October 06, 2009
Predictive Values of Psychiatric Symptoms for Internet Addiction in Adolescents
An article in the current Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine describes researchers from Taiwan's Kaohsiung Medical University who examined the relationship between psychiatric symptoms such as ADHD, social phobia and hostility and Internet addiction in 2,293 seventh-graders (1,179 boys and 1,114 girls) from ten junior high schools in southern Taiwan.
The authors point out that while attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been reported to be associated with Internet addiction in cross-sectional investigations among adolescents and other symptoms such as social phobia and hostility has been reported to be associated with Internet addiction in adolescents, but the these relationships have not been proven by any prospective studies.
Psychiatric symptoms were determined through self-reported questionnaires. Internet addiction was assessed by the Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) at baseline and at six, 12 and 24 months with scores ranging from 26 to 104. Participants scoring 64 or higher were classified as being addicted to the Internet. Of all participants, 233 (10.8 percent) were classified as having Internet addiction and 1,929 (89.2 percent) were classified as not having an Internet addiction. The researchers report that although depression, ADHD, social phobia and hostility were found to predict the occurrence of Internet addiction in the two-year follow-up, depression and social phobia predicted Internet addiction among only female adolescents. Additionally, the most significant predictors of Internet addiction in male and female adolescents were hostility and ADHD, respectively.
"These results suggest that ADHD, hostility, depression and social phobia should be detected early on and intervention carried out to prevent Internet addiction in adolescents," the authors conclude. "Also, sex differences in psychiatric comorbidity should be taken into consideration when developing prevention and intervention strategies for Internet addiction."
Editorial: Internet Addiction May Be a 21st-Century Epidemic
An editorial in the same issue of the journal points out that "Our culture both mandates and facilitates time spent online. Woven as it is into the fabric of today's society, the potential for Internet use to lead to overuse and ultimately to addiction is concerning "
"Part of the failure to recognize this potential 21st-century epidemic is the simple fact that many of us, Blackberry in hand, check e-mail more than we would like. The inherent difficulties in defining Internet addiction and our own need for rectification should not prevent us from recognizing an emerging epidemic," Dr. Christakis and Dr. Moreno continue. "As pediatricians and indeed as parents, we have all experienced the pull that the Internet can have on children."
"If all at-risk children achieve sufficient exposure to become addicted, the prevalence of Internet addiction may easily approach the 2 percent to 12 percent of children reported in other countries, quickly ranking it among the most common chronic diseases of childhood," they conclude. "Our intention in raising this concern is not to be alarmist but rather to alert pediatricians to what might become a major public health problem for the United States in the 21st century."
References:
1. Chih-Hung Ko; Ju-Yu Yen; Cheng-Sheng Chen; Yi-Chun Yeh; Cheng-Fang Yen. Predictive Values of Psychiatric Symptoms for Internet Addiction in Adolescents: A 2-Year Prospective Study. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med., 2009; 163 (10): 937-943
2. Dimitri A. Christakis; Megan A. Moreno. Trapped in the Net: Will Internet Addiction Become a 21st-Century Epidemic? Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med., 2009; 163 (10): 959-960