ArticleJMIR mental health2020
The Role of Perceived Loneliness in Youth Addictive Behaviors: Cross-National Survey Study.
Article in JMIR mental health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed.
- When Do We Recover from Loneliness: The Role of Green Consumption and Social Value.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The role of deviant leisure tendencies and loneliness in gambling craving.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The Longitudinal Relationship of Loneliness With Frequency and Problematic Use of Alcohol and Cannabis Among Young Adults.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2025Article
- Long term patterns and risk factors of loneliness in young adults from an 18-Year longitudinal study in Germany.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Lonely gamble - A longitudinal study of loneliness, gambling to escape and problem gambling.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2025Article
- The pathways between abstinence self-efficacy, perceived social support and substance use craving.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Social Achievement Goals and Alcohol Use Outcomes in a Network of College Students.Substance use & misuse · 2025Article
- The longitudinal relationship between loneliness and problematic social networking site use in college students: the mediating role of trait- and state-fear of missing out.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- The impacts of stress and loneliness on gambling and gaming problems: A nationwide longitudinal study.The International journal of social psychiatry · 2024Article
- What is known about population level programs designed to address gambling-related harm: rapid review of the evidence.Harm reduction journal · 2024Review
- The Mediating Effect of Depression on the Relationship between Loneliness and Substance Use in Korean Adolescents.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Effects of loneliness on short video addiction among college students: the chain mediating role of social support and physical activity.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Longitudinal Effects of Screen Time on Depressive Symptoms among Swedish Adolescents: The Moderating and Mediating Role of Coping Engagement Behavior.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Loneliness Is Associated With Problematic Internet Use but Not With the Frequency of Substance Use: A Czech Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of public health · 2023Article
- Ameliorative Effect of Rice Husk Methanol Extract on Liver and Kidney Toxicities Induced by Subchronic Codeine Administration.International journal of food science · 2023Article
- Socio-demographic and mental health correlates of internet addiction amongst Hong Kong university students under COVID-19.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Marijuana use and its correlates among school-going Jamaican adolescents: a finding from a national survey.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- COVID-19 Anxiety and Wellbeing at Work in Finland during 2020-2022: A 5-Wave Longitudinal Survey Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Correlation between loneliness, personality traits, and treatment outcomes in patients with methamphetamine use disorder.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Loneliness, Implicit-Self and Digital Literacy.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn the ever-growing and technologically advancing world, an increasing amount of social interaction takes place through the Web. With this change, loneliness is becoming an unprecedented societal issue, making youth more susceptible to various physical and mental health problems. This societal change also influences the dynamics of addiction.
objectiveEmploying the cognitive discrepancy loneliness model, this study aimed to provide a social psychological perspective on youth addictions.
methodsA comprehensive survey was used to collect data from American (N=1212; mean 20.05, SD 3.19; 608/1212, 50.17% women), South Korean (N=1192; mean 20.61, SD 3.24; 601/1192, 50.42% women), and Finnish (N=1200; mean 21.29, SD 2.85; 600/1200, 50.00% women) youths aged 15 to 25 years. Perceived loneliness was assessed with the 3-item Loneliness Scale. A total of 3 addictive behaviors were measured, including excessive alcohol use, compulsive internet use, and problem gambling. A total of 2 separate models using linear regression analyses were estimated for each country to examine the association between perceived loneliness and addiction.
resultsLoneliness was significantly related to only compulsive internet use among the youth in all 3 countries (P<.001 in the United States, South Korea, and Finland). In the South Korean sample, the association remained significant with excessive alcohol use (P<.001) and problem gambling (P<.001), even after controlling for potentially confounding psychological variables.
conclusionsThe findings reveal existing differences between youths who spend excessive amounts of time online and those who engage in other types of addictive behaviors. Experiencing loneliness is consistently linked to compulsive internet use across countries, although different underlying factors may explain other forms of addiction. These findings provide a deeper understanding in the mechanisms of youth addiction and can help improve prevention and intervention work, especially in terms of compulsive internet use.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.