Association of Increased Impulsiveness and Internet Use Disorder in Adolescents and Young Adults with Different Main Activities on the Internet

Abstract

Abstract. Objective: Increased impulsiveness is a risk factor for health-endangering behavior patterns. Little is known about whether increased impulsiveness is associated with Internet Use Disorder (IUD) and whether individuals with various main activities on the internet differ in their levels of impulsiveness. Methods: In total, we screened 8,230 vocational students for problematic internet use with the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS). Participants scoring at least 21 points in the CIUS took part in an in-depth diagnostic interview. IUD was assessed according to the criteria of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) as suggested in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Impulsiveness was assessed with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-15). We analyzed the data using binary logistic regression models and nonparametric tests. Results: Participants with IUD ( n = 144) showed increased impulsiveness ( p = .005) compared to those without IUD ( n = 774). Participants with different main activities on the internet did not differ in their levels of impulsiveness. Conclusions: Results indicate that impulsiveness is associated with IUD, independent of the main internet activity. This highlights the necessity to consider patients’ impulsiveness in prevention and therapeutic approaches. Because of the cross-sectional study design, further research with longitudinal study designs is needed.

Automation or autonomy? The relatedness of online vigilance, self-control and intrinsic need satisfaction to compulsive Internet use

“…Especially low impulse control (or high impulsivity) has been shown to predict compulsive online user behaviour in recent research (Cudo, Torój, Demczuk & Francuz, 2020;Zahrai et al, 2022a;Kattein et al, 2022). Popular self-control theories are dual-system theory (Strack & Deutsch, 2004;Hofmann, Friese & Strack, 2009;) and ego depletion (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven & Tice, 1998;Muraven & Baumeister, 2000) that also have been referred to in terms of social media and Internet use (e.g., Turel & Qahri-Saremi, 2016;Hofmann, Reinecke & Meier, 2017;Zahrai et al, 2022a).…”

“…a higher tendency of giving in to impulses and the failure to be able to resist temptations, was related to more addictive use of Facebook. Kattein et al (2022) investigated adolescents and young adults with more excessive usage patterns regarding Internet use and found that increased impulsiveness was associated with more compulsive Internet use. Soror, Hammer, Steelman, Davis and Limayem (2015) investigated mobile phone use from a dual-systems perspective and found that mobile phone use habit (resembling the impulsive or reflexive system) was significantly and positively associated with both the duration and frequency of mobile phone use, whereas self-regulation (resembling the reflective system) was significantly and negatively associated with these aspects of mobile phone use.…”