INTERNET ADDICTION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN A WESTERN BRAZILIAN AMAZONIAN CITY

Lifestyle Habits Related to Internet Use in Adolescents: Relationships between Wellness, Happiness, and Mental Health

BACKGROUND

Studies in recent years have shown a significant increase in problematic internet use. Prolonged internet usage negatively impacts various aspects of adolescents' lifestyles.

METHODS

The survey was conducted in three Lithuanian cities-Vilnius, Klaipėda, and Molėtai-between October and December of 2023. The survey involved students between the ages of 12 and 16. The participants completed a questionnaire that included questions about wellness and happiness, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Our study aimed to investigate problematic internet use among Lithuanian adolescents and its relationships with wellness, happiness, and mental health.

RESULTS

This study included 1412 adolescents, with a mean age of 14.41 ± 1.20, with the sample composed of 52.3% boys. Boys indicated that they felt healthier and happier than girls (69.4% vs. 47.4%; 51.4% vs. 29.6%), p < 0.001. A total of 20.8% of students had IAT scores that reflect a normal level of internet usage. For IAT, the average score of girls was statistically significantly higher than that of boys (41.87 ± 12.24 vs. 39.96 ± 12.37), p < 0.001. The IAT score was higher in the group of students who felt less happy and healthy, had more frequent headaches or abdominal pain, and had problems with sleep, p < 0.001. A statistically significant, positive weak correlation was found between students' IAT scores and SDQ internalizing and SDQ externalizing scores (r = 0.366; r = 0.385, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Prolonged internet use is arising as a serious problem among adolescents. Negative feelings, unhappiness, and poor emotion regulation have an association with internet addiction. Also, the female gender may be more associated with possible internet addiction. The results of this study can serve as initial steps toward developing preventive interventions.

Internet Addiction, Sleep Habits and Family Communication: The Perspectives of a Sample of Adolescents

BACKGROUND

With the increase in communication technologies, the internet has become an indispensable tool in the life of the individual. Several studies report on the advantages of this resource; however, there is still a group of individuals who use the internet excessively. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between internet addiction, daytime sleepiness, and family communication in adolescents.

METHODS

A total of 340 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years participated in this study. All completed the sociodemographic questionnaire, the internet addiction test, the pediatric daytime sleepiness scale, and the family communication scale.

RESULTS

The results indicate that 64.1% of the adolescents had mild to moderate addiction to the internet. The main results suggest that internet addiction in adolescents is negatively associated with family communication and positively associated with excessive daytime sleepiness. It was also observed that gender had a significant effect on daytime sleepiness, with female participants having more excessive daytime sleepiness. Regarding age, the results indicate higher values of internet addiction among younger adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

In view of the above, it is considered important to develop preventive actions with a view to healthy family communication, with the adoption of sleep hygiene habits and the promotion of healthy use of the internet.

Screen time increases overweight and obesity risk among adolescents: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Adolescence is a critical period in human life, associated with reduced physical activity and increased sedentary behaviors. In this systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis, we evaluated the association between screen time and risk of overweight/obesity among adolescents.

METHODS

A systematic search in electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, and Scopus was performed up to September 2021. All published studies evaluating the association between screen time and risk of overweight/obesity among adolescents were retrieved. Finally, a total of 44 eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis.

RESULTS

The results of the two-class meta-analysis showed that adolescents at the highest category of screen time were 1.27 times more likely to develop overweight/obesity (OR = 1.273; 95% CI = 1.166-1.390; P < 0.001; I-squared (variation in ES attributable to heterogeneity) = 82.1%). The results of subgrouping showed that continent and setting were the possible sources of heterogeneity. Moreover, no evidence of non-linear association between increased screen time and risk of overweight/obesity among adolescents was observed (P-nonlinearity = 0.311).

CONCLUSION

For the first time, the current systematic review and meta-analysis revealed a positive association between screen time and overweight/obesity among adolescents without any dose-response evidence.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The protocol of the current work has been registered in the PROSPERO system (Registration number: CRD42021233899 ).

Parental Depression and Leisure Activity Engagement on Children's Gaming Disorder: A Dyadic Study

Nowadays, playing both online and offline video games is a popular leisure activity among youngsters, but excessive gaming activity engagement may lead to gaming disorder that disrupts daily functioning. Identifying risk and protective factors of this emerging problem is thus essential for devising prevention and intervention strategies. This mixed-method, cross-sectional study aimed to examine the roles of parental depressive symptoms and children’s leisure activity engagement on children’s gaming disorder symptoms. Furthermore, the moderating roles of risky and protective leisure activity engagement were investigated. The sample comprised 104 parent-child dyads recruited from a population-based survey (parents: M_age = 45.59 years, SD = 6.70; children: M_age = 11.26 years; SD = 4.12). As predicted, parental depressive symptoms and children’s gaming activity engagement were positively associated with children’s gaming disorder symptoms, whereas children’s literacy activity engagement was negatively associated with these symptoms. Moreover, engagement in these two types of leisure activity moderated the association between parental depressive symptoms and children’s gaming disorder symptoms in distinct manners, further indicating literacy activities as beneficial and gaming activities as risk-enhancing. These new findings imply that parental depressive symptoms and children’s leisure activity engagement should be considered when designing parent-based programs for gaming disorder prevention and intervention.