Comparison of Psychological Symptoms and Serum Levels of Neurotransmitters in Shanghai Adolescents with and without Internet Addiction Disorder: A Case-Control Study
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BACKGROUND: Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is now recognized internationally and is known to be linked with academic and social impairment. To date, we know little about its associated main biological factors. This study aimed to collect a carefully defined group of adolescents with IAD and an age- and gender-matched typically developing comparison group. We hypothesized that the young people with IAD would have higher rates of self-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms, have altered levels of peripheral blood dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. In addition, we hypothesized the hours spent online are correlated with the severity of depression and anxiety among these young people with IAD. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDING: A cross-sectional study of 20 adolescents who met Beard's criteria for IAD and 15 typically developing adolescents (comparison group) was conducted. All the participants completed the Self Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). Peripheral blood dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine were assayed. The mean level of norepinephrine was lower in the IAD group than that in the typically developing participants, while dopamine and serotonin levels did not differ. The SDS, SAS and SCARED symptom scores were increased in the adolescents with IAD. A logistic regression analysis revealed that a higher SAS score and lower level of norepinephrine independently predicted IAD group membership. There was no significant correlation between hours spent online and scores of SAS/SDS in IAD group. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Increased self-reported anxiety and lower peripheral blood norepinephrine are independently associated with IAD.
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Serotonin imbalances commonly observed in depression and anxiety are exacerbated by online interactions.
“In addition, serotonin imbalances, commonly observed in depression and anxiety, are exacerbated by online interactions [29].”
From The Impact of Social Media & Technology on Child and Adolescent Mental Health (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
The Introduction links serotonin imbalance to mood and anxiety disorders, but the Results found no significant difference in serotonin levels between adolescents with internet addiction disorder and controls. The Discussion says serotonin was not implicated and cautions that the study cannot establish causation; it does not support the claim that online interactions exacerbate serotonin imbalances. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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- Authors
- Zhang, H.-X., Jiang, W.-Q., Lin, Z.-G., Du, Y.-S., & Vance, A.
- Affiliations
- Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University (CN)
- Royal Children's Hospital (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Vance, Alasdair
- ORCID
- Vance, Alasdair
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2013-05-03
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e63089
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3643902
- OpenAlex
- W2088631924
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 6.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (2007BAI17B03)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Keywords
- internet addiction, adolescents, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, neurotransmitter levels
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Anxiety, China, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Dopamine, Female, Humans, Male, Norepinephrine, Research Design, Serotonin, Severity of Illness Index, Case-Control Studies, Behavior, Addictive, Internet, Young Adult
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