Associations between Family Function and Smartphone Addiction Proneness in Middle School Students

Background@#Smartphone usage time has been increasing every year causing smartphone addiction, also known as cell phone dependency. This study investigated and analyzed the effects of family characteristics on adolescent smartphone use. @*Methods@#The subjects were 908 middle school students in Gangneung whose legal guardians agreed to participate in the study. We investigated general characteristics, family structure, smartphone usage time of family members, using Korean Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale (K-SAPS), Family APGAR, and Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III (FACES III). The participants were classified into three groups according to the scores of the SAPS: addiction proneness, addiction tendency group, and normal user. @*Results@#The prevalence of the addiction proneness group was 47 (5.2%). The K-SAPS scores were higher in the following categories: female (P<0.001); more monthly allowance (P<0.05); lower academic performance (P<0.001); fewer hours of exercise (P<0.001); longer smartphone usage time (P<0.001); and younger owners of smartphones (P<0.05). In family characteristics, the K-SAPS scores were significantly higher in single parent families (P<0.05), longer smartphone usage time of mother and siblings (P<0.05), less time spent watching TV with family members (P<0.05), more exposure to smartphones in childhood (P<0.05), and less time spent with mother (P<0.05). The K-SAPS scores were significantly higher when family APGAR, family adaptability, and cohesion scores were lower (P<0.001). @*Conclusion@#This study indicated that the smartphone addiction in middle school students is closely related to smartphone usage of family members and family functions. Therefore, family behavior that can be corrected should be considered for counseling to prevent smartphone addiction.

Related Factors of Alcohol-Induced Blackout among University Student

Background@#Irresponsible alcohol consumption by university students in our country continues to increase regardless of the sex; it also causes various problems. The blackouts experienced by the students cause social issues, and increased rates of alcohol-based dementia and alcohol use disorder. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the factors related to alcohol-induced blackouts experienced by university students. @*Methods@#We used a structured questionnaire. Overall, 1,325 male and female attending four of the four-year universities in Gangwon-do were included in this study. Their living and drinking conditions, family’s drinking capacity, sleep, depression, anxiety and stress were investigated and the realtionship with the experience of blackout was investigated using the SPSS 24.0 statistical software. @*Results@#Based on the alcohol consumption habits, 360 male (42.3%) and 221 female (46.6%) experienced blackouts. Alcohol use disorder was found in Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test - Korean revised version (AUDIT-K), 330 male (38.8%) and 265 female (55.9%). We found that the older male and female, the more they lived alone, the more frequently they drink alcohol in the family, the more they drink, and the more blackout experience, the more frequently they experience blackout (P40% of the university students experienced blackouts; female experienced blackouts more frequently than male. The blackouts were related to lifestyle, family drinking, problem drinking and depression in both male and female.

Relationship between Blood Mercury and Cardiovascular Risk, Neuropathic Symptoms of Adults in a Yeong-dong Area of Gangwon-do

BACKGROUND: Exposure to mercury is known to affect the nervous system and cardiovascular system, but effects of chronic exposure to mercury remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of high blood mercury concentrations on the health of patients living in the Yeong-dong region.METHODS: We analyzed the relationship between blood mercury concentration and cardiovascular risk and neuropathic symptoms for 555 patients whose blood mercury concentration was tested from 1999 to 2017. We analyzed the association of each lipid component and blood mercury concentration through a partial correlation method. We performed an analysis to determine the odds ratios (ORs) of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity to high blood mercury levels through a logistic regression model. We analyzed the association between mercury levels and neuropathic symptoms using a χ² test and calculated the OR.RESULTS: The average blood mercury concentration was 8.1±7.5 µg/L and 5.5±5.2 µg/L for males and females, respectively. There was a positive correlation of mercury concentration with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (r, 0.268, 0.219; P-value, <0.001). Among other cardiovascular disease risk factors, no significant correlation was found with high blood mercury level. A tingling sensation in females was related to a high blood mercury level (OR, 2.080; 95% confidence interval, 1.119–3.866).CONCLUSION: It was found that higher mercury concentrations could affect high-density lipoprotein cholesterol regardless of sex and can cause a tingling sensation in women.