Association Between Internet Addiction and Mental Health Problems in Korean Adolescents: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) among Korean adolescents and examine its association with psychiatric comorbidities and mental health symptoms. Methods: A total of 270 adolescents and their parents participated in this study. Parents completed the Internet Addiction Proneness Scale for Youth: Observer Version and the Diagnostic Predictive Scales, whereas adolescents completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children, the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Disorders, and the Youth Self-Report. Group differences in psychiatric disorders and mental health symptoms across IA levels were analyzed. Results: Of the participants, 86.3% were classified as general, 11.1% as potential high risk, and 2.6% as high risk for IA. The high risk IA group exhibited significantly higher rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (42.9%), major depressive disorder (26.3%), and social anxiety (14.3%) as well as greater attentional and social difficulties. Effect sizes for group differences were small to moderate (ε2=0.041 for social problems; ε2=0.033 for attentional problems). IA scores were positively correlated with attentional difficulties and anxiety. Anxiety was a significant predictor of IA in the regression analysis. Conclusion: Adolescents with high IA risk exhibited elevated psychiatric comorbidities and mental health difficulties, with anxiety showing an independent association with IA. These findings suggest incorporating anxiety-management components into IA prevention and care. Given the small sample size of the high risk IA group, caution is warranted when generalizing these findings.