Sleep problems and internet addiction among children and adolescents: a longitudinal study

Abstract

SUMMARYAlthough the literature has documented associations between sleep problems and internet addiction, the temporal direction of these relationships has not been established. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the bidirectional relationships between sleep problems and internet addiction among children and adolescents longitudinally. A fourwave longitudinal study was conducted with 1253 children and adolescents in grades 3, 5 and 8 from March 2013 to January 2014. The sleep problems of the student participants were measured by parental reports on the Sleep Habit Questionnaire, which catalogues early insomnia, middle insomnia, disturbed circadian rhythm, periodic leg movements, sleep terrors, sleepwalking, sleep talking, nightmares, bruxism, snoring and sleep apnoea. The severity of internet addiction was measured by students' self-reports on the Chen Internet Addiction Scale. Based on the results of time-lag models, dyssomnias (odds ratio = 1.31), especially early and middle insomnias (odds ratio = 1.74 and 2.24), sequentially predicted internet addiction, and internet addiction sequentially predicted disturbed circadian rhythm (odds ratio = 2.40), regardless of adjustment for gender and age. This is the first study to demonstrate the temporal relationship of early and middle insomnia predicting internet addiction, which subsequently predicts disturbed circadian rhythm. These findings imply that treatment strategies for sleep problems and internet addiction should vary according to the order of their occurrence.

Poor sleep quality and suicide attempt among adults with internet addiction: A nationwide community sample of Korea

“…Sleep disturbances related to IA have been reported in previous studies in the adolescent and young adult groups [41, 43], either as a consequence of IA [4, 43] related to anxiety or mood problems, or as a predictor of IA [41], depicted as disturbed circadian rhythm [41]. However, these studies assessing sleep disturbance related to IA demonstrated overall sleep quality severity including total sleep duration except for specific problems of poor sleep [41, 43, 44].…”

“…However, these studies assessing sleep disturbance related to IA demonstrated overall sleep quality severity including total sleep duration except for specific problems of poor sleep [41, 43, 44]. External factors such as exposure to the light source from the internet device, leading to suppression of melatonin secretion [45], and lack of physical activity that is important for restorative sleep [46] may help in explaining the results.…”

Sleep quality, internet addiction and depressive symptoms among undergraduate students in Nepal

“…These students — who spend greater time in internet — are more likely to develop depressive symptoms [9]. On the other hand, internet addict students have higher chance of experiencing sleep problems [10]. These students — with sleep problems — are more likely to develop depressive symptoms [11].…”

Parafunctional habits and its association with the level of physical activity in adolescents

“…Moreover, although the physical activity in adolescence brings innumerable health benefits, preventing diseases, obesity, insomnia, and stress 13,20,25 it seems to have little influence on extra facial pain and the presence of parafunctional habits. Since bruxism/clenching have a multifactorial origin [27][28][29][30][31] , they must be analyzed with caution because many factors can trigger the onset and not only the absence of physical activity. It is worth mentioning that bruxism, as well as parafunctions, generate peripheral sensitization and can lead to local acute pain resulting from the release of inflammatory substances in the muscle and joint tissue.…”