Associations between Internet Addiction, Psychiatric Comorbidity, and Maternal Depression and Anxiety in Clinically Referred Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Purpose Internet addiction (IA) has become a global problem and is one of the most common reasons for children to be referred for intervention because IA results in social and educational dysfunction and conflict with parents. IA is associated with various comorbid psychiatric disorders, with notable association between IA and family factors. However, little is known about parental psychopathology. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of IA and association between IA and maternal depression and anxiety in clinical samples after adjusting for comorbidities. Patients and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 2020 and August 2021 at the Department of Neuropsychiatry of Osaka Metropolitan University Hospital in Japan. A total of 218 clinically referred children and adolescents (aged 8 to 15 years) were assessed using the Internet Addiction Test, which is one of the most popular questionnaires to evaluate IA, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and The Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children—Present and Lifetime Version. IA was defined as a total score on the Internet Addiction Test ≥ 50. Of those, for the evaluation of maternal depression and anxiety, the 132 mothers of the children who were referred after January 2021 completed K6 as well. Results A total of 68 participants (31.2%) presented with IA and had higher total and externalizing scores of CBCL, social anxiety disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder compared to those without IA. IA was associated with the six-item Kessler scale scores of mothers, being raised by single parents, and anxiety disorders after adjusting for age, sex, and family income (95% CI: 1.023–1.215). Conclusion Maternal depression and anxiety may be one of the risk factors for children and adolescents to develop IA. Care for maternal depression and anxiety may contribute to intervention for children and adolescents with IA.

Relationship of Problematic Internet Use with Emotion Regulation in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…22 In a recently published study involving 218 children and adolescents, no difference was found between the groups regarding MDD, but social anxiety disorder, externalizing disorders, and ODD were found to be high. 23 A study conducted in our country reported a significant relationship between internet addiction and hyperactivity-impulsivity, oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder scores. 24 A study examining behavioral and emotional characteristics in children and adolescents with internet addiction concluded that internalizing and externalizing disorders were significantly more common.…”

“…The sub-dimensions in the difficulties in emotion regulation scale can be listed as; not accepting emotional reactions (non-acceptance), difficulties in showing goal-oriented behaviors (goals), impulse control difficulties (impulse), lack of emotional awareness (awareness), limited access to emotion regulation strategies (strategy), lack of emotional clarity (clarity). Items 11,12,21,23,25,and 29 in the scale are non-acceptance of emotional reactions (non-acceptance); items 13, 18, 20, 26, and 33 are difficulties in demonstrating goal-directed behaviors (goals); items 3, 14, 19, 24, 27 and 32 are control difficulties (impulse); 2 6, 8, 17 and 34. items indicate a lack of emotional awareness (awareness); items 16, 22, 30, 35 and 36 indicate limited access to emotion regulation strategies (strategy); and items 1, 4, 5, 7, and 9 indicate a lack of emotional salience (salience). In addition to providing information about the sub-dimensions, the scale also assesses the main difficulty in emotion regulation.…”

Associations Between Internet Addiction, Psychiatric Comorbidity, and Maternal Depression and Anxiety: Potential Underlying Mechanisms [Letter]

“…We are writing to comment on the recent study by Sakamoto et al 1 which we found to be a significant contribution to the field of internet addiction (IA) research. The study sheds light on a compelling association between IA and maternal depression and anxiety, an area that warrants further investigation.…”