Recently studies examined mediating psychological constructs accounting for relations between both depression and anxiety with problematic smartphone use (PSU) severity. The aim of the current study ...was to analyze the fear of missing out (FOMO) as a possible mediator in these relationships.
We recruited 1034 Chinese undergraduate students via a web-based survey that measured smartphone use frequency, PSU, depression, anxiety and FOMO.
Structural equation modeling demonstrated that FOMO was significantly related to smartphone use frequency and PSU severity. FOMO significantly mediated relations between anxiety and both smartphone use frequency and PSU severity. FOMO did not account for relations between depression and smartphone use/PSU.
This is one of the first studies testing FOMO in relation to PSU severity among Asian participants. FOMO may be an important variable accounting for why some types of psychopathology (e.g., anxiety) are associated with PSU.
•Fear of missing out (FOMO) related to problematic smartphone use (PSU) severity.•FOMO mediated relations between anxiety and smartphone use frequency.•FOMO mediated relations between anxiety and PSU severity.
•This is the first meta-analysis comparing prevalence of generalized Internet addiction and Internet gaming disorder.•The rate of generalized Internet addiction is higher than the rate of Internet ...gaming disorder.•The prevalence of generalized Internet addiction varied with year.•The prevalence of generalized Internet addiction differed among assessment tools.
The field of internet addiction has experienced significant debates on conflicting epidemiology. This meta-analysis investigated the prevalence rates of generalized internet addiction (GIA) and internet gaming disorder (IGD).
We included 113 epidemiologic studies covering 693,306 subjects published from 1996 to 2018 (for 31 nations) that reported prevalence rates for GIA or IGD. We examined pooled prevalence of GIA and IGD and the hypothesized moderators including year, geographic regions, types of scales, and sample representativeness.
All 133 effect sizes included 53,184 subjects with GIA or IGD. Weighted average prevalence for GIA and IGD were 7.02 % (95 % CI, 6.09 %–8.08 %) and 2.47 % (95 % CI, 1.46 %–4.16 %) respectively. For GIA, prevalence was increased over time and prevalence rates variated among different scales. IGD prevalence was neither moderated by year, regions, nor sample representativeness.
The prevalence of GIA was higher than the prevalence of IGD. The GIA prevalence was increasing over time and variated with different assessments. Our results reveal that GIA may reflect a pattern of increasing human-machine interaction.
Internet addiction has been found to be prevalent worldwide, including Asian countries, and related to several negative outcomes and other behavioral addictions. The Bergen Social Media Addiction ...Scale (BSMAS), Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS), and nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS-SF9) have been extensively used to assess internet-related addictions. However, the three aforementioned instruments have rarely been used in Asian countries. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the BSMAS, SABAS, and IGDS-SF9 were appropriate for use in heterogeneous subsamples from Hong Kong and Taiwan. University students from Hong Kong (n = 306) and Taiwan (n = 336) were recruited via an online survey. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) was used to assess measurement invariance of the BSMAS, SABAS, and IGDS-SF9 across the two subcultures. The original unidimensional structures of BSMAS, SABAS and IGDS-SF9 were confirmed through confirmatory factorial analysis in both subcultures. The MGCFA results showed that the unidimensional structures of the BSMAS and IGDS-SF9 were invariant across the two Chinese cultural areas (Hong Kong and Taiwan). However, the measurement invariance of the SABAS was established after some model modifications. In conclusion, the present study found that the Chinese BSMAS, SABAS, and IGDS-SF9 were all adequate instruments to validly assess internet-related addictions among university students. The three brief instruments used for assessing addictions to social media, smartphone applications, and online gaming are valid and psychometrically robust across two Chinese subcultures and can be used by healthcare professionals in these regions.
•Chinese Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale has unidimensional structure.•Chinese Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale has unidimensional structure.•Chinese Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form has unidimensional structure.
Addiction to technology is emerging as a serious medical condition, not just an exaggeration of everyday social and personal ailments of the 21st century. Technological Addictions provides guidance ...found nowhere else, guidance that both clinicians and laypeople will find useful and compelling.
Given the many technological advances over the past two decades, a small minority of young people are at risk of problematic use or becoming addicted to these technologies (including activities on ...the internet and smartphones). Many brief psychometric scales have been developed to assess those at risk of problematic use or addiction including the six-item Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale SABAS, the six-item Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale BSMAS, and the nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form IGDS-SF9). However, to date, the reproducibility of these three scales has only been examined over a short period of time (e.g., two weeks), and it is unclear whether they are time invariant across a longer period (e.g., three months). Given the emergence of internet and smartphone addiction in Chinese population, the present study translated the three instruments into Chinese and recruited 640 university students (304 from Hong Kong 99 males and 336 from Taiwan 167 males) to complete the three scales twice (baseline and three months after baseline). Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) was applied to examine the time invariance. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the relative reliability, and the percentage of smallest real difference (SRD%) was utilized to explore the absolute reliability for the three scales. MGCFA showed that all three scales were time invariant across three months. ICC demonstrated that all the scales were satisfactory in reproducibility (0.82 to 0.94), and SRD% indicated that all the scales had acceptable measurement noise (23.8 to 29.4). In conclusion, the short, valid, reliable, and easy-to-use Chinese SABAS, BSMAS, and IGDS-SF9 show good properties across periods of three months.
•Smartphone addiction, social media addiction, and internet gaming disorder are specific internet-related disorders.•Psychometrically robust instruments have been developed for these specific disorders.•The reproducibility of these scales has only been examined over a short period of time.•Time invariance of three scales were tested over a 3-month period.•The three scales had satisfactory reproducibility with little measurement noise.
Internet use-related addiction problems (e.g., Internet addiction, problem mobile phone use, problem gaming, and social networking) have been defined according to the same core element: the addictive ...symptomatology presented by individuals who excessively and problematically behave using the technology. Online activity is the most important factor in their lives, causing them the loss of control by stress and difficulties in managing at least one aspect of their daily life, affecting users’ wellbeing and health. In 2018, Gaming Disorder was included as a mental disease in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association requested additional research on Internet Gaming Disorder.
The papers contained in this e-Book provide unique and original perspectives on the concept, development, and early detection of the prevention of these health problems. They are diverse in the nature of the problems they deal with, methodologies, populations, cultures, and contain insights and a clear indication of the impact of individual, social, and environmental factors on Internet use-related addiction problems. The e-Book illustrates recent progress in the evolution of research, with great emphasis on gaming and smartphone problems, signaling areas in which research would be useful, even cross-culturally.
•25 theories/models guiding 55 social media addiction (SMA) studies are reviewed.•Perspectives and constructs explaining the development of SMA are discussed.•Limitations of those theories/models and ...future research areas are presented.
With the increasing use of social media, the addictive use of this new technology also grows. Previous studies found that addictive social media use is associated with negative consequences such as reduced productivity, unhealthy social relationships, and reduced life-satisfaction. However, a holistic theoretical understanding of how social media addiction develops is still lacking, which impedes practical research that aims at designing educational and other intervention programs to prevent social media addiction. In this study, we reviewed 25 distinct theories/models that guided the research design of 55 empirical studies of social media addiction to identify theoretical perspectives and constructs that have been examined to explain the development of social media addiction. Limitations of the existing theoretical frameworks were identified, and future research areas are proposed.
Excessive Internet use can negatively affect academic performance, family relationships and emotional development among the youth. Such issues have been identified as Internet addiction (IA). We ...aimed to determine the prevalence of IA among Portuguese adolescents and assess how parental control can relate to IA.
An observational cross-sectional study was performed at public schools within a Portuguese region, using Young’s Internet Addiction Test survey. General sociodemographic and emotional well-being data were obtained. A descriptive and bivariate analysis was done among Internet-addicted and average users, followed by a logistic regression analysis. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were computed with two-sided P values < .05 for statistical significance.
A total of 1916 eligible responses were obtained. Mean age was 15 ± 1.8 years, with a slight predominance of female (53.3%) participants. In our sample, 16.5% were deemed Internet addicted and less likely to have any parental control over Internet use (aOR 0.74, P <.05). Moreover, 28% of the Internet-addicted users were less likely to have control over time spent online (aOR 0.72, P < .05), and close to half were unlikely to have online content restrictions (aOR 0.56, P < .01).
Our findings reported a significant rate of Internet-addicted youth. IA was negatively related to parental control. Whenever any kind of parental control over Internet use was reported, IA was less likely to occur. Healthcare professionals should be aware of the risks of IA in adolescents to improve its prevention and intervention.
Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is a multifaceted and complex addictive disorder characterized by poor impulse control and altered reward sensitivities, among other features. IGD is a male-predominant ...condition, and gender-related differences may contribute importantly to the development and maintenance of, and recovery from, IGD.
The current manuscript proposes a framework that incorporates gender-related considerations at different stages of IGD and proposes potential strategies for the prevention and treatment of IGD.
At the development stage, high impulsivity, impaired inhibitory control, and aggressive behaviors have been more frequently observed among males than females, suggesting potential risk factors for the development of IGD. Loneliness and other emotional dysregulation have been more frequently noted among females (than among males) with IGD. At the maintenance stage, males may be more sensitive to gaming-related rewards than females, and acute gaming behaviors may elicit higher cravings among males than among females and thus weaken their inhibitory control. In recovery, females with IGD have reported more negative mood states than males, and females’ gaming behaviors have been linked with affective disorders.
The model proposed here highlights gender-related differences in modulating the behavioral and neural systems that contribute to a three-stage framework of IGD. Additional investigation into gender-related differences in IGD may further advance the field by uncovering complex relationships that may underlie vulnerability and provide insights into the development of gender-specific prevention and treatment strategies.
Purpose
To examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lifestyle, habits, and behavioral differences in children, and their changing internet use habits.
Methods
The research was planned as a ...cross-sectional study involving 4892 children aged 8 to 17 years attending schools in the city center of Trabzon, Turkey. Children’s daily living activities, social habits, mood and temperament changes, and internet use were investigated before and during the pandemic. In terms of problematic internet use, internet addiction rates were evaluated using the validated Turkish-language version of the Parent-Child Internet Addiction Scale (PCIAT-20).
Results
The children’s mean age was 13 ± 2.45 years, and 17.1% (n = 837) exhibited problematic internet use features on the PCIAT-20. Problematic internet use was higher in boys and in children older than 13 years. The presence of COVID-19 infection among members of the household, quarantine measures, attending private schools, the mother’s occupation, the time spent by the mother and father on their mobile phones, and high parental education levels were associated with a high level of internet addiction. Families also described significant changes in their children’s temperament and character compared with the pre-pandemic period.
Conclusion
The prevalence of problematic internet use increased during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with previous studies from Turkey. Children were also more introverted, irritable, and pessimistic during the pandemic.
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