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Addiction Medicine pp 677–686Cite as

Instant Messaging Addiction Among Teenagers: Abstracting from the Chinese Experience

Abstract

Instant messaging is popular among teenagers in China and has become an important and favorite computer-mediated communication activity. Nevertheless, little research has been done to understand teenagers’ instant messaging abuse in China. Using Young’s classical definition of Internet addiction, it was estimated from a cohort of 330 teenagers in a typical middle school in China in 2007 that 95.8% used instant messaging, and 9.8% of them could be classified as being instant messaging addicts. Four major symptoms of instant messaging addiction among teenagers were identified: “preoccupation with instant messaging”, “loss of relationships due to overuse”, “loss of control”, and “escape”. Also, greater shyness and alienation from family, peers, and school were associated with a higher likelihood and severity of instant messaging addiction. As expected, increasing levels of instant messaging use and addiction were associated significantly with lower academic performance among teenagers.

Keywords

  • Instant messaging
  • Addiction
  • Shyness
  • Alienation
  • Academic performance
  • Teenagers in China

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Journalism & Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong

    Hanyun Huang

  2. Center for Communication Research, School of Journalism & Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong

    Louis Leung

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  1. Hanyun Huang
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  2. Louis Leung
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Correspondence to Louis Leung .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Depts Psychiat & Neurobehav Sciences, Me, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22908, Virginia, USA

    Bankole A. Johnson

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Huang, H., Leung, L. (2010). Instant Messaging Addiction Among Teenagers: Abstracting from the Chinese Experience. In: Johnson, B. (eds) Addiction Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0338-9_33

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0338-9_33

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