Original article
Effect of the Online Game Shutdown Policy on Internet Use, Internet Addiction, and Sleeping Hours in Korean Adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.11.291Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

Internet addiction has emerged as a major public health problem worldwide. In November 2011, the South Korean government implemented an online game shutdown policy, lasting from 12:00 to 6:00 am, as a means of preventing Internet addiction in adolescents aged 15 or below. This study analyzed the effect of this shutdown policy on adolescent Internet use, addiction, and sleeping hours.

Methods

We analyzed data collected from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey from 2011 to 2015. Respondents were divided into two groups by age: aged 15 or below (male = 76,048, female = 66,281) and aged 16 or above (male = 52,568, female = 49,060). A difference-in-difference analysis was used to evaluate the effect of this shutdown policy.

Results

In 2012, which is immediately following policy enforcement, daily amount of Internet use (in minutes) decreased more in adolescents affected by the policy (i.e., the aged 15 or below group). However, it steadily increased in 2013, 2014, 2015, and showed no meaningful long-term improvements 4 years after policy implementation (−3.648 minutes in 2012 [p = .001], −3.204 minutes in 2013 [p = .011], −1.140 minutes in 2014 [p = .384], and 2.190 minutes in 2015 [p = .107]). The shutdown policy did not alter Internet addiction or sleeping hours. Interestingly, female adolescents, adolescents with low academic performance, and adolescents with low exercise levels exhibited comparatively stronger and longer lasting initial declines in Internet usage.

Conclusions

The shutdown policy had practically insignificant effects in reducing Internet use for target adolescents. Thus, policymakers aiming to reduce or prevent Internet addiction should use different strategies.

Section snippets

Data and study population

Data from the 2011 to 2015 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS) were used [22]. The KYRBS is an anonymous, self-administered web-based survey conducted annually since 2005 by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to understand the health-related risk behaviors among Korean adolescents. Data from 2005 to 2007 failed to provide any measure of internet usage, whereas questionnaires from 2008 to 2010 differed

Results

Table 1 illustrates the general characteristics of both groups of adolescents who participated in the KYRBS between 2011 and 2015. Figure 1 shows the results of the change in Internet usage and sleeping hours between the affected group and the unaffected group. The internet usage of both groups during the week, weekdays, and weekends all sharply decreased in 2012 (i.e., the first year of policy enforcement) compared with 2011 (before policy enforcement). The decrease in mean daily minutes of

Discussion

This study examined the changes in adolescent Internet usage status and sleeping hours following enforcement of an online game shutdown policy. Internet usage declined in the first 2 years following policy enforcement. In particular, daily minutes of Internet usage during the whole week, weekdays, and weekends, as well as the ratio of Internet-addicted adolescents, showed statistically significant decrements in 2012. However, we doubt that decrements of magnitude less than 5 minutes were

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    Jiyun Choi and Hyunseok Cho had equal contributions.

    Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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