The Double-edged Sword: A Mixed Methods Study of the Interplay between Bipolar Disorder and Technology Use

Human behavior is increasingly reflected or acted out through technology. This is of particular salience when it comes to changes in behavior associated with serious mental illnesses including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Early detection is crucial for these conditions but presently very challenging to achieve. Potentially, characteristics of these conditions\u27 traits and symptoms, at both idiosyncratic and collective levels, may be detectable through technology use patterns. In bipolar disorder specifically, initial evidence associates changes in mood with changes in technology-mediated communication patterns. However much less is known about how people with bipolar disorder use technology more generally in their lives, how they view their technology use in relation to their illness, and, perhaps most crucially, the causal relationship (if any exists) between their technology use and their disease. To address these uncertainties, we conducted a survey of people with bipolar disorder (N = 84). Our results indicate that technology use varies markedly with changes in mood and that technology use broadly may have potential as an early warning signal of mood episodes. We also find that technology for many of these participants is a double-edged sword: acting as both a culprit that can trigger or exacerbate symptoms as well as a support mechanism for recovery. These findings have implications for the design of both early warning systems and technology-mediated interventions

Screen Time, Sleep, and Mental Health: An Investigation of Electronics Use and Sleep Habits

Internet addiction (IA) is classified as a compulsive-impulsive behavior disorder involving excessive use of the internet, withdrawal, tolerance, and negative repercussions (Block, 2007). Internet usage is becoming more widespread across all industrialized people, and younger people are using the internet more and more as it becomes more ubiquitous (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). The purpose of the current study is to investigate internet usage habits, sleep disturbance, and IA as it appeared in a national United States sample, and a sample seeking clinical psychological help in the Southwestern United States. The results of the current study suggested that IA predicted sleep disturbance, and sleep disturbance had a moderating interaction when IA was used to predict mental health outcomes. Implications for clinicians and the future of psychological treatment are discussed

Self-esteem and Social Media Dependency: A Comparative Analysis of Welsh- and English-Medium Pupils’ Perceptions

Despite not being officially recognized as an addiction, studies suggest social media dependency [SMD] retains similar traits as substance-based addictions and that adolescents are a group particularly at risk. Studies have shown significant positive correlations between SMD and depression, loneliness, and social anxiety. SMD has also shown a significant negative association with self-esteem. Research has yet to explore these relationships within a minority versus majority language comparative context, which is the objective of the thesis. The thesis used cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses (three equally-spaced timepoints over nine-months) incorporating quantitative and qualitative designs. There were 1,709 participants (Welsh/Bilingual-medium schools = 844; English-medium schools = 865) aged 12- to 15-years with a mean age of 13.61 years (standard deviation ±.933). All schools were State-maintained and located within Wales. At timepoint one, five Welsh/Bilingual- and four English-medium schools took part. Two Welsh/Bilingual-medium schools dropped out after timepoint one. SMD analysis (Chapter Four) showed a difference between school types but no difference between Welsh/Bilingual-medium attending first language Welsh- [FLWs] and English-speakers [FLEs]. The suggested reason for the difference between the school types was a marginalization of Welsh/Bilingual-medium FLWs’ and FLEs’ first languages within the social media and school environments, respectively. A difference in self-esteem (Chapter Five), depression, loneliness, and social anxiety (Chapter Six) scores was shown for FLWs and FLEs, also, with FLEs showing the poorer scores. The suggested reason was FLWs benefiting in terms of social identification processes and close affiliation to the Welsh language, culture, and community. Structural equation modeling [SEM] (Chapter Seven) indicated that first language mattered whenever SMD predicted self-esteem, depression, loneliness, and social anxiety. Longitudinal analyses (Chapter Eight) showed no difference in FLWs’ and FLEs’ SMD representation at low, medium and high levels over time, but a greater number of FLEs were represented at low self-esteem levels over time. Qualitative analysis (Chapter Nine) suggested FLWs identified a greater array of technical barriers to using Welsh on social media. In conclusion, the suggestion is an individual’s first language matters regarding self-esteem, depression, loneliness, and social anxiety, but not SMD. However, whenever SMD acts as a predictor variable, an individual’s first language appears to play a pivotal role

Lonely Zs: Examining the Relationships among Time Spent on Social Networking Sites, the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), and Loneliness among Undergraduate College Students

Time spent on social networking sites has become an essential part of the Gen Z’s social experience, and the fear of missing out (FoMO), and loneliness have become three well known topics among today’s college students. It is suspected that emerging adults are spending an excessive amount of time on SNSs, which is contributing to the increasing psychological decline and the epidemic of loneliness on college campuses around the world. The research conducted sought to determine if there is a predictive relationship between multiple variables, including time spent on social networking sites, the fear of missing out (FoMO), and loneliness among undergraduate college students. The study included collection of demographic characteristics including (age, gender, ethnicity, and number of SNSs owed), along with the related period(s) and (e) motives of use, specifically (a) academic (b) public places, (c) relaxation/free, and (d) stress. The results indicated there is a predictive relationship between time spent on social networking sites, loneliness, and the fear of missing out (FoMO). Further, it was found that loneliness was predictive of FoMO and related periods of use, specifically during stressful times and in public places was predictive of loneliness and FoMO. Results also revealed that demographic characteristics, specifically number of social networking accounts owned was predictive of FoMO and loneliness, and ethnicity was predictive of FoMO

Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Adolescent Well-Being.

Social media use is rapidly growing among adolescents, studies cite that the rates of “constant use” doubled from 2015 to 2018 (Anderson & Jiang, 2018; Lenhart, 2015). Social media use can have a serious negative impact on areas of well-being including feelings of depression, anxiety, fear of missing out, body image, bullying and sleep. Mojtabai, Olfson and Han (2016) cite the problematic use of mobile phones and social media applications as one of the trends aligning with the increase in major depressive episodes. Conversely, use of social media can promote positive feelings of well-being including creating a sense of community, providing access to needed health information, helping create new relationships and maintain existing ones and offering a platform for self-expression and creation of self-identity. The purpose of this study was to compare the positive and negative impacts of the top four social media platforms used by adolescents on 14 areas of well-being. SPSS was used for data analysis to compare well-being scores for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. Analysis was also completed to see if there was a relationship between time spent online and perceived well-being. Consistent with research, the majority of adolescents cite that their smartphone is the primary way they access social media. YouTube was identified as having the most positive impact on adolescent well-being while Instagram was perceived as having the most negative. Time spent online indicated a weak, positive correlation to well-being with only YouTube

Behavioural and biological predictors of depression in older age: The role of internet use, insulin-like growth factor 1, and cardiovascular disease risk factors in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

BACKGROUND: Depression is a leading cause of disability and morbidity. Its determinants are not fully understood. In the present thesis I investigated the potential role of selected behavioural and biological characteristics in predicting depression in older people: Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), Internet use and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. METHODS: Participants were recruited from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, an ongoing prospective cohort study of adults aged 50 years and over which was established in 2002. With six waves of biennial data collection up to 2012, serum IGF-1 levels were measured from 2008 at each nurse visit. Internet use was ascertained from 2002, and characterised again with greater detail in 2012. Risk factors for CVD were measured from 2004 and investigated according to the QRISK2, Framingham and SCORE algorithms. Depression symptoms were captured using the 8-item Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Prospective analyses were carried out in individuals free from depressive symptoms at baseline (range dependent on analyses: 3,435 to 7,524 participants). RESULTS: A‘U’-shaped association between IGF-1 and depression was observed, where both lower and higher levels were associated with elevated risk. For instance, relative to men in the lowest quintile of IGF-1, the age-adjusted odds ratio [OR] (95 confidence interval [CI]) for depression symptoms after 4 years of follow-up for increasing quintiles of IGF-1 were: 0.51 (0.28, 0.91), 0.50 (0.27, 0.92), 0.63 (0.35, 1.15) and 0.63 (0.35, 1.13) (P-value for quadratic association 0.002). In multivariable logistic regression analyses, compared with Internet users, non-users were 1.73 times (CI; 1.56, 1.95) more likely to develop depression after 10 years of follow-up. In particular, using the Internet for email communication was associated with a lower risk of depression. Increased risk of depression was observed in women only for all CVD risk algorithms per standard deviation change in score as follows; QRISK2 (OR 1.60: CI; 1.30, 2.00), Framingham model (OR 1.34: CI; 1.13, 1.58), SCORE chart (OR 1.40; CI; 1.11, 1.77). CONCLUSION: The present study adds to the understanding of the aetiology of depressive symptoms by suggesting a potential role for IGF-1, Internet use, and elevated CVD risk

Internet and Smartphone Use-Related Addiction Health Problems: Treatment, Education and Research

This Special Issue presents some of the main emerging research on technological topics of health and education approaches to Internet use-related problems, before and during the beginning of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The objective is to provide an overview to facilitate a comprehensive and practical approach to these new trends to promote research, interventions, education, and prevention. It contains 40 papers, four reviews and thirty-five empirical papers and an editorial introducing everything in a rapid review format. Overall, the empirical ones are of a relational type, associating specific behavioral addictive problems with individual factors, and a few with contextual factors, generally in adult populations. Many have adapted scales to measure these problems, and a few cover experiments and mixed methods studies. The reviews tend to be about the concepts and measures of these problems, intervention options, and prevention. In summary, it seems that these are a global culture trend impacting health and educational domains. Internet use-related addiction problems have emerged in almost all societies, and strategies to cope with them are under development to offer solutions to these contemporary challenges, especially during the pandemic situation that has highlighted the global health problems that we have, and how to holistically tackle them

Smartphones and Close Relationships: The Case for an Evolutionary Mismatch

This article introduces and outlines the case for an evolutionary mismatch between smartphones and the social behaviors that help form and maintain close social relationships. As psychological