Association between use of Internet and quality of life (QOL) among young people in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background: Increased prevalence of Internet use among youth in Hong Kong becomes an important social and health concern. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between internet usage and quality of life (QOL) among young people in Hong Kong.

Method: This cross-section corelational study recruited a convenience sample of 273 young adults aged 18-30 in Hong Kong. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) was adopted to assess the internet usage among participants and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL-BREF) was used to measure their QOL. Internet users were categorized into the "no", "mild", "moderate" and "severe" addiction groups according to their IAT scores

Results: 9.9% of participants were classified as severe internet addiction group. Internet usage was negatively associated with QOL in young people (r=-0.17, p=0.004). Several domains of the WHOQOL-BREF, including Psychological (r=-0.19, p=0.001), and environmental (r=-0.20, p=0.001), correlated negatively with IAT score. Post hoc analysis on ANOVAs revealed that severe internet addiction group reduced significantly on QOL (p<0.001), compared to other groups. Further, male young adults were more susceptible to internet addiction than female (p=0.003).

Conclusions: The study findings suggested that problematic internet use was serious among young people in Hong Kong. Compared with the young female, male youth might be more liable to internet overuse. Further study with large sample size was recommended to confirm the result. Early implementation of preventive and control measures on internet addictive use in the at-risk young aged group was suggested.