Problematic Internet Use in Children and Adolescents: Associations with psychiatric disorders and impairment

Abstract

Background Problematic internet use (PIU) is an increasingly worrisome issue, as youth population studies are establishing links with internalizing and externalizing problems. There is a need for a better understanding of psychiatric diagnostic profiles associated with this issue, as well as its unique contributions to impairment. Here, we leveraged the ongoing, large-scale Child Mind Institute Healthy Brain Network, a transdiagnostic self-referred, community sample of children and adolescents (ages 5-21), to examine the associations between PIU and psychopathology, general impairment, physical health and sleep disturbances.Methods A total sample of 564 (190 female) participants between the ages of 7-15 (mean = 10.80, SD = 2.16), along with their parents/guardians, completed diagnostic interviews with clinicians, answered a myriad of self-report questionnaires, and underwent physical testing as part of the Healthy Brain Network protocol.Results PIU was positively associated with depressive disorders (aOR = 2.34; CI: 1.18-4.56; p = .01), the combined subtype of ADHD (aOR = 1.79; CI: 1.08-2.98; p = .02), greater levels of impairment (Standardized Beta = 4.79; CI: 3.21-6.37; p < .01) and increased sleep disturbances (Standardized Beta = 3.01; CI: 0.58-5.45; p = .02), even when accounting for demographic covariates and psychiatric comorbidity.Conclusions The association between PIU and psychopathology, as well as its impact on impairment and sleep disturbances, highlight the urgent need to gain an understanding of mechanisms in order to inform public health recommendations on internet use in U.S. youth.

Family Factors Associated with Problematic Use of the Internet in Children: A Scoping Review

“…14 PUI does not have a widely accepted diagnostic criterion; the term “problematic use” is used as a neutral alternative for “addiction” to the internet, online gaming, social media, or smartphone, as it does not inherently imply the presence of psychopathology. 15 The diagnostic criteria of PUI do not appear even in the latest official diagnostic systems, including the International Classification of Diseases ( ICD -11) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM -5), because of insufficient evidence to determine whether this condition is a unique mental disorder. 16, 17 However, DSM-5 recognized internet gaming disorder (IGD) in the section recommending conditions for further research as a nonsubstance-related addictive disorder.…”

Either you control social media or social media controls you: Understanding the impact of self‐control on excessive social media use from the dual‐system perspective

“…The literature describes children and adolescents as some of the most vulnerable groups of online consumers (Ostendorf et al, 2020; Restrepo et al, 2020). Robertson et al (2015) warn that there is no safe frequency of a potentially addictive behavior.…”

Bądźmy w kontakcie. Współczesna cyfrowa komunikacja permanentna

“…Young, Rogers 1998;Scherer 1997;Turkle 2011;Spada 2014;Stead, Bibby 2017;Anderson, Steen, Stavropulus 2017;Jakubik 2018;Mamun i in. 2019;Restrepo i in. 2019;Akhtar, Khan 2019).…”