Prevalance Of Internet Addiction Among Adolescents With Psychiatric Disorders
Publication details
| Year: | 2019 |
| DOI: | 10.29399/npa.23045 |
| Issued: | 2019 |
| Language: | English |
| Volume: | 56 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Start Page: | 200 |
| End Page: | 204 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Yar A.; Yildiz Gundogdu O.; Tural U.; Cakin Memik N. |
| Type: | Journal article |
| Journal: | Archives of Neuropsychiatry |
| Publisher: | Turk Noropsikiyatri Dernegi |
| Topics: | Wellbeing |
| Sample: | A total of 310 adolescents, aged from 12 to 18 (14.34±1.50), participated in the study. The psychiatric sample group (n=162, mean age: 14.24±1.38, 59.3% male) included adolescents consecutively, who had applied to the child psychiatry outpatients service between July 2011 and September 2011. The psychiatric disorders of the adolescents in this group were diagnosed by a child psychiatrist through clinical interviews based on the DSM-IV-TR. A matching control group (n=148, mean age=14.44±1.61, 50% male) with ages and genders similar to those of the psychiatric sample group was selected from generally healthy adolescents who had received pediatric outpatient services within the same time interval. The adolescents in this control group, which included adolescents of families who had declared that their child had never sought psychiatric help, did not undergo psychological examinations or psychiatric interviews. |
Abstract
Introduction: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) in adolescents with psychiatric disorders.
Methods: A total of 310 adolescents, aged from 12 to 18, participated in the study. The psychiatric sample group included 162 participants who had applied to the child psychiatry outpatients service. The psychiatric disorders among those in this group were assessed through clinical interviews based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). The control group was chosen from adolescents of families who had never sought psychiatric help. The demographics of the participants and the features of their Internet usage habits were gathered through a questionnaire prepared by researchers. Young’s Internet Addiction Test was used to assess internet addiction.
Results: The frequency of IA was found to be significantly higher in the psychiatric sample group than in the control group (24.1% vs. 8.8%, respectively). A total of 23.9% of the subjects had one, and 12.6% had two or more co-morbid psychiatric diagnoses. The frequencies of the diagnostic groups were as follows: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder 55.6%, anxiety disorder 29.0%, mood disorder 21.0%.
Conclusion: IA was found to be significantly more common among adolescents in the child psychiatry outpatient department than among the adolescents who had no psychiatric history, even after confounding variables had been controlled. Further studies are needed to define IA more precisely and to improve prevention approaches.
Outcome
"The frequency of IA was found to be significantly higher in the psychiatric sample group than in the control group (24.1% vs. 8.8%, respectively). A total of 23.9% of the subjects had one, and 12.6% had two or more co-morbid psychiatric diagnoses. The frequencies of the diagnostic groups were as follows: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder 55.6%, anxiety disorder 29.0%, mood disorder 21.0%."