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.