Prevalence of internet addiction and its relationship with combinations of physical activity and screen-based sedentary behavior among adolescents in China

Gengyu Han, Jingshu Zhang, Shang Ma, Ruoran Lu, Jiali Duan, Yi Song*, Patrick W.C. Lau

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background

Given the widespread prevalence and serious nature of Internet addiction (IA), this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of IA and assess the relationships between IA and combinations of physical activity (PA) and screen-based sedentary behavior (SB) among adolescents in China. 

Methods

This cross-sectional study surveyed 31,954 adolescents in grades 7 to 12 in Beijing. IA, PA, screen-based SB, and other information were obtained from a self-administrated questionnaire. The chi-square test and mixed-effects logistic regression model were applied to estimate the relationship between IA and combinations of PA and screen-based SB. 

Results

6.2% of the surveyed adolescents reported IA and the prevalence of low PA/high screen-based SB, high PA/high screen-based SB, low PA/low screen-based SB, and high PA/low screen-based SB were 53.7%, 19.5%, 18.8%, and 8.0%, respectively. Mixed-effects logistic regression analysis showed that adolescents with low PA/high screen-based SB were 1.99 (95% confidence interval, 1.62-2.44, P <.001) times more likely to prefer IA than those with high PA/low screen-based SB. 

Conclusions

The prevalence of IA among Chinese adolescents is still high. Intervention programs like maintaining sufficient PA and reducing screen-based SB might contribute to reducing their IA.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1245–1252
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Physical Activity and Health
Volume18
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

User-Defined Keywords

  • Health behavior
  • Mental health
  • Youth

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Prevalence of internet addiction and its relationship with combinations of physical activity and screen-based sedentary behavior among adolescents in China'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this