Cognitive mechanism of intimate interpersonal relationships and loneliness in internet-addicts: An ERP study

Abstract

Interpersonal relationship and loneliness are important factors affecting internet addictive behavior of individuals. In the present study, we investigated intimate interpersonal relationships and loneliness in internet-addicts. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) of 32 internet addicts and 32 non internet-addicts. Participants viewed intimate-/conflict-relationship, happy/lonely, and neutral images. Results concerning attention probes showed that the accuracy rate of attention probes of internet-addicts was significantly lower than that of non internet-addicts; whereas, there was no significant difference in the reaction time of attention probes. Moreover, the differences in the mean amplitude and latency of P1, N1, N2P3, and LPP between internet-addicts and non internet-addicts were insignificant. Then, we found that the P1 amplitude of conflict images was significantly higher than that of intimate images among non internet-addicts; whereas internet-addicts indicated an insignificant difference between the two types of images. The P1 amplitude of lonely images was significantly higher than that of happy images among internet-addicts, but non internet-addicts were insignificant. The questionnaire data also obtained similar conclusions based on the EEG data. Finally, internet-addicts reported significantly higher loneliness scores than those of non internet-addicts. These results suggested that the social cognitive function of internet-addicts was probably impaired, especially in the cognition of interpersonal conflict. Furthermore, internet-addicts are likely to keep poor interpersonal relationships, which may induce more loneliness.

Internet addictions outside of Europe: A systematic literature review

“…Wang and Griskova-Bulanova (2018) involved a non-clinical sample of 22 adults (54.5% males). Senormanci et al (2014) conducted a study on a clinical sample of 40 young adult Turkish males, and the study by Hou et al (2019) recruited 32 Internet addicted and 32 non-addicted adult Chinese males. The South Korean adolescent clinical sample recruited by Ryu et al (2019) consisted of 103 children and adolescents (aged 7-18) with excessive Internet use (70.9% males) and their caregivers (92.4% females).…”

“…Depression, anxiety and impulsivity had partial to full mediating effects on the ability to aggression to predict GIA, but no effect on the ability of GIA to predict aggression (Lim et al, 2015). In an exploration of Event-Related Potential (ERP) patterns, when subjects were presented photos of intimacy, conflict, happiness and loneliness, researchers found social cognitive function and attention function was impaired in the IA group (Hou et al, 2019). Tateno et al (2019) found subjects at high risk for hikikomori, severe social withdrawal, had longer Internet usage time and higher scores on IAT.…”

A geração z e a conexão 24 horas por dia: influências da internet em adolescentes na contemporaneidade

“…Logo, há difi culdade para a diferenciação do seu uso patológico ao considerado normal, por ser um serviço de fácil acesso pelas diferentes classes e grupos sociais. Sua utilização vai de acordo com as diferentes motivações e o desejo do sujeito em procurar por algo que atenda às suas expectativas 19,20,21 .…”

“…A dependência da internet pode desencadear sinais e sintomas de ansiedade: dispneia, dor ou aperto no peito, elevação da frequência cardíaca, cansaço e fraqueza 10,11,12,28,30,32 . E sintomas depressivos, ou seja, irritabilidade/raiva, fadiga, culpa, inutilidade, tristeza, pessimismo e desesperança 21,29,30,31,32,33 . Essa sintomatologia pode afetar qualquer idade, porém, nos adolescentes, é bastante frequente, devido ao processo de formação da autoimagem e autoestima 34 .…”

“…As preocupações com o peso corporal tornam os adolescentes vulneráveis às infl uências socioculturais e às mídias 34,35 . Então, a internet possibilita uma conexão virtual, denominada de "busca de reafi rmação", ao mesmo tempo em que colabora com a instabilidade emocional 11,12,24,21,29,30,31 .…”