The role of self-esteem in Internet addiction within the context of comorbid mental disorders: Findings from a general population-based sample

Altered functional brain networks in problematic smartphone and social media use: resting-state fMRI study

Nowadays, the limitless availability to the World Wide Web can lead to general Internet misuse and dependence. Currently, smartphone and social media use belong to the most prevalent Internet-related behavioral addiction forms. However, the neurobiological background of these Internet-related behavioral addictions is not sufficiently explored. In this study, these addiction forms were assessed with self-reported questionnaires. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was acquired for all participants (n = 59, 29 males) to examine functional brain networks. The resting-state networks that were discovered using independent component analysis were analyzed to estimate within network differences. Significant negative associations with social media addiction and smartphone addiction were found in the language network, the lateral visual networks, the auditory network, the sensorimotor network, the executive network and the frontoparietal network. These results suggest that problematic smartphone and social media use are associated with sensory processing and higher cognitive functioning.

Differences between problematic internet and smartphone use and their psychological risk factors in boys and girls: a network analysis

BACKGROUND

Problematic internet and smartphone use are significant health challenges for contemporary adolescents. However, their mutual relationship is unclear because studies investigating these phenomena are scarce. The present study aimed to investigate the psychological risks and protective factors associated with problematic internet and smartphone use.

METHOD

A representative sample of Slovak adolescents (N = 4070, M_age = 14.38, SD_age = 0.77, 50.5% girls) from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children project was analyzed using network analysis separately for boys and girls.

RESULTS

The results showed weak (for boys) and moderate (for girls) associations between problematic internet use and problematic smartphone use. Risk factors showed stronger associations with problematic internet use than problematic smartphone use, with the exception of fear of missing out, which was strongly associated with problematic smartphone use. The central nodes were externalizing problems for boys and internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and resilience for girls.

CONCLUSION

The study concluded that while problematic internet use and problematic smartphone use are somewhat related, they differ at the psychological level. In addition, the phenomena are rather different between boys and girls.

Relationship between behavioral inhibition/activation system and Internet addiction among Chinese college students: The mediating effects of intolerance of uncertainty and self-control and gender differences

Background

Internet addiction is a global public health issue among college students that is associated with a range of negative outcomes. Especially the COVID-19 pandemic has forced them to shift most of their studies and life activities from offline to online, leading to a growing problem of Internet dependence and even Internet addiction. Although previous studies have indicated that the Behavioral Inhibition/Activation System (BIS/BAS) have important effects on college students' Internet addiction, the mechanisms underlying these associations and gender differences are still unclear.

Aims

The present study investigated the mediating roles of intolerance of uncertainty and self-control in the association between BIS/BAS and Internet addiction following the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution model. Gender differences in such associations between variables were also tested.

Method

A total of 747 Chinese college students were surveyed by using Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction, BIS/BAS Scales, the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale and the Brief Self-Control Scale.

Results

The results from the structural equation modeling analysis showed that BIS was positively related to Internet addiction and that BAS had a negative association with Internet addiction. Moreover, intolerance of uncertainty and self-control mediated the relationships between BIS/BAS and Internet addiction. Multi-group analysis further revealed that the associations between BAS and Internet addiction and between intolerance of uncertainty and Internet addiction were stronger among the male students than among female students. The relationship between self-control and Internet addiction was greater in the female sample than in the male sample.

Conclusions

These findings extend our understanding of how BIS/BAS influence Internet addiction among college students and suggest that not only should training approaches based on intolerance of uncertainty and self-control be fully considered, but different intervention programs should be focused on gender sensitivity to maximize the intervention effect.

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of an e-health stepped care approach for the treatment of internet use disorders versus a placebo condition: the SCAPIT study

INTRODUCTION

Excessive internet use can lead to problems for some individuals. The WHO has introduced Gaming Disorder in the International Classification of Diseases-11 (ICD-11). Previous research has shown that other internet applications can cause serious mental health problems as well. It is important to provide measures of prevention, early intervention and therapy for internet use disorders (IUDs).

