Family Dynamics in the Development of Behavioral Addiction in Singaporean Youths

The present study adopted a family-based approach to understand the role of family dynamics in the development and maintenance of behavioral addiction among adolescents in Singapore. According to the World Health Organization, “adolescence” is a phase rather than a fixed time period in an individual’s life. It is a phase of development on many fronts: from the appearance of secondary sex characteristics (puberty) to sexual and reproductive maturity, the development of mental processes and adult identity, and the transition from total socio-economic and emotional dependence to relative independence. Adolescence is generally divided into three sub-phases: early (12 to 14 years), middle (15 to 17 years), and late (18 to 20 years) adolescence. The ages of target participants for this study were 13 to 20 years old to include early, middle, and late adolescence. Parents of participants were also invited to participate in the study. Phase I included focus group discussions of adolescents and parents to gain information about the awareness and prevalence of various forms of behavioral addiction in the Singapore context. Phase II aimed to recruit 1000 adolescents and their parents for cross-sectional surveys to understand the rates of behavioral addiction and their health and family-related factors. Phase III included a 6-month to 1-year follow-up survey of Phase 2 participants and their parents to determine factors that associate with the maintenance of behavioral addiction.