Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Using a Virtual Store As a Research Tool to Investigate Consumer In-store Behavior
Published on: July 24, 2017
Shopping problems among high school students
Jon E Grant1, Marc N Potenza, Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. grant045@umn.edu
Background:
Although shopping behavior among adolescents is normal, for some, the shopping becomes problematic. An assessment of adolescent shopping behavior along a continuum of severity and its relationship to other behaviors and health issues is incompletely understood.
Methods:
A large sample of high school students (n = 3999) was examined using a self-report survey with 153 questions concerning demographic characteristics, shopping behaviors, other health behaviors including substance use, and functioning variables such as grades and violent behavior.
Results:
The overall prevalence of problem shopping was 3.5% (95% CI, 2.93-4.07). Regular smoking, marijuana and other drug use, sadness and hopelessness, and antisocial behaviors (e.g., fighting, carrying weapons) were associated with problem shopping behavior in both boys and girls. Heavy alcohol use was significantly associated with problem shopping only in girls.
Conclusion:
Problem shopping appears fairly common among high school students and is associated with symptoms of depression and a range of potentially addictive and antisocial behaviors. Significant distress and diminished behavioral control suggest that excessive shopping may often have significant associated morbidity. Additional research is needed to develop specific prevention and treatment strategies for adolescents who report problems with shopping.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Cross-Sectional Research
Surveys
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Case Studies
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
Group Design

