The Internet's effect on personality traits: An important casualty of the "Internet addiction" paradigm

Problematic internet use and shyness among Chinese adolescents: a moderated mediation model

The potential adverse effects of problematic internet use (PIU) on individuals' offline personalities have been a significant concern in internet psychology. This study aimed to investigate the negative effects of PIU on shyness and the mediating role of self-regulation, as well as the moderating role of social comparison orientation. A total of 1,322 adolescents from China participated in the survey. The results indicated that: (1) PIU positively predicted shyness; (2) self-regulation partially mediated the relationship between PIU and shyness; (3) social comparison orientation moderated the mediation effect, specifically buffering the negative prediction of PIU on self-regulation, but exacerbating the negative predictive effect of self-regulation on shyness. The findings explored and verified the psychosocial effects of the internet, contributing to a deeper understanding of how PIU affects individual personality traits and offering insights into its role in broader social behavior patterns.

Identifying Internet addiction profiles among adolescents using latent profile analysis: Relations to aggression, depression, and anxiety

BACKGROUND

While many studies have established a positive correlation between adolescents' internet addiction and mental health problems, most of these studies have overlooked the internal heterogeneity of Internet addiction. This study aims to identify latent profiles among adolescents based on their Internet addiction and to examine the differences in aggression, depression, and anxiety across these profiles.

METHODS

We conducted a survey involving 7422 adolescents and administered the Young's Internet Addiction Test, Aggression Behavior Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale. Latent profile analysis was utilized to categorize Internet addiction profiles among adolescents. Associations between Internet addiction profiles and related factors were examined using the Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars method.

RESULTS

Latent profile analysis suggested four profiles of Internet addiction, which were labeled: Regular, Risk, Low Internet addiction, and Internet addiction. The Internet addiction profile showed higher levels of aggression, depression, and anxiety than the Low Internet addiction profile. The Low Internet addiction profile had higher levels of aggression, depression, and anxiety than the Risk profile. The Risk profile demonstrated higher levels of aggression, depression, and anxiety when compared to the Regular profile.

LIMITATIONS

Limitations include the cross-sectional design and the self-report measures.

CONCLUSIONS

The identified Internet addiction profiles offer differential predictions for aggression, depression, and anxiety. These results underscore the significance of employing latent profile analysis when exploring the associations between Internet addiction and mental health issues.

Problematic Internet Use and Personality Traits: Results in Working Age Adults

INTRODUCTION

Problematic Internet use has become a growing problem worldwide; several factors, including personality, play an essential role in understanding this disorder. The Big Five personality traits and their association with problematic Internet use were examined in a large and diverse population.

METHODS

A survey was applied to a total of 1,109 adults of working age. Each answered the Big Five Inventory and the Internet Addiction Test.

RESULTS

Problematic Internet use was found in 10.6% of them (n=112). The personality traits extraversion and openness to experience were significantly associated with those with the disorder. With adjustment models, a positive association was found between these traits and being single and higher education.

CONCLUSIONS

This study represents the largest of its kind in the Spanish-speaking population, highlighting the importance of recognising the factors involved in problematic Internet use.

The effect of broadband Internet on the gender gap in mental health: Evidence from Germany

Mental health disorders are among the leading causes of disease burden worldwide. Recently, attention has been drawn to the Internet and social media as determinants of the increase in mental health conditions in recent years. In this paper, I analyze the causal effect of broadband Internet access on the mental health of adults. I leverage confidential information on the coordinates of respondents to the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and exploit technological features of the German telecommunication network to instrument for broadband Internet access. The results are suggestive that broadband Internet leads to worse mental health for women (primarily those aged 17-30) but not for men, thus widening the gender gap in mental disorders. Looking at sub-facets of mental health, broadband access leads to a worsening of socializing behavior and ability to cope with emotional problems. The fact that the results are concentrated among the younger cohorts of women is suggestive that high Internet usage intensity amplifies the negative effect of broadband internet access on mental health.

