The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlations that levels of addiction to smartphones, social media, and online games have with levels of real-life and online interpersonal interactions among adolescents. In this cross-sectional study of adolescents in a college in Taiwan, structured questionnaire surveys were used to collect information. The questionnaire included the following: demographic background, Real Interpersonal Interaction Scale (RIIS), Internet Interpersonal Interaction Scale (IIIS), Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS), Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), and Internet Gaming Disorder Scale—Short Form (IGDS9-SF). Multiple regression analyses were carried out to investigate the correlations between SABAS, BSMAS, IGDS9-SF, and RIIS/IIIS. We recruited 998 students (413 boys). The average age was 17.18 ± 1.46. The study results show that adolescents with higher levels of addiction to smartphones and social media may have greater interpersonal interaction with friends in real life, but adolescents with high levels of addiction to online games may have less interpersonal interactions with friends in real life. Adolescents with high levels of addiction to smartphones, social media, and online games may have greater interpersonal interactions with friends online.

Depressive emotions can lead to subsequent unhealthy behaviors such as Internet addiction, especially in female adolescents; therefore, studies that examine the relationships among depression, health‑related behaviors, and Internet addiction in female adolescents are warranted. To examine (1) the relationship between depression and health-related behaviors and (2) the relationship between depression and Internet addiction. A cross-sectional study design was adopted using a structured questionnaire to measure depression, health-related behaviors, and Internet addiction in female adolescents. The data were collected from students of a junior college in southern Taiwan using convenience sampling to select the participants. The questionnaire was divided into four sections: demographics, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP), and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). The final sample comprised 503 female junior college students, with the participants mainly aged between 15 to 22 years (mean age = 17.30 years, SD = 1.34). Regarding the HPLP scores, the overall score, nutrition subscale score, and self-actualization subscale score were significantly and negatively associated with the CES-D depression score (p < 0.05–0.01). In other words, depression level was lower in students who exhibited more healthy behaviors, put more emphasis on dietary health, and had higher levels of self-admiration and confidence toward life. Regarding the IAT scores, the overall score and six domain scores were all positively associated (p < 0.01) to the CES-D depression score. In other words, the higher an individual’s Internet addiction score was, the higher her depression level was. The results confirmed the relationship between depression, health-related behaviors, and Internet addiction. The cultivation of health-related behaviors may help in lowering depressive symptoms. Teenagers with depression have higher risks of developing Internet addiction, and such addiction is likely to affect their daily functioning.

This study discusses the correlation between teenagers’ real-life interpersonal interactions and teenagers’ online interpersonal interactions with regards to emotion, sleep quality, and self-efficacy. This study adopted a cross-sectional design that included a survey using a structured questionnaire which included demographic data, the Chinese version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE), the Real Interpersonal Interaction Scale (RIIS), and the Internet Interpersonal Interaction Scale (IIIS). This study enlisted 917 teenage students (age = 17.16 ± 1.48 years). The study found that RIIS had significant negative correlations with DASS and PSQI scores and a significant positive correlation with GSE. Namely, the greater the degree of real-life interpersonal interaction, the lower the degree of negative emotion. Likewise, the more satisfactory sleep quality is, the higher self-efficacy is. In addition, IIIS scores demonstrate significantly positive correlations with DASS and PSQI scores. Therefore, the greater the degree of online interpersonal interaction, the greater the levels of negative emotion, and the poorer the sleep quality is. This study showed that online interpersonal interaction may not improve emotions, sleep quality, or self-efficacy among junior college students. However, real-life interpersonal interaction may improve those three parameters.

Background: Teenagers described as enjoying their own company have been claimed to have a weird personality and experience loneliness and negative emotions and have often been labeled with negative attributes. However, previous studies have provided a limited understanding of teenagers’ capacity for solitude. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the correlations between teenagers’ capacity for solitude and both personality traits and physical and mental health. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional research design and collected data from a junior college located in Taiwan using a structured questionnaire, which consisted of demographic questions, a solitude capacity scale, a personality trait scale, and a physical and mental health scale. Results: A total of 562 participants were recruited (age = 17.56 ± 1.58 years). The total score of the solitude capacity scale was significantly correlated with four elements of the personality traits subscale: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. The solitude capacity subscale (i.e., the solitude-coping subscale) showed significant correlations with two of the physical and mental health elements, i.e., anxiety and insomnia and severe depression. Conclusions: The results verified the correlations between capacity for solitude and personality traits and did not show a positive association with negative personality traits (i.e., neuroticism). Moreover, the solitude coping capacity correlated positively with anxiety levels and negatively with depression.

Thisstudy examined whether interventions through barrier-free home environmentimprovements could reduce family caregivers’ care stress, improve their familyfunctions, and increase their quality of life. This study recruited familycaregivers of older people with disabilities from a long-term care managementcenter in central Taiwan. These older people required improvements related to abarrier-free home environment. A pretest was conducted before and a post-testwas conducted 2 months after the improvements. The content of the pretest andthe post-test questionnaires included: demographic characteristics, Caregiverstress scale, Family functions scale, World Health Organization Quality ofLife-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) Questionnaire. This study recruited 72 familycaregivers; the average age was 56.25 ± 12.99 years. The results indicated thatinterventions through barrier-free home environment improvements couldsignificantly reduce the family caregivers’ care stress, improve their familyfunctions (e.g., reducing conflicts), and enhance their quality of life.Additionally, after intervention, the family cohesion of family caregivers caringfor those with mild disability improved to a greater extent than did that ofthose caring for people with other disease severities. This study revealed thatinterventions involving barrier-free home environment improvements havepositive effects on family caregivers.