000), duration of internet use in a day (OR 0.740, p= 0.064), financial matters (OR 0.981, p=0.016), total internet addiction score (OR 1.03, p=0.035) and timings of internet use (OR 1.161, p=0.004), were significant predictors of Internet addiction. Conclusion Internet addiction was prevalent and a notable behavior addiction among adolescents during the margin time of pre-pandemic and the first wave of the COVID-19 lockdown in India. The study highlighted many significant psychosocial risk factors and predictors of Internet Addiction in adolescents, thus the need for a panoramic approach to identify internet addiction in adolescents, to bring the modest behavior of healthy use of the internet in adolescents.

Prevalence of Smartphone Addiction and its Relationship with Obesity among Young Adults: A Cross-sectional Study from Delhi, India

Smartphone addiction (SA) has emerged as an important health concern worldwide. Recent studies have recognized SA as one of the factors that promote sedentarism and can contribute to obesity. However, the relationship between SA and obesity among Indian young adults remains understudied. The present study aims to estimate the prevalence of SA and explore its association with general and central obesity among young adults in Delhi, India. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 246 young adults (aged 18-30 years) of either sex (60.16% females) from Delhi. Screening for SA was done using the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version. Somatometric measurements (height, weight, waist circumference, and hip circumference) were taken to determine general and central obesity. SA was prevalent among 25.2% of the participants. The prevalence of SA was higher among males and undergraduate students than among females and postgraduate/MPhil/PhD students, respectively. Further, SA was not associated with any of the obesity variables. Interestingly, smartphone addicts were found to have a 2.5-fold increased risk of being underweight. Though SA was not associated with obesity, it was found to be associated with being underweight, indicating a relationship between smartphone use and nutritional status among young adults.

Impact of smart phone use on adolescence health in India

Smart phone use is on the rise globally, which may have an impact on people's health. The second-largest country in terms of mobile phone usage is India. However, there aren't many studies that have been done in India to evaluate its health impacts. Therefore, it is of interest to assess the effectiveness of codex on the impact of smart phone use on various dimensions of health status among adolescence. The pre-test mean score for knowledge regarding the impact of smart phones on physical health was 1.92, while the post-test mean score was 3.75. The pre-test and post-test standard deviations were 0.91 and 0.93, respectively, and the mean deviation score was the 't'-value that was 11.000 and Significant at the p<0.001*** level. The research was conducted in higher secondary school, and 60 students participated. The research design was a pre-experimental design; a self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge of Students on the Impact of mobile phone use on various dimensions of health. Most people, on average, spend 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phones each day. As adolescents are engaged in smartphone use, it disturbs their sleep patterns, adversely impacting their short-term memory.

Mobile usage among degree college students in industrial township of western Maharashtra - "A descriptive study"

Background

With the advent of smartphones, there is an exponential increase in mobile usage and addiction. The statistics pointing toward mobile dependence in adolescents are of paramount importance to assess the prevalence in them and suggest measures accordingly.

Aim

To observe the usage and dependence among the degree college students in an industrial township.

Materials and Methods

A validated and structured questionnaire was distributed among the students at a women's degree college in western Maharashtra and responses were collected after obtaining consent. Along with sociodemographic details, qualitative and quantitative information regarding mobile usage were collected. Data were cleaned, coded, and analyzed after ensuring the confidentiality of their information using SPSS v26.0.

Results

The mean age of the participants was 18.9+/-1.8 years. The mean time spent on mobile was 2.4+/-0.4 hours per day. Mobile dependency was found in 48% of participants. The mean total score was 92. The primary purpose for using the internet was to browse (41%) and social media 36%. The main benefit of using the internet was searching for information urgently (62.5%). A major limitation of using was felt as the internet to be very slow 61 (42.3%).

Conclusion

There is a high prevalence of smartphone dependence in college students.

Smartphone obsession linked behavioural changes among Indian adolescents

The best technological gifts of the 21st century are mobile phones, which are especially well-liked to adolescents. Infinite resources with numerous uses and applications are available on modern mobile devices. Adolescents have behavioral changes as a result of its excessive use. Therefore, it is of interest to explore the connection between smartphone obsession and potential behavioral changes. A School based, co relational study was conducted among 100 adolescents at selected schools at Tamil Nadu. Samples were selected by simple random sampling technique. Data were collected to assess the mobile addiction by using Smartphone Addiction Scale - Short Version (SVSAC) and Pediatric symptom checklist - 17was used to evaluate the behavioral changes. Collected data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The Study shows that 52 adolescents had a high smartphone Obsession, in that 37 had negative behavioral changes due to overuse of the smart phone and also had slight positive correlation between smartphone obsession and behavioral changes. A significant relationship was seen between smart phone obsession with behavioral changes (p<0.001) among adolescents. The study concluded that smart phone obsession and behavioral changes having strong connection in adolescents was significantly associated with their behaviors.

Mobile phone addiction and mental health: the roles of sleep quality and perceived social support

As a global phenomenon, mobile phone addiction has become an increasingly common issue among Chinese university students. Although previous research explored the link between mobile phone addiction and mental health, the possible mechanism underlying the above association is unclear. We administered a cross-sectional survey to 585 participants from two universities in Kunming, southwest China, from October 2021 to January 2022. Our results suggested that mobile phone addiction was negatively associated with mental health, and sleep quality partially mediated the relationship between mobile phone addiction and mental health. Furthermore, perceived social support positively moderated the direct effect of sleep quality on mental health, as well as the indirect effect of mobile phone addiction on mental health. These findings provide a new insight into the underlying mechanism by which mobile phone addiction affects university students' mental health. The results emphasize a necessary task for administrators, health workers, and family members to attach importance to the overuse of mobile phones among university students.

A study on prevalence and risk factors of depression among adolescent girls studying in government and private schools-A comparative study

Background

The prevalence of depression among school-going adolescent girls in India is about 40%. Adolescent girls attending private and government-run schools in South India have vastly different sociodemographic backgrounds and school environments. Assessing the associated risk factors for depression will help in designing appropriate preventive strategies.

Objective

To evaluate the prevalence of depression among school-going adolescent girls and the associated risk factors among government and private school students.

Methods

The cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in two private and two government-run schools in Tamil Nadu. A semi-structured questionnaire and 11-item Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale were administered to female students belonging to grades eight, nine, and ten. Differences in the prevalence of depression and the familial, social, and behavioral risk factors between private and government school students were measured and analyzed.

Results

The prevalence of depression among our study population is 23.8%. An adolescent girl studying in a private school has a 4.67 times higher chance of being depressed as compared to her counterpart in a government school. Stress due to higher academic expectations, peer pressure, disagreement with friends, excess smartphone usage, and family discord are associated factors in private school students, and family discord and chronic illness among family members were associated risk factors for depression in government school students.

Conclusion

There is a wide disparity in the prevalence of depression and associated factors among private and government school-going adolescent girls. The intervention program for depression has to be addressed differently according to the type of school.