Effects and mechanisms of action of light-emitting diodes on the human retina and internal clock

White light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will likely become the most used lighting devices worldwide in the future because of their very low prices over the course of their long lifespans which can be up to several tens of thousands of hours. The expansion of LED use in both urban and domestic lighting has prompted questions regarding their possible health effects, because the light that they provide is potentially high in the harmful blue band (400-500 nm) of the visible light spectrum. Research on the potential effects of LEDs and their blue band on human health has followed three main directions: 1) examining their retinal phototoxicity; 2) examining disruption of the internal clock, i.e., an out-of-sync clock, in shift workers and night workers, including the accompanying health issues, most concerningly an increased relative risk of cancer; and 3) examining risky, inappropriate late-night use of smartphones and consoles among children and adolescents. Here, we document the recognized or potential health issues associated with LED lighting together with their underlying mechanisms of action. There is so far no evidence that LED lighting is deleterious to human retina under normal use. However, exposure to artificial light at night is a new source of pollution because it affects the circadian clock. Blue-rich light, including cold white LEDs, should be considered a new endocrine disruptor, because it affects estrogen secretion and has unhealthful consequences in women, as demonstrated to occur via a complex mechanism.

The psychology of "swiping": A cluster analysis of the mobile dating app Tinder

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The use of the smartphone dating application Tinder is increasingly popular and has received much media attention. However, no empirical study to date has investigated the psychological characteristics driving its adaptive or problematic use. The aim of this study is to determine whether reliable subtypes of users can be identified via a cluster analysis approach.

METHODS

A total of 1,159 Tinder users were recruited. Survey questions investigated user characteristics, including: motives for app use, sexual desire, attachment styles, impulsivity traits, self-esteem, problematic use, depressive mood, and patterns of use.

RESULTS

Four reliable clusters were identified: two with low levels of problematic use ("regulated" and "regulated with low sexual desire"), one with an intermediate level of problematic use ("unregulated-avoidants"), and one with a high level of problematic use ("unregulated-highly motivated"). The clusters differed on gender, marital status, depressive mood, and use patterns.

CONCLUSION

The findings provide insight into the dynamic relationships among key use-related factors and shed light on the mechanisms underlying the self-regulation difficulties that appear to characterize problematic Tinder use.

The Use of Digital Technologies, Impulsivity and Psychopathological Symptoms in Adolescence

Background and aims: Past research on the associations between psychopathological symptoms and technological-based addictions, i.e., Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and Social Media Addiction (SMA), showed contradictory results in adolescents and adult populations. The present study investigated correlations between adolescents’ psychopathological risks and impulsivity, IGD and SMA. Methods: A sample of 656 participants (338 males; M_age = 16.32 years) was divided into three age groups (early, mid-, and late adolescence) and completed a battery of scales comprising the (i) Internet Gaming Disorder Scale–Short Form, (ii) Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, (iii) Barratt Impulsiveness Scale for Adolescents, and (iv) Symptom Checklist-90-R. Results: The significance of the correlations was not corroborated in the basic tables. Significant associations appeared only in the adolescent subgroups, sometimes for bivariate and sometimes for partial correlations and with different patterns of associations between males and females. Moreover, both technological addictions were correlated with impulsiveness in bivariate and partial correlations. Discussion and conclusions: Following a developmentally-oriented approach to determine the patterns of associations between technological behavioral addictions and psychopathology in the specific sub-phases of early-, mid- and late-adolescence, this exploratory research showed how these associations might change depending on the developmental phase and gender of the individual. Future research is needed to provide empirical evidence of specific emotional–psychopathological correlations.

Differentiation between young adult Internet addicts, smokers, and healthy controls by the interaction between impulsivity and temporal lobe thickness

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Internet addiction is a non-substance-related addiction disorder with progressively growing prevalence. Internet addiction, like substance-related addictions, has been linked with high impulsivity, low inhibitory control, and poor decision-making abilities. Cortical thickness measurements and trait impulsivity have been shown to have a distinct relationship in addicts compared to healthy controls. Thus, we test whether the cortical correlates of trait impulsivity are different in Internet addicts and healthy controls, using an impulsive control group (smokers).

