Genetic Basis Of Smartphone Addiction:A Candidate Gene Study

As an emerging type of behavioral addiction,smartphone addiction has received great attention from psychologists.Given the negative impacts on people’s life,many efforts have been made to identify the potential predictors of smartphone addiction.Although great progress has been made in understanding how smartphone addiction happens,the genetic basis of smartphone addiction is still largely known.In view of this,this study explored for the first time the potential molecular genetic mechanism of smartphone addiction.In a sample of 605 Han Chinese college students,this study systematically investigated the associations of 18 candidate genes and smartphone addiction.Results from single SNP analysis showed SNPs of 12 candidate genes(OPRD1,NR3C2,HTR1 B,OPRM1,CHRM2,KANK1,GAL,DRD2,HTR3 B,CHRNA5,SLCO3A1 and CRHR1)were associated with smartphone addiction.Gene-based analysis further confirmed the associations of DRD2 and GAL with smartphone addiction.The degree of smartphone addiction was measured by questionnaire.Allele frequency calculation and Hardy Weinberg equilibrium test were carried out for the genotype distribution of the subjects.The association between SNP loci and smartphone addiction was analyzed by Plink software,and MAGMA software was used to analyze the association between each gene and smartphone addiction at the gene level.The findings of this study demonstrated the first evidence for the genetic basis of smartphone addiction.It is expected that these findings may help to provide some guidance for the prevention and intervention of smartphone addiction in the future.