Research Article

Teens and technology addiction - A survey

V. T. Thamarai Selvi1, R. Gayathri2*, V. Vishnu Priya2

ABSTRACT

Teenage is the period between the age of 13 and 19 years old.We can also call this period as adolescence period. Adolescence
period is the duration where all changes take place for the transition from puberty to adulthood. The addiction toward the
technology at this stage is slightly dangerous which may lead to various problems mentally and physically. The present study
focuses on the addiction toward the technology among the teenage population.

KEY WORDS: Adolescence, Technology, Teens

INTRODUCTION are mostly addicted toward the technology than the

Amid the mid-1980s the cell phone was presented, amid
that time it was extremely helpful and advantageous
for the communication purposes. However, as the
years passed by with the advancements of technology,
it had become very much disadvantageous also. The
usage of mobile phones has caused many problems
like using mobiles while driving leads to accidents,[1]
with the advancements in technology the privacy of
the person is disturbed by hacking of the individual’s
personals without their knowledge. It also interferes
with the health of the individual increase in the screen
time, i.e.,  in front of the computers, mobiles, etc.,
leads to eye-related problems not only but also it is
related with the high cardiovascular risk factors.[2]
The term addiction is used that the subject is obsessed
to a particular activity which disturbs the daily
activities. Addiction toward the gambling is one of the
well-known example. Nowadays, there is a new and
rapidly developing addiction toward the smartphone,
internet, etc. A  very good example for behavioral
addiction is addiction toward the technology.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Fifth Edition defined behavioral addiction
as the cognitive and behavioral symptoms, similar to
substance-related addiction.[3] The teenage population
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other age population.[4]
Smart mobiles were presented in the year of 1997.
Penelope was the term given for these smartphones
which had the features such as communication,
messaging, and facilities. The present day’s
smartphone has various features such as Wi-Fi and
wireless. The smartphones can be classified as android
mobiles and iOS mobiles. The smartphone users are
getting increased everyday.[5]
Teenage is the period between the age of 13 and
19  years old.[6-8] We can also call this period as
adolescence period. Adolescence period is the duration
where all changes take place for the transition from
puberty to adulthood.[9-11] The addiction toward the
technology at this stage is slightly dangerous which
may lead to various problems mentally and physically.
According to the report from UNICEF, there are about
243 million adolescents residing in India.[12,13]
The present study focuses on the addiction toward
the technology among the teenage population and the
effects of the smartphone and technology addiction at
the young age and their impact on the health.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This was survey-based study. The survey was
conducted with the help of a questionnaire. The
responses were collected through survey planet. The

1
Department of Biochemistry, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha
University, Chennai,Tamil Nadu, India, 2Department of Biochemistry, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical
and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

*Corresponding author: R. Gayathri, Department of Biochemistry, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of
Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, 160, Poonamallee High Road, Chennai–600 077, Tamil Nadu, India.
Phone: +91-9710680545. E-mail: gayathri.jaisai@gmail.com

Received on: 17-09-2018; Revised on: 22-11-2018; Accepted on: 25-01-2019

Drug Invention Today | Vol 11 • Issue 3 • 2019 663

 V. T. Thamarai Selvi, et al.
Figure 1: Time spent in mobile
Figure 2: Time spent in social media
Figure 3: Frequently used social media
sample size of this study was 120. The population
under study was in the age group of 13–19 years. The
questionnaire included the factors like whether they
have smartphone, time which they spend with the
mobiles, social media which they use, how much time
they spend in the social media, whether their tasks get
affected, etc. Each question was given suitable options
and they were asked to respond and the responses
664
Figure 4: Aware of effects of overusage of mobile
Figure 5: A day without mobile
Figure 6: Sleep deprivation
were collected. The data collected were analyzed
statistically using the SPSS software.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Based on the survey conducted, we conclude that
majority of the teens are addicted toward the technology.
Drug Invention Today | Vol 11 • Issue 3 • 2019
 V. T. Thamarai Selvi, et al.
It was found that about 96.7% of the teens possess a
smartphone. When a question asked how much time
they spend in mobile using applications, 31.7% of
the teens replied that they use their mobiles >6 h per
day and the rest of them were approximately using it
for about 4 h [Figure 1]. When they were asked how
much time they spend in social media every day, they
responded that only 21.7% of them were using social
media for a limited time, i.e., within an hour, they were
no one without using social media [Figure 2]. The rest
of them were using social media for a longer time.
When a question asked, which is the frequently used
social media? 41% of the teens use Whatsapp, 34.9%
of them use Instagram, and 7.9% of them use Facebook
frequently [Figure 3]. When they were asked whether
they are overusing their mobile phones? 68.3% of the
teenagers are knowingly overusing their mobile phones
and the remaining 31.7% of them are yet to realize
that they are overusing their mobile phones [Figure 4].
When they were asked whether they have tried to keep
themselves away from the world of technology, 55.8% of
them have tried to keep themselves away the technologic
world and remaining people have not tried and they do
not want themselves to be away from technology world.
The teens were next asked, how they feel when they
are without their mobile for a day, all the teenagers
replied that they feel either bored, depressed, irritated,
or stressed [Figure 5]. None of them replied that they
will be happy or they can stay without their mobiles.
For the previous question, majority of them have tried
to keep themselves away from the mobiles, but when
they are separated, they were not feeling happy or
comfortable without their mobiles.
When the question asked whether they were deprived
of sleep [Figure 6] due to their mobiles, there was
equal number of 31.7% deprived of sleep regularly
and sometimes deprived of sleep. When they were
asked whether their academic performances are
affected, 38.3% of the teens academic performance
was not affected, but the others also sometimes or the
other time there academic performance was affected.
CONCLUSION
From the above survey, we conclude that most of the
present age teens are addicted toward the technology.
Drug Invention Today | Vol 11 • Issue 3 • 2019
Advancing in technology is advantageous in one
aspect, but at the very same time as per the saying
“Too much of anything is good for nothing,” addiction
toward the technology will affect their mental well-
being. Hence, it is very much essential to bring the
current teenage generation from their addiction toward
the technology. The recovery from addiction involves
the counseling them about the effects of over usage of
technology and how it affects social and mental well-
being by parents as well as the teachers.
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Source of support: Nil; Conflict of interest: None Declared
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