METHODS

Thirty Internet addicts (15 females) and 60 age- and gender-matched controls (30 smokers, all young adults aged 19-28 years) were scanned using a 3T MRI scanner and completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale.

RESULTS

Internet addicts had a thinner left superior temporal cortex than controls. Impulsivity had a significant main effect on the left pars orbitalis and bilateral insula, regardless of group membership. We identified divergent relationships between trait impulsivity and thicknesses of the bilateral middle temporal, right superior temporal, left inferior temporal, and left transverse temporal cortices between Internet addicts and healthy controls. Further analysis with smokers revealed that the left middle temporal and left transverse temporal cortical thickness change might be exclusive to Internet addiction.

DISCUSSION

The effects of impulsivity, combined with a long-term exposure to some specific substance or stimuli, might result in different natures of relationships between impulsivity and brain structure when compared to healthy controls.

CONCLUSION

These results may indicate that Internet addiction is similar to substance-related addictions, such that inefficient self-control could result in maladaptive behavior and inability to resist Internet use.

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

Objectives: The nine-item Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ-9) is a brief self-report screening instrument for problematic internet use. The main objective of the present study was to explore the psychometric properties of the PIUQ-9 among nine different language-based samples of European internet users (Italian, German, French, Polish, Turkish, Hungarian, English, and Greek). Methods: The total sample comprised 5,593 internet users (38.1% men), aged between 18 and 87 years (M = 25.81; SD = 8.61). Via online recruitment, participants completed the PIUQ-9, the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and items about time spent online. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the bifactor model with one general factor (i.e., general problem) and two-specific factors (i.e., obsession and neglect + control disorder) yielded acceptable or good fit indices in all subsamples except for one. The common variance index in the bifactor model indicated that the general problem factor explained from 57.0 to 76.5% of common variance, which supports the presence of a strong global factor. According to the multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) model, psychiatric symptoms had a moderate-to-strong direct effect on the general problem factor in all subsamples, ranging from β = 0.28 to β = 0.52 supporting the construct validity of the scale. Furthermore, in a majority of the subsamples, time spent online during the weekend had considerably higher effect sizes on the general problem factor than time spent online during weekdays. Conclusion: The present study highlights the appropriate psychometric properties of the PIUQ-9 across a number of European languages and cultures.

Internet gaming disorder and online gambling disorder: Clinical and personality correlates

Background and aims The recent growth of Internet use has led to an increase of potentially problematic behaviors that can be engaged online, such as online gambling or Internet gaming. The aim of this study is to better conceptualize Internet gaming disorder (IGD) by comparing it with gambling disorder (GD) patients who only gamble online (online GD). Methods A total of 288 adult patients (261 online GD and 27 IGD) completed self-reported questionnaires for exploring psychopathological symptoms, food addiction (FA), and personality traits. Results Both clinical groups presented higher psychopathological scores and less functional personality traits when compared with a normative Spanish population. However, when comparing IGD to online GD, some singularities emerged. First, patients with IGD were younger, more likely single and unemployed, and they also presented lower age of disorder onset. In addition, they displayed lower somatization and depressive scores together with lower prevalence of tobacco use but higher FA scores and higher mean body mass index. Finally, they presented lower novelty seeking and persistence traits. Discussion GD is fully recognized as a behavioral addiction, but IGD has been included in the Appendix of DSM-5 as a behavioral addiction that needs further study. Our findings suggest that IGD and online GD patients share some emotional distress and personality traits, but patients with IGD also display some differential characteristics, namely younger age, lower novelty seeking scores and higher BMI, and FA scores. Conclusions IGD presents some characteristics that are not extensive to online GD. These specificities have potential clinical implications and they need to be further studied.