Abstract:
This paper aims to study teenagers demographic characteristics that exhibited BlackBerry addiction, to study the causes that influence BlackBerry addiction and to study the effects of BlackBerry addiction on teenagers. The representative sample of this study is teenagers, aged 16-18 years, who displayed BlackBerry addiction, and lived in Nakhon Khonkaen municipal area, Khonkaen province. The data was collected by using a questionnaire with 400 samples and direct observation using focus groups with 12 samples. Analysis of teenagers BlackBerry addiction is based on an addiction criterion adapted from An American Psychiatric Associations Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Major findings revealed that the samples lived with their parents and that there are more females than males. Most had an average monthly income of about 2,000-3,000 baht. This sample used mobile phones more than 4 hours per day and have been using BlackBerry for less than 1 year. The main causes that influence their BlackBerry usage are friends, family, communication channels and their inner negative feelings, which friends and communication channels further influenced. The study found that meeting new people and expanding networks was the most common positive effect, while having no time for reading and reviewing academic lessons was the most common negative effect. The results of this study may help fixed solutions to Blackberry addiction in the form of alternative communication channels and responsible use of communication technology.