The effects of insomnia and internet addiction on depression in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents: an exploratory cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

SUMMAR Y The negative association of insomnia and internet addiction with mental health is widely documented in the literature, yet little is known about their inter-relationships. The primary aim of this study was to examine the inter-relationships between insomnia, internet addiction and depression. A total of 719 Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong participated in this school-based cross-sectional study. Participants completed the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Chinese Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS), the 12-item version of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and questions assessing internet use pattern and sociodemographic characteristics. The classification of internet addiction and insomnia was based on the CIAS cutoff global score >63 and PSQI cutoff global score >5, respectively. Multiple regression analyses tested the effects of insomnia and internet addiction on depression. Among students with internet addiction (17.2%), 51.7% were also identified as insomniacs. Internet addicts scored significantly poorer on all PSQI components, except sleep duration, than their non-addicted counterparts. After adjustment for gender and internet use time, both internet addiction (b = 0.05; Sobel test Z = 6.50, P < 0.001) and insomnia (b = 0.59; Sobel test Z = 4.49, P < 0.001) demonstrated a significant association with depression. Overall, there is high comorbidity between internet addiction and insomnia. Both insomnia and internet addiction emerged as significant explanatory factors, but they exerted differential effects on depression. Future research should be directed at determining the causal relationship between internet addiction and insomnia, and its underlying mechanism with depression.

The Problematic Internet Entertainment Use Scale for Adolescents: Prevalence of Problem Internet Use in Spanish High School Students

“…31 Having established the statistically highest cut-off points for PIU prevalence, the rates of problematic Internet entertainment use and potential PIU in these Spanish adolescents were found to be 5 percent and 20.5 percent, respectively, which are within the prevalence range reported in adolescent epidemiological studies. 23,27,28,53 The prevalence of potential PIU was similar to that obtained with the CIAS, 24,35,37,41,48,59 which seems to be the best IUD scale for use with adolescents; perhaps it could be considered as a gold standard.…”

“…The first is through the score on a specific scale: for example, it is diagnosed in subjects with five of the eight diagnostic criteria on the YDQ 34,40,44,47,52,64,65 ; or on the CIAS, it is diagnosed with a minimum score of 63/64. 35,37,41,48,59 A second approach would be to extract categories using percentiles (P), such as the 75 P 24 or 95 P…”

Problematic mobile phone use in adolescents: derivation of a short scale MPPUS-10

“…Problematic mobile phone use (also known as mobile phone addiction, compulsive mobile phone use) has been documented for adolescents and young adults, whereby affected persons experience unpleasant symptoms of withdrawal when switching off their mobile phone or being out of range (Campbell 2005;Walsh et al 2007). In addition, a variety of adverse health effects such as depression, social anxiety, insomnia, hyperactivity or conduct problems have been associated with different forms of technology-overuse (Canan 2013;Cheung and Wong 2011;Jenaro et al 2007;Morgan and Cotten 2003;Thomée et al 2011). Behavioural addictions are like drug addictions characterized through maintaining abuse despite of its adverse consequences.…”

Internet Addiction in High School Students and Its Relationship With the Symptoms of Mental Disorders

“…Internet addiction in students is concomitant with depression and insomnia [18], suicidal thoughts [19], hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), social phobia and hostility [20], drug abuse [21], and problematic alcohol consumption [22]. A total of 78% of German students who were addicted to the Internet had depression and impulsivity disorder [23].…”