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The study 'Stepped Care Approach for Problematic Internet use Treatment' is a randomised, two-arm, parallel-group, observer-blind trial. The aim of the study is to investigate if a stepped care approach is effective to reduce symptom severity for IUD. The sample is primarily recruited online with a focus on employees in companies with support of health insurances. After screening, the stepped care approach depends on the success of the previous step-that is, the successful reduction of criteria-and comprise: (1) app-intervention with questionnaires and feedback, (2) two telephone counsellings (duration: 50 min) based on motivational interviewing, (3) online therapy over 17 weeks (15 weekly group sessions, eight individual sessions) based on cognitive-behavioural therapy. A follow-up is conducted after 6 months. A total of 860 participants will be randomised. Hierarchical testing procedure is used to test the coprimary endpoints number of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition and ICD-11 criteria. Primary analysis will be performed with a sequential logit model.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The study has been approved by the Ethics Committees of the Universities of Lübeck (file number: 21-068), Mainz (file number: 2021-15907) and Berlin (file number: 015.2021). Results will be reported in accordance to the CONSORT statement. If the approach is superior to the control condition, it may serve as part of treatment for IUD.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

DRKS00025994.

No significant effect of frequent online sexual behaviour on Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT): Implications for compulsive sexual behaviour disorder

Reward based learning is broadly acknowledged to underpin the development and maintenance of addictive behaviour although the mechanism in sexual compulsivity is less understood. Using a Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer (PIT) task we tested whether the motivational aspect of conditioned Pavlovian conditioned stimulus invigorated instrumental responding in relation to specific compatible monetary rewards. Performance on the task was analysed between two groups of males based on Low (N = 38) and High (N = 41) self-report online sexual behaviour (OSB). Psychometric tests including sexual compulsivity scale and behavioural activation/behavioural inhibition (BIS/BAS) were also administered to determine the relationship between OSB and general reward sensitivity. We show clear evidence of acquisition in the Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning phases. Specific transfer effect was greater in the High-OSB group although the difference compared to the Low-OSB group was non-significant. OSB negatively correlated with both BIS and BAS indicative of introversion and low reward sensitivity. OSB positively correlated with sexual compulsivity although it is unclear whether individuals in the High-OSB group considered their behaviour either excessive or problematic. These findings contribute to the ongoing debate regarding the nature of problematic OSB. Fundamental differences in motivational characteristics and mechanism contributing to compulsive behaviour in relation to high-OSB might indicate incompatibility with behavioural addiction models. PIT was not enhanced in high-OSB by appetitive conditioning, although problematic OSB could stem from failure to inhibit actions. Further research should investigate whether aversive conditioning differentially affects responding in high-OSB individuals, potentially explaining perseverant behaviour despite negative consequences.

Mindfulness buffers the influence of stress on cue-induced craving for Internet among Chinese colleges with problematic Internet use

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Stress is a common experience among college students with problematic Internet use, and it may exacerbate their cue-induced Internet craving. This study aimed to examine the influence of stress on cue-induced craving for the Internet among subjects with problematic Internet use and the buffering effect of mindfulness.

METHODS

Sixty-eight college students with problematic Internet use were assigned to groups with a 2 (stress vs. no-stress) × 2 (high vs. low mindfulness) between-subject design.

RESULTS

It was deduced that stress could significantly enhance cue-induced craving for the Internet, and mindfulness could buffer this effect. Specifically, the effect of stress on cue-induced craving for the Internet was weaker among subjects with high mindfulness as compared to subjects with low mindfulness.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

These findings contribute to understanding of the factors influencing problematic Internet use and how such factors interact. It also provides recommendations on how to prevent the progression of problematic Internet use and suggests possible interventions.

Association of Increased Impulsiveness and Internet Use Disorder in Adolescents and Young Adults with Different Main Activities on the Internet

Objective: Increased impulsiveness is a risk factor for health-endangering behavior patterns. Little is known about whether increased impulsiveness is associated with Internet Use Disorder (IUD) and whether individuals with various main activities on the internet differ in their levels of impulsiveness. Methods: In total, we screened 8,230 vocational students for problematic internet use with the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS). Participants scoring at least 21 points in the CIUS took part in an in-depth diagnostic interview. IUD was assessed according to the criteria of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) as suggested in the 5^th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Impulsiveness was assessed with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-15). We analyzed the data using binary logistic regression models and nonparametric tests. Results: Participants with IUD (n = 144) showed increased impulsiveness (p = .005) compared to those without IUD (n = 774). Participants with different main activities on the internet did not differ in their levels of impulsiveness. Conclusions: Results indicate that impulsiveness is associated with IUD, independent of the main internet activity. This highlights the necessity to consider patients' impulsiveness in prevention and therapeutic approaches. Because of the cross-sectional study design, further research with longitudinal study designs is needed.

Internet addiction and Facebook addiction in Spanish women with eating disorders

AIM

We aim to investigate the association between the presence of eating disorders and both Internet addiction (IA) and Facebook addiction (FA) in women suffering from eating disorders.

METHODS

A total of 124 women completed three instruments: the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS) and a sociodemographic questionnaire.

RESULTS

The proportion of FA was 37.9%. The distribution of risk of IA was 21.8%. When the risk of Internet or Facebook addiction was compared with respect to eating disorders, no significant differences were found between groups (P = 0.146 and P = 0.086, respectively). Age and Body Mass Index (BMI) were predictors of BFAS scores; the standardized beta coefficient (β) for age was -0.463 (P ≤ 0.001), while for BMI it was 3.44; (P = 0.001) being a positive predictor of BFAS scores. For IAT scores, β age (negatively) = -0.415; (P < 0.001) and β for weight (positively) 3.657; (P < 0.001) were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of an eating disorder does not seem to be a factor that characterizes the risk of Internet or Facebook addiction in our sample. As information regarding the potential association between Internet and Facebook addiction and the presence of eating disorders is limited, we encourage further studies on this topic.

Abnormal Functional Connectivity in Cognitive Control Network, Default Mode Network, and Visual Attention Network in Internet Addiction: A Resting-State fMRI Study

Internet addiction (IA) has become a global mental and social problem, which may lead to a series of psychiatric symptoms including uncontrolled use of internet, and lack of concentration. However, the exact pathophysiology of IA remains unclear. Most of functional connectivity studies were based on pre-selected regions of interest (ROI), which could not provide a comprehensive picture of the communication abnormalities in IA, and might lead to limited or bias observations. Using local functional connectivity density (lFCD), this study aimed to explore the whole-brain abnormalities of functional connectivity in IA. We evaluated the whole-brain lFCD resulting from resting-state fMRI data in 28 IA individuals and 30 demographically matched healthy control subjects (HCs). The correlations between clinical characteristics and aberrant lFCD were also assessed. Compared with HCs, subjects with IA exhibited heightened lFCD values in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), left parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), and cerebellum, and the bilateral middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and superior temporal pole (STP), as well as decreased lFCD values in the right inferior parietal lobe (IPL), and bilateral calcarine and lingual gyrus. Voxel-based correlation analysis revealed the significant correlations between the Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) score and altered lFCD values in the left PHG and bilateral STP. These findings revealed the hyper-connectivity in cognitive control network and default mode network as well as the hypo-connectivity in visual attention network, verifying the common mechanism in IA and substance addiction, and the underlying association between IA, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in terms of neurobiology.

Problematic Internet Use as a Predictor of Eating Disorders in Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study

Problematic Internet use (PIU) has begun to be linked to the development of certain eating disorders. This uncontrolled use of the Internet is mainly found in the student population. The purposes of this paper were to determine PIU-related eating disorders in students from a systematic review of the literature and to analyze the incidence of PIU in eating disorders through a meta-analysis of the literature. We used two electronic databases (Web of Science and Scopus) from inception to June 2019. The systematic literature review was based on fixed inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 12 studies were identified (systematic review) and 10 studies for meta-analysis, which included 16,520 students. Different eating disorders were associated with PIU: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, food preoccupation, loss of control eating, and dieting. Furthermore, meta-analysis confirmed that PIU is a predictor of eating disorders in students. The groups of students with PIU presented a higher rate in the presence of eating disorders, these differences being significant. Finally, this study showed empirical evidence on the link between PIU and eating disorders. The need for prevention in childhood and adolescence is highlighted.