Association of Loneliness with Problematic Internet Use Among Adolescents Aged 10 to 16: a Longitudinal Study.

This study aimed to examine the prospective association between loneliness and Problematic Internet Use (PIU) among adolescents aged 10 to 16. This study was conducted using data from the Japan Adolescent and Youth Longitudinal Cohort Study collected in 2022 and 2023. Participants were adolescents i...

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Publicado en:International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction Vol. 24; no. 4; pp. 3269 - 3287
Autores principales: Fukuya, Yoshifumi, Suyama, Satoshi, Ogawa, Shiori, Yamawaki, Kaori, Morisaki, Naho, Ishitsuka, Kazue
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Aug2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Aug2026
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      pub: Springer Nature
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        10.1007/s11469-025-01556-5
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        atl: Association of Loneliness with Problematic Internet Use Among Adolescents Aged 10 to 16: a Longitudinal Study.
      aug:
        au:
          Fukuya, Yoshifumi
          Suyama, Satoshi
          Ogawa, Shiori
          Yamawaki, Kaori
          Morisaki, Naho
          Ishitsuka, Kazue
        affil:
          https://ror.org/02hcx7n63 Department of Neuropsychiatry, Toho University Faculty of Medicine, 6-11-1 Omori-Nishi, Ota-Ku, 143-8541, Tokyo, Japan
          https://ror.org/0419drx70 Center for Child Mental Health and Development, Hokkaido University Hospital, Kita 14, Nishi 5, Kita-Ku, 060-8648, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
          https://ror.org/04chrp450 Physical Fitness and Sports, Research Center of Health, Nagoya University, Furo-Cho, Chikusa-Ku, 464-8601, Nagoya, Japan
          https://ror.org/058s63h23 Department of Pediatrics and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons With Disabilities, 1, Namiki 4-Chome, 359-8555, Tokorozawa City, Saitama, Japan
          https://ror.org/03fvwxc59 Department of Social Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, 2-10-1 Okura, 157-8535, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
      su:
        Japan
        Loneliness
        Internet addiction
        Socioeconomic status
        Mental depression
        Teenagers
        Mental health
        Caregiver-child relationships
        Longitudinal method
      sug:
        subj:
          Loneliness
          Internet addiction
          Socioeconomic status
          Mental depression
          Teenagers
          Mental health
          Japan
          Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians)
          Caregiver-child relationships
          Longitudinal method
      keyword:
        Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services
        Problematic internet use
        Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services
        Problematic internet use
      ab: This study aimed to examine the prospective association between loneliness and Problematic Internet Use (PIU) among adolescents aged 10 to 16. This study was conducted using data from the Japan Adolescent and Youth Longitudinal Cohort Study collected in 2022 and 2023. Participants were adolescents in grades 5–10 and their caregivers who were recruited from Japan. A total of 528 participants were eligible and provided consent to participate in both the 2022 and 2023 surveys (follow-up rate: 35.2%). A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to the participants. A modified Poisson regression model was applied to examine the association between loneliness and PIU, adjusting for potential confounders, including socioeconomic status, caregiver-child interaction, caregivers' mental health status, and individual factors such as depressive symptoms and internet use at baseline. The PIU group accounted for 18.7% (n = 98) of the participants in the 2023 survey. After adjusting for these confounders, loneliness was found to be significantly associated with PIU (RR = 1.14; 95% CI [1.05–1.24]). Baseline PIU and depressive symptoms were also significantly associated with subsequent PIU. This study demonstrated that loneliness was prospectively associated with later PIU among adolescents aged 10 to 16. The findings suggest that loneliness may independently increase the risk of developing adolescent PIU. These findings also highlight the importance of school-based and mental health interventions focused on reducing loneliness to mitigate the risk of problematic internet use among adolescents. Further studies are warranted to investigate the causal mechanisms underlying this association.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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