Oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder co-occurrence increases the risk of Internet addiction in adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

ObjectivesThe aims of this cross-sectional study were to assess the prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) in a clinical sample of adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to detect the moderating effects of co-occurring oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) on the association between ADHD and IA.MethodsThe study group comprised 119 adolescent subjects who were consecutively referred to our outpatient clinic with a diagnosis of ADHD. The Turgay DSM-IV-Based Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavioral Disorders Screening and Rating Scale (T-DSM-IV-S) was completed by parents, and subjects were asked to complete the Internet Addiction Scale (IAS).ResultsThe IAS results indicated that 63.9% of the participants (n = 76) fell into the IA group. Degree of IA was correlated with hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms but not with inattention symptoms. As compared to the ADHD-only group (without comorbid ODD/CD), ADHD + ODD/CD subjects returned significantly higher scores on the IAS.ConclusionsAs adolescents with ADHD are at high risk of developing IA, early IA detection and intervention is of great importance for this group. In addition, adolescents with ADHD + ODD/CD may be more vulnerable to IA than those in the ADHD-only group and may need to be more carefully assessed for IA.

Screen use habits among children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders: A cross-sectional study from Turkey

“…A majority of children and adolescents who participated in our study owned a computer (65%) and/or tablets (50.2%). The percentage of those having a computer was similar in a previous study from Turkey conducted in a similar socio-cultural setting (Gunes et al, 2018). Pluhar et al (2019) recently reported that adolescents' ownership and access to smartphones markedly increased in recent years (Pluhar et al, 2019).…”

“…A population-based study from Turkey reported 1.6% of adolescents as having possible PIU (Seyrek, Cop, Sinir, Ugurlu, & Şenel, 2017); another population-based study reported the same categories as 2.0% and 21.7% respectively (Kawabe et al, 2016). A clinical study which was conducted with ADHD diagnosed adolescents showed PIU in 63.9% of participants (Gunes et al, 2018). We found statistically significantly higher screen times in participants with a DSM-5 based psychiatric disorder diagnosis in comparison to participants who had no diagnosis.…”

“…Literature data show that PIU is related to psychiatric diagnoses like ADHD, conduct disorder and anxiety disorders (e.g., Gunes et al, 2018;Li, Hou, Yang, Jian, & Wang, 2019;Qian Wang, Yao, Zhou, Liu, & Lv, 2017). There are studies in literature that used the SDQ to evaluate emotional and behavioral problems in internet-addicted youth.…”

“…Clinically-based studies may provide more insight into the relationship between PIU and psychopathology and may complement populationbased epidemiologic and descriptive studies. In the literature, a small number of studies with child and adolescent age groups was conducted in clinical settings and most of them were designed with either a specific population, like adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or those seeking treatments for PIU (Gunes et al, 2018;Karaer & Akdemir, 2019). Thus, the evaluation of the screen use in child and adolescent psychiatry settings is beneficial since it could provide opportunities to evaluate more children and adolescents with various psychiatric disorders and different severities.…”

Psychometric Evaluation of the Nine-Item Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ-9) in Nine European Samples of Internet Users

“…PIU has frequently been comorbid with psychopathology, including depressive disorders (13), ADHD (14) and/or other psychiatric disorders and symptomatology (15, 16). Research has also found that psychopathology, operationalized using the Global Severity Index, as well as dysfunctional coping strategies, are predictive of addictive internet use (17).…”