Internet addiction in students from an educational institution in Southern Brazil: prevalence and associated factors
de Ávila, Gisele Bartz; dos Santos, Érico Nobre; Jansen, Karen; Barros, Fernando Celso
Abstract
Objective
To evaluate the prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) and its associated factors among students at an Educational Institution in Southern Brazil.
Method
This is a cross-sectional study, targeting a sample of students aged from 14 to 20 years. They were selected by random sampling to be representative of the 4038 students enrolled at the institute at the time. IA was assessed using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Screening for anxiety and/or depressive disorders was performed using the Well-Being Index (WHO-5).
Results
The prevalence of IA was 50.8% and the rate was higher among individuals who had screened positive for depressive or anxiety disorders than among those who had not (p = 0.003). There was an association between IA and access to certain types of content, such as gaming (p = 0.010), work and study related content (p = 0.030), and using the internet to access sexual content (p < 0.001).
Conclusion
Further studies are needed to confirm the high prevalence of IA and explore factors associated with it in samples with similar characteristics to ours. The associations between this dependency and positive screening for anxiety and/or depressive disorders and the types of content accessed are an alert to the existence of these important relationships and illustrate the importance of studying them further. Knowledge about these associations provides an opportunity to implement measures for prevention, such as psychoeducation, and to offer adequate treatment.
Keywords
References
1 Conti MA, Jardim AP, Hearst N, Cordás TA, Tavares H, Abreu CND. Avaliação da equivalência semântica e consistência interna de uma versão em português do Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Rev Psiquiatr Clin. 2012;39:106-10.
2 Young KS. Clinical assessment of internet-addicted clients. In: Young KS, Abreu CN, editors. Internet addiction: a handbook and guide to evaluation and treatment. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons; 2011. p. 19-34.
3 Love T, Laier C, Brand M, Hatch L, Hajela R. Neuroscience of Internet pornography addiction: a review and update. Behav Sci. 2015;5:388-433.
4 Winkler A, Dörsing B, Rief W, Shen Y, Glombiewski JA. Treatment of Internet addiction: a meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2013;33:317-29.
5 Young KS. Internet addiction: symptoms, evaluation, and treatment. In: Vandecreek L, Jackson TL, editors. Innovations in clinical practice: a source book. Sarasota: Professional Resource Press; 1999. p. 19-31.
6 Griffiths MD. Does Internet and computer “addiction” exist? Some case study evidence. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2000;3:211-8.
7 Sánchez-Carbonell X, Beranuy M, Castellana M, Chamarro A, Oberst U. La adicción a Internet y al móvil: ¿moda o trastorno? Addiciones. 2008;20:149-59.
8 Young KS. Caught in the net: how to recognize the signs of internet addiction and a winning strategy for recovery. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1998.
9 Tao R, Huang X, Wang J, Zhang H, Zhang Y, Li M. Proposed diagnostic criteria for Internet addiction. Addiction. 2010;105:556-64.
10 Young KS. Internet addiction. American Behav Sci. 2004;48:402-15.
11 Shapira NA, Lessig MC, Goldsmith TD, Szabo ST, Lazoritz M, Gold MS, et al. Problematic Internet use: proposed classification and diagnostic criteria. Depress Anxiety. 2003;17:207-16.
12 Bakken IJ, Wenzel HG, Götestam KG, Johansson A, Øren A. Internet addiction among Norwegian adults: a stratified probability sample study. Scand J Psychol. 2009;50:121-7.
13 Kuss DJ, Griffiths MD, Karila L, Billieux J. Internet addiction: a systematic review of epidemiological research for the last decade. Curr Pharm Des. 2014;20:4026-52.
14 Kim BS, Chang SM, Park JE, Seong SJ, Won SH, Cho MJ. Prevalence, correlates, psychiatric comorbidities, and suicidality in a community population with problematic Internet use. Psychiatry Res. 2016;244:249-56.
15 Macur M, Király O, Maraz A, Nagygyörgy K, Demetrovics Z. Prevalence of problematic internet use in Slovenia. Zdr Varst. 2016;55:202-11.
16 Rumpf HJ, Vermulst AA, Bischof A, Kastirke N, Gürtler D, Bischof G, et al. Occurence of Internet addiction in a general population sample: a latent class analysis. Eur Addict Res. 2014;20:159-66.
17 Cerniglia L, Zoratto F, Cimino S, Laviola G, Ammaniti M, Adriani W. Internet addiction in adolescence: neurobiological, psychosocial and clinical issues. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2017;76:174-84.
18 Machado MDR, Bruck I, Antoniuk SA, Cat MNL, Soares MC, da Silva AF. Internet addiction and its correlation with behavioral problems and functional impairments – A cross-sectional study. J Bras Psiquiatr. 2018;67:34-8.
19 Lai CM, Mak KK, Watanabe H, Jeong J, Kim D, Bahar N, et al. The mediating role of Internet addiction in depression, social anxiety, and psychosocial well-being among adolescents in six Asian countries: a structural equation modelling approach. Public Health. 2015;129:1224-36.
20 Gámez-Guadix M. Depressive symptoms and problematic Internet use among adolescents: analysis of the longitudinal relationships from the cognitive-behavioral model. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2014;17:714-9.
21 Chang FC, Chiu CH, Miao NF, Chen PH, Lee CM, Chiang JT, et al. The relationship between parental mediation and Internet addiction among adolescents, and the association with cyberbullying and depression. Compr Psychiatry. 2015;57:21-8.
22 Li X, Luo X, Zheng R, Jin X, Mei L, Xie X, et al. The role of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and school functioning in the association between peer victimization and internet addiction: A moderated mediation model. J Affect Disord. 2019;256:125-31.
23 Ko CH, Yen JY, Chen CS, Yeh YC, Yen CF. Predictive values of psychiatric symptoms for Internet addiction in adolescents. Arch of Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009;163:937-43.
24 Cheng C, Li AY. Internet addiction prevalence and quality of (real) life: a meta-analysis of 31 nations across seven world regions. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2014;17:755-60.
25 Méa CPD, Biffe EM, Ferreira VRT. Padrão de uso de internet por adolescentes e sua relação com sintomas depressivos e de ansiedade. Psicol Rev. 2016;25:243-64.
26 Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Pesquisa (ABEP). Critério Brasil: 2015; c2015 [Internet]. [cited 2019 July 10]. http://www.abep.org/criterio-brasil » http://www.abep.org/criterio-brasil
27 Tateno M, Teo AR, Shirasaka T, Tayama M, Watabe M, Kato TA. Internet addiction and self-evaluated attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder traits among Japanese college students. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2016;70:567-72.
28 Widyanto L, McMurran M. The psychometric properties of the Internet Addiction Test. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2004;7:443-50.
29 Marques JMDA. Detecção e diagnóstico de transtornos mentais pela equipe do Programa de Saúde da Família [dissertation]. Ribeirão Preto: Universidade de São Paulo; 2009.
30 Kim K, Ryu E, Chon MY, Yeun EJ, Choi SY, Seo JS, et al. Internet addiction in Korean adolescents and its relation to depression and suicidal ideation: a questionnaire survey. Int J Nurs Stud. 2006;43:185-92.
31 Seyrek S, Cop E, Sinir H, Ugurlu M, Şenel S. Factors associated with Internet addiction: cross-sectional study of Turkish adolescents. Pediatr Int. 2017;59:218-22.
32 Goel D, Subramanyam A, Kamath R. A study on the prevalence of internet addiction and its association with psychopathology in Indian adolescents. Indian J Psychiatry. 2013;55:140-3. 33
Li G, Hou G, Yang D, Jian H, Wang W. Relationship between anxiety, depression, sex, obesity, and internet addiction in Chinese adolescents: A short-term longitudinal study. Addict Behav. 2019;90:421-7. 34
Yadav P, Banwari G, Parmar C, Maniar R. Internet addiction and its correlates among high school students: a preliminary study from Ahmedabad, India. Asian J Psychiatr. 2013;6:500-5. 35
Tan Y, Chen Y, Lu Y, Li L. Exploring associations between problematic Internet use, depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance among southern Chinese adolescents. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016;13:313. 36 Scimeca G, Bruno A, Cava L, Pandolfo G, Muscatello MRA, Zoccali R. The relationship between alexithymia, anxiety, depression, and Internet addiction severity in a sample of Italian high school students. Sci World J. 2014;2014:1-8.
37 Ho RC, Zhang MWB, Tsang TY, Toh AH, Pan F, Lu Y, et al. The association between internet addiction and psychiatric co-morbidity: a meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry. 2014;14:183.
38 Lai CM, Mak KK, Watanabe H, Jeong J, Kim D, Bahar N, et al. The mediating role of Internet addiction in depression, social anxiety, and psychosocial well-being among adolescents in six Asian countries: a structural equation modelling approach. Public Health. 2015;129:1224-36.
39 Stavropoulos V, Gomez R, Steen E, Beard C, Liew L, Griffiths MD. The longitudinal association between anxiety and Internet addiction in adolescence: The moderating effect of classroom extraversion. J Behav Addict. 2017;6:237-47.
40 Przepiorka A, Blachnio A, Cudo A. The role of depression, personality, and future time perspective in internet addiction in adolescents and emerging adults. Psychiatry Res. 2019;272:340-8.
41 Ha JH, Kim SY, Bae SC, Bae S, Kim H, Sim M, et al. Depression and Internet addiction in adolescents. Psychopathology. 2007;40:424-30.
42 Associação Americana de Psiquiatria. Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais, 5ª edição (DSM-5). Porto Alegre: Artmed; 2014.
43 Zajac K, Ginley MK, Chang R, Petry NM. Treatments for Internet gaming disorder and Internet addiction: a systematic review. Psychol Addict Behav. 2017;31:979-94.
44 Starcevic V, Aboujaoude E. Internet addiction: reappraisal of an increasingly inadequate concept. CNS Spectr. 2017;22:7-13.
45 Kardefelt-Winther D. Conceptualizing Internet use disorders: addiction or coping process? Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2017;71:459-66.
46 Doidge N. The brain that changes itself: stories of personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science. New York: Penguin Books; 2007.
47 Alexandraki K, Stavropoulos V, Burleigh TL, King DL, Griffiths MD. Internet pornography viewing preference as a risk factor for adolescent Internet addiction: the moderating role of classroom personality factors. J Behav Addict. 2018;7:423-32.
48 Berryman C, Ferguson CJ, Negy C. Social media use and mental health among young students. Psychiatr Q. 2018;89:307-14.
49 Tateno M, Teo AR, Ukai W, Kanazawa J, Katsuki R, Kubo H, Kato TA. Internet addiction, smartphone addiction, and Hikikomori trait in Japanese young adult: social isolation and social network. Front Psychiatry. 2019;10:455
50 Carbonell X, Chamarro A, Oberst U, Rodrigo B, Prades M. Problematic use of the Internet and smartphones in university stydents: 2006-2017. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;8:15
51 Elhai JD, Levine JC, Hall BJ. The relationship between anxiety symptom severity and problematic smartphone use: a review of the literature and conceptual frameworks. J Anxiety Disord. 2019;62:45-52.
52 Greenfield DN. Treatment considerations in Internet and video game addiction. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2018;27:327-44.
53 Thiengo DL, Cavalcante MT, Lovisi GM. Prevalência de transtornos mentais entre crianças e adolescentes e fatores associados: uma revisão sistemática. J Bras Psiquiatr. 2014;63:360-72.
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
LinkedIn
Mendeley
StumbleUpon
CiteULike
Reddit
Email