Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy
Open Access

Research Article

Adolescent Technology Use: Profiles of Distinct Groups and Associated Risky Behaviors

¹Faculty of Medicine (Addiction Program), Université de Sherbrooke (Longueuil Campus), 150 Place Charles-Le Moyne, Suite 200, Longueuil QCJ4K 0A8, Canada

²Department of Special Education, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351 Boulevard Des Forges, Trois-Rivières, QC G9A 5H7,Canada

³School of Criminology, Université de Montréal, 3150 Jean-Brillant Street, Montréal QC H3T 1N8 Canada

Corresponding Author:

Magali Dufour
Faculty of medicine (Addiction Program)
Université de Sherbrooke (Longueuil Campus)
150 Place Charles-Le Moyne
Suite 200, Longueuil QC, J4K 0A8, Canada
Tel: +1 450-463-1835
E-mail: Magali.Dufour@usherbrooke.ca

Received date: January 31, 2014; Accepted date: June 28, 2014; Published date: July 05, 2014

Citation: Dufour M, Gendron A, Cousineau MM, Leclerc D (2014) Adolescent Technology Use: Profiles of Distinct Groups and Associated Risky Behaviors. J Addict Res Ther S10:010. doi:10.4172/2155-6105.S10-010

Copyright: © 2014 Dufour M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Introduction: Adolescents make regular use of a wide range of technologies, such as console video games, mobile phones and a variety of Internet applications. Although this usage is not problematic for most individuals, some adolescents do use them excessively.

Objective: The main objective of this article is to explore the presence of clusters within a sample of adolescents based on dimensions associated with risky behaviors (substance use, gambling and delinquency) and problematic use of technologies (Internet and console video games).

Methods: The sample consists of 1,870 adolescents in the 14-18 year age group who were recruited in French-language high schools in Québec (Canada).

Results: The main results showed that one in ten adolescents was a high Internet user. A cluster analysis identified three groups of participants: non-problematic boys, non-problematic girls, and adolescents with multiple problems. The latter group included all of the high Internet users and some high video game users. These participants had the highest severity scores for substance use and delinquency and received higher scores for psychological distress, impulsivity and sensation seeking.

Conclusions: These results support the presence of a subgroup of adolescents with high levels of co-occurring risky behaviors and suggest that excessive use of technology may also be a characteristic of this group.

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