Adding Clinical Validity to the Statistical Power of Large-Scale Epidemiological Surveys on Internet Addiction in Adolescence: A Combined Approach to Investigate Psychopathology and Development-Specific Personality Traits Associated With Internet Addiction
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Research has indicated that internet addiction is associated with psychosocial maladjustment in adolescence. Many epidemiologic surveys are lacking representativeness, and knowledge on disorder-specific risk factors is scarce. One weakness of epidemiologic studies often regards their lack of generalizability to clinical reality. The aim of this study was to provide a detailed description of internet addiction among adolescents, focusing on its prevalence in a population-based context, psychopathological correlates, and predisposing factors. METHODS: The main analyses were based on 2 large representative samples of German adolescents (N = 9,293; 12-19 years) collected in 2012, and the results were validated on a consecutive sample of 237 treatment-seeking adolescents (from 2009-2014). The Scale for the Assessment of Internet and Computer Game Addiction (AICA-S), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90R), and NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) were administered. RESULTS: Internet addiction occurred in 2.6% of adolescents, with almost comparable rates in both genders, whereas female patients (1.3%) were underrepresented among the treatment seekers. Internet-addicted adolescents from the clinical and the nonclinical setting displayed higher psychopathology (SDQ: P < .001) and functional impairment (Global Assessment of Functioning: P < .001) than adolescents with nonproblematic internet use. Low conscientiousness (in boys: β = -0.161 to -0.220; in girls: β = -0.103 to -0.240) and high negative affect (in boys: β = 0.141 to -0.193; in girls: β = 0.175 to 0.290) were personality correlates of internet addiction. CONCLUSIONS: Internet addiction is a widespread problematic behavior among male and female adolescents, and it is related to psychopathological symptoms. Low conscientiousness and high negative affect were identified as stable correlates for internet addiction independent of age and gender and can therefore be considered as risk factors for internet addiction.
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Clinical studies describing treatment-seeking cases, including studies of large samples of patients (N>200), have highlighted increasing referrals and associated service demands related to problem gaming.
“Clinical studies describing treatment-seeking cases 148-152 , including studies of large samples of patients (N>200) 148,150 , have highlighted increasing referrals and associated service demands related to problem gaming.”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Müller, K. W., Dreier, M., Duven, E., Giralt, S., Beutel, M. E., & Wölfling, K.
- Affiliations
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Venue
- The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc
- Published
- 2017-03-29
- Volume
- 78
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- e244-e251
- ISSN
- 0160-6689 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2588312637
- Cited by
- 72
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 29.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
- Keywords
- internet addiction, adolescents, prevalence, psychopathology, functional disability, risk factors, conscientiousness, negative affect, personality traits, gender differences, clinical validity, psychosocial maladjustment
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Character, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Germany, Health Surveys, Humans, Male, Personality Inventory, Psychopathology, Surveys and Questionnaires, Behavior, Addictive, Video Games, Internet, Checklist
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