Table 2.
Problematic video game, social media, and mobile phone use in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
| Video Game Addiction Questionnairea | Never | Very rarely | Rarely | Sometimes | Often | Very often | |
| I spend a lot of time thinking about playing video games | 27.0% | 18.3% | 13.3% | 22.3% | 10.9% | 8.2% | |
| I feel the need to play video games more and more | 47.9% | 15.5% | 15.8% | 11.9% | 4.8% | 4.0% | |
| I play video games so I can forget about my problems | 54.9% | 11.6% | 9.3% | 12.3% | 5.9% | 6.0% | |
| I’ve tried to play video games less but I can’t | 62.2% | 12.5% | 9.2% | 9.1% | 3.6% | 3.5% | |
| I’ve become stressed or upset if I am not allowed to play video games | 60.5% | 15.8% | 8.3% | 9.0% | 3.2% | 3.2% | |
| I play video games so much that it has had a bad effect on my schoolwork or job | 78.5% | 10.4% | 4.9% | 3.9% | 1.3% | 1.0% | |
| Social Media Addiction Questionnaireb | Never | Very rarely | Rarely | Sometimes | Often | Very often | |
| I spend a lot of time thinking about social media apps or planning my use of social media apps | 35.6% | 24.8% | 17.1% | 16.1% | 4.6% | 1.8% | |
| I feel the need to use social media apps more and more | 55.3% | 17.4% | 15.7% | 8.2% | 2.4% | 1.1% | |
| I use social media apps so I can forget about my problems | 61.9% | 11.5% | 8.3% | 11.5% | 4.0% | 2.9% | |
| I’ve tried to use my social media apps less but I can’t | 62.6% | 12.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% | 3.9% | 2.5% | |
| I’ve become stressed or upset if I am not allowed to use my social media apps | 68.4% | 12.7% | 7.2% | 7.3% | 2.3% | 2.2% | |
| I use social media apps so much that it has had a bad effect on my schoolwork or job | 78.8% | 9.8% | 5.3% | 4.2% | 1.3% | 0.7% | |
| Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnairec | Strongly disagree | Disagree | Somewhat disagree | Neither agree nor disagree | Somewhat agree | Agree | Strongly agree |
| I interrupt whatever else I am doing when I am contacted on my phone | 17.7% | 26.3% | 14.3% | 11.2% | 19.5% | 7.8% | 3.3% |
| I often use my phone for no particular reason | 13.6% | 23.1% | 9.3% | 10.1% | 22.4% | 15.8% | 5.7% |
| I feel connected to others when I am using my phone | 12.0% | 19.1% | 9.9% | 15.6% | 21.8% | 16.7% | 5.0% |
| Arguments have arisen with others because of my phone use | 32.4% | 33.0% | 8.0% | 9.3% | 10.4% | 4.9% | 2.1% |
| I lose track of how much I am using my phone. | 15.0% | 19.6% | 9.3% | 8.6% | 19.8% | 17.0% | 10.7% |
| I often think about my phone when I am not using it | 28.5% | 34.7% | 9.8% | 7.7% | 9.6% | 6.1% | 3.7% |
| I have been unable to reduce my phone use | 25.3% | 36.0% | 10.0% | 11.6% | 8.3% | 6.1% | 2.7% |
| The thought of being without my phone makes me feel distressed | 44.0% | 32.2% | 5.9% | 6.6% | 5.9% | 3.2% | 2.2% |
ABCD propensity weights were applied based on the American Community Survey from the US Census.
aAsked among a subset who reported video game use (n = 7595).
bAsked among a subset who reported social media use (n = 5652).
cAsked among a subset who reported mobile use (n = 7361).