Project description:Internet addiction and the moral implication of antisocial Internet behavior will be investigated in this paper. More and more people use the Internet in their daily life. Unfortunately the percentage of people who use the internet excessively also increases. The concept of Internet addiction or pathological use of Internet is discussed in detail, and the characteristics of Internet addicts are also delineated. The social (especially the antisocial) use of Internet is discussed. It is argued that the behavior of Internet use is similar to daily life social behavior. In other words, Internet behavior is a kind of social behavior. Kohlberg's theory of moral development is employed to delineate the moral reasoning of the antisocial Internet behavior. The following behaviors are regarded as antisocial Internet behavior: (1) the use of Internet to carry out illegal activities such as selling faked products or offensive pornographic materials, (2) the use of Internet to bully others (i.e., cyberbullying) such as distributing libelous statements against a certain person, (3) the use of Internet to cheat others, and (4) the use of Internet to do illegal gambling. The characteristics of the moral stages that are associated with these antisocial Internet behaviors are investigated in detail.
Project description:BackgroundAdolescents may have anxiety due to a series of events such as school work and social interaction. Improper handling of anxiety often leads to some negative consequences, such as Internet addiction. Therefore, this study further explored the relationship between anxiety and Internet addiction, as well as the mediating role of inhibitory control between the two, and also considered the moderating role of physical activity between anxiety and inhibitory control.MethodsA total of 1607 adolescents, comprising 664 boys and 943 girls with an average age of 15.86 years (SD = 0.73), from Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, and Hunan provinces completed a self-report survey on physical activity, anxiety, inhibitory control, and Internet addiction. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and mediation test were conducted.ResultsThe results revealed a significant positive correlation between anxiety and adolescent internet addiction (r = 0.413, p < 0.001), and a significant negative correlation with inhibitory control (r = -0.423, p < 0.001). Inhibitory control was found to be significantly positively correlated with physical exercise (r = 0.143, p < 0.001) and significantly negatively correlated with internet addiction (r = -0.368, p < 0.001). After controlling for demographic variables, anxiety significantly positively predicted Internet addiction (β = 0.311, p < 0.001) in adolescents, and it also indirectly predicted Internet addiction through inhibitory control (β = -0.231, p < 0.001). Physical activity significantly weakened the predictive effect of anxiety on inhibitory control (β = -0.092, p < 0.001).ConclusionsThis study further explored the issue of psychological mechanisms between anxiety and Internet addiction in adolescents, and added that physical activity alleviates the negative effects of anxiety on adolescents. Schools and families are encouraged to promote physical exercise among adolescents to alleviate the influence of negative emotions on their psychological and behavioral health.
Project description:BackgroundChildren's lives are increasingly mediated by digital technologies, yet evidence regarding the associations between internet use and depression is far from comprehensive and remains unclear.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the dose-response association between internet use, including use time and addiction behaviors, and depressive symptoms among children and adolescents in Zhejiang Province.MethodsData were collected from a school-based health survey China Common Disease and Risk Factor Surveillance Among Students, encompassing 21,336 students in Zhejiang Province. The daily internet use time, internet addiction (IA) behaviors, and depressive symptoms were assessed with questionnaires. Logistic regression models were used to explore the associations of internet use time and IA behaviors with depressive symptoms among children and adolescents. Restricted cubic spline curves were used to determine the dose-response associations.ResultsA total of 6225 (29.2%) students had depressive symptoms. Compared to those reporting no internet use, boys using the internet for >2 hours/day (odds ratio [OR] 1.53, 95% CI 1.34-1.74) and girls using internet for 1.1-2 hours/day (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.06-1.39) and >2 hours/day (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.50-1.93) were at higher risks of depressive symptoms. A significant J-shaped association was identified between internet use time and depressive symptoms among children and adolescents, especially in boys and primary school students (nonlinear P values were .006, .003, and <.001, respectively). Increased IA behaviors were associated with a higher odd of depressive symptoms (1 IA behavior: OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.83-2.21; 2 IA behaviors: 2.91, 95% CI 2.57-3.29; and ≥3 IA behaviors: 4.72, 95% CI 4.26-5.22). A positive nonlinear association between the number of IA behaviors and depressive symptoms was found in total population, girls, and primary school students (nonlinear P values were .02, .002, .007, respectively).ConclusionsFindings suggested that excessive internet use time and IA behaviors were significantly associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms, highlighting the importance of interventions to regulate and educate about adequate internet use during childhood and adolescence.
Project description:BackgroundInternet addiction has become increasingly recognized as a mental disorder, though its neurobiological basis is unknown. This study used functional neuroimaging to investigate whole-brain functional connectivity in adolescents diagnosed with internet addiction. Based on neurobiological changes seen in other addiction related disorders, it was predicted that connectivity disruptions in adolescents with internet addiction would be most prominent in cortico-striatal circuitry.MethodsParticipants were 12 adolescents diagnosed with internet addiction and 11 healthy comparison subjects. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance images were acquired, and group differences in brain functional connectivity were analyzed using the network-based statistic. We also analyzed network topology, testing for between-group differences in key graph-based network measures.ResultsAdolescents with internet addiction showed reduced functional connectivity spanning a distributed network. The majority of impaired connections involved cortico-subcortical circuits (?24% with prefrontal and ?27% with parietal cortex). Bilateral putamen was the most extensively involved subcortical brain region. No between-group difference was observed in network topological measures, including the clustering coefficient, characteristic path length, or the small-worldness ratio.ConclusionsInternet addiction is associated with a widespread and significant decrease of functional connectivity in cortico-striatal circuits, in the absence of global changes in brain functional network topology.
Project description:This study investigates how adolescents' internet adaptation influences internet addiction, with a particular focus on the mediating role of internet cultural adaptation. Grounded in cross-cultural adaptation theory, the study proposes that internet cultural adaptation can mitigate the negative relationship between internet adaptation and internet addiction. Conducting a large-scale random survey among Chinese adolescents, and employing standardized measures for internet addiction, internet cultural adaptation, and internet adaptation, the study finds a significant negative correlation between internet adaptation and internet addiction. More crucially, internet cultural adaptation plays a pivotal mediating role, such that when adolescents have higher capabilities in adapting culturally to the internet, the negative relationship between their internet adaptation and addiction is effectively alleviated. These findings not only provide a new perspective in understanding adolescent internet addiction but also offer theoretical guidance for devising preventive measures. The study also discusses practical applications of the results, emphasizing the importance of enhancing adolescents' internet cultural adaptation, and presents new strategies for preventing and mitigating issues of internet addiction.
Project description:BackgroundsRecent studies have shown that the qualities of children and adolescents' positive youth development (PYD) enable them to cope with developmental challenges in an adaptive manner and maintain healthy functioning. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still a lack of reporting on changes in children and adolescents' PYD qualities and Internet addiction and their relationship. This study investigated the association between PYD qualities and Internet addiction among the children and adolescents who have experienced the COVID-19 lockdown.MethodsA school-based cohort survey was launched in December 2019 (Wave 1, before COVID-19 lockdown) and followed up in June 2020 (Wave 2, after COVID-19 lockdown). The Chinese PYD scale (80 items, scoring 80-480) and Young's Internet addiction test (20 items, scoring 20-100) were used to evaluate the children and adolescents' PYD qualities and the degree of their Internet addiction, respectively. Cross-sectional regressions, longitudinal regressions, and cross-lagged panel model were used to examine the association between PYD qualities and Internet addiction.Results7,985 children and adolescents completed both waves of surveys. Compared with children and adolescents before lockdown (Wave 1), their total PYD quality dropped from 4.99 to 4.96 after COVID-19 lockdown (Wave 2), and the mean score for Internet addiction rose from 35.56 to 36.16. Cross-sectional analysis showed that after controlling for basic characteristics such as age and gender, the total PYD quality of children and adolescents in two waves was negatively correlated with the degree of Internet addiction during the same period, with β of -6.10 and -6.95, respectively. Longitudinal analysis showed that after controlling for basic characteristics, children and adolescents' total PYD quality in Wave 1 was negatively correlated with the Wave 2 of Internet addiction and the change between the two waves of Internet addiction, with β of -3.35 and -0.26, respectively. Cross-lagged panel models showed a negative bilateral relationship between total PYD quality and Internet addiction.ConclusionDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, the qualities of children and adolescents' PYD declined, which makes children and adolescents more vulnerable to Internet addiction. Therefore, it is necessary to widely implement programs in China that can comprehensively improve the qualities of children and adolescents' positive development to prevent Internet addiction, especially after the blockade due to public health emergencies.
Project description:Background: Sleep quality plays a principal role in the protection of health. There is an increasing number of studies in the literature demonstrating that internet addiction and smartphone addiction impair sleep quality. However, the number of studies on Turkish adolescents is very limited. Therefore, this study examined the effects of internet addiction and smartphone addiction on sleep quality among Turkish adolescents. Methods: Participants in this cross-sectional study were 910 adolescents aged 13-18 years. Data were collected with the Short Internet Addiction Test, Smartphone Addiction Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. In addition, a questionnaire was used to gather information about the demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related characteristics. Pearson's Chi-square test, Chi-square test for trend, Mann-Whitney U test, logistic regression analysis, and Spearman's correlation analysis were used in the analysis. Results: The sleep quality of 58.7% of the adolescents was poor. Additionally, girls and adolescents ≥16 years old had poor sleep quality. Sleep quality deteriorated as perceived health status and perceived economic status of family deteriorated. Compared to participants with normal internet addiction scores, poor sleep quality was 1.83 (95% CI [1.22-2.74]) times higher in those with problematic internet addiction and 1.99 (95% CI [1.23-3.87]) times higher in those with pathological internet addiction. One point increase in Smartphone Addiction Scale total score increased poor sleep quality 1.01 (95% CI [1.00-1.02]) times. Sleep quality scale were positively correlated with the smartphone addiction and internet addiction. However, there was no positive correlation between habitual sleep efficiency subcomponent of sleep quality and smartphone addiction and internet addiction. Conclusions: Internet addiction and smartphone addiction were associated with poor sleep quality in adolescents. Older adolescents (≥16 years), gender (female), poor health perception, and perception of moderate economic status of the family were other factors associated with poor sleep quality.
Project description:Understanding the neural basis of poor impulse control in Internet addiction (IA) is important for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of this syndrome. The current study investigated how neuronal pathways implicated in response inhibition were affected in IA using a Go-Stop paradigm and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-three control subjects aged 15.2±0.5 years (mean±S.D.) and eighteen IA subjects aged 15.1±1.4 years were studied. Effective connectivity within the response inhibition network was quantified using (stochastic) dynamic causal modeling (DCM). The results showed that the indirect frontal-basal ganglia pathway was engaged by response inhibition in healthy subjects. However, we did not detect any equivalent effective connectivity in the IA group. This suggests the IA subjects fail to recruit this pathway and inhibit unwanted actions. This study provides a clear link between Internet addiction as a behavioral disorder and aberrant connectivity in the response inhibition network.
Project description:BackgroundProblematic Internet addiction (IA) has been shown to be associated with a variety of psychological comorbidities, but its relationship with adolescent asthma has not yet been investigated in detail.MethodsWe analyzed 18,473 adolescent patients with physician-diagnosed asthma and 205,069 non-asthmatic adolescent patients from the Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. Socioeconomic factors, health behavior factors, psychological factors, and IA status were assessed using the Korean Internet Addiction Proneness Scale. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed, with adjustment for multiple cofounders, to explore the association between IA and adolescent asthma.ResultsComparison between the adolescent asthma group and non-adolescent asthma group indicated higher rates of probable IA (13.7% vs. 12.1%, respectively, P<0.001), IA (4.8% vs. 3.1%, respectively, P<0.001), and problematic IA (18.5% vs. 15.2%, respectively, P<0.001) in the adolescent asthma group. After adjustment for multiple confounders, probable IA [odds ratio (OR): 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08-1.26] and IA (OR: 1.07, 95% CI: 1.02-1.12) were significantly associated with increased risk of adolescent asthma, compared to non-problematic Internet use.ConclusionsIA is associated with an increased rate of asthma in Korean adolescents. So, IA has attracted minimal attention in relation to the treatment of asthma.
Project description:BackgroundInternet addiction is a serious problem that can negatively impact both the physical and mental health of individuals. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) is the most common used instrument to screen internet addiction worldwide. This study sought to investigate the psychometric properties of an Indonesian version of the IAT.MethodsThe IAT questionnaire was made the focus of forward translation, expert panel discussions, back translation, an item analysis (30 subjects), a pilot study (385 subjects), and field testing (643 subjects). Factor structure was analysed by exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor (CFA) analyses, whereas reliability was measured with Cronbach's alpha coefficient.ResultsFactor analysis revealed that the Indonesian version of IAT, consisted of 3 domains, and had good validity (χ2 p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.076; CFI = 0.95; SRMR = 0.057, and AIC = 784.63). The Cronbach's alpha score is 0.855. A significant association was also observed between the level of internet addiction with gender (p = 0.027) and the duration of internet use per day (p = 0.001).ConclusionThe Indonesian version of IAT provides good validity and reliability in a three-dimensional model. Therefore, it can be utilised as a tool for screening internet addiction in the Indonesian population.