The Relationship Between Compulsive Internet Use and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in Adolescence

Difficulties in managing one`s habits of internet use have been the focus of much clinical and scientific interest in the past twenty years. However, their definition, clinical nature, and relationships with other relevant concepts, remain a matter of controversy. The aim of this study was to examine the relation-ship between compulsive internet use (CIU) and symptomatology related to depression and anxiety among adolescents. The sample consisted of 1320 primary and secondary school students aged 11 to 18 years. Problematic patterns of internet use were assessed using the Compulsive Internet Use Scale, while depres-sion and anxiety symptoms were measured using Beck Youth Depression Inventory and Beck Youth Anxiety Inventory. The results have shown that adolescents who report more compulsive patterns of internet use also show higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. The findings contribute to the understanding of problematic internet use in adolescents and its relationship with internalizing emotional difficulties, which suggests valuable implications for the development of prevention and intervention programs within the ado-lescent population.

"As hypothesized, compulsive internet use was linked with higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms." Erceg et al, 2018, 106 "Adolescents with higher levels of CIU (Compulsive Internet Use) exhibited higher levels of symptomatology related to depression and anxiety. CIU also showed correlations with age, gender and school performance, albeit very weak, suggesting older and female adolescents, as well as those with lower grades, to be at risk for CIU. An examination of correlations revealed that intercorrelations between independent variables were very weak."Erceg et al, 2018, 104