Clinical characteristics and diagnostic confirmation of Internet addiction in secondary school students in Wuhan, China

Abstract

Aim: This study investigated the clinical characteristics of internet addiction using a cross-sectional survey and psychiatric interview. Methods:A structured questionnaire consisted of demographics, Symptom Checklist 90, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Self-Rating Depression Scale, and Young's Internet Addiction Test (YIAT) was administered to students of two secondary schools in Wuhan, China. Students with a score of 5 or higher on the YIAT were classified as having Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). Two psychiatrists interviewed students with IAD to confirm the diagnosis and evaluate their clinical characteristics.Results: Of a total of 1076 respondents (mean age 15.4 ± 1.7 years; 54.1% boys), 12.6% (n = 136) met the YIAT criteria for IAD. Clinical interviews ascertained the Internet addiction of 136 pupils and also identified 20 students (14.7% of IAD group) with comorbid psychiatric disorders. Results from multinomial logistic regression indicated that being male, in grade 7-9, poor relationship between parents and higher self-reported depression scores were significantly associated with the diagnosis of IAD. Conclusion:These results advance our understanding of the clinical characteristics of Internet addiction in Chinese secondary school students and may help clinicians, teachers, and other stakeholders better manage this increasingly serious mental condition.

Associations between problematic Internet use and psychiatric symptoms among university students in Japan

“…Regarding psychiatric symptoms, our survey results were not much different from the survey results of other countries. In the previous studies, depressive state, anxiety, insomnia, and ADHD were found to be related to PIU . In our population as well, PIU was associated with such disease symptoms.…”

“…Regarding depressive state, Tang et al . described that along with the deterioration of interpersonal relationships and social function, students with PIU may present loss of self‐confidence and social withdrawal, in association with depression . Regarding anxiety, greater use of the Internet is related to declines in the size of one's social circle, loneliness, lower self‐esteem, and lower life satisfaction .…”

“…Some reports have also investigated the relation between PIU and psychiatric diseases. PIU is reported to be connected to attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, obsessive–compulsive disorder, personality disorder, ASD traits, sleep disorders, and long‐time use of the Internet each day . A review article by Carli et al .…”

Internet Addiction and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

“…Some of these factors are related to socio-demographic variables such as age (being younger adolescents and younger adults [31,41,42]), gender (being male) [3,11,17,24,25,27,[30][31][32][33][34][41][42][43][44][45][46], female gender [22], higher family income levels [17,44], living in rural areas (for adolescents) [47], living in urban areas (for adults) [34], single parent (for adults) [24,33], marital status (for adults) (being single) [24], income (for adults) (financial difficulties), unemployment (for adults) [11], university year level (being in lower-year levels) (e.g., first or second year) [31,42] and lower school grade levels (for adolescents) [3,22,27], and ethnic group (Asian ethnicity) [38].…”

“…It is known that adolescents and young adults are the high-risk groups and more vulnerable for Internet addiction [2]. Both groups especially adolescents suffer from emotional and social stress, in addition to lack of behavioral control due to incomplete psychological maturity, which motivate them to engage in risk-related factors such as Internet addiction [3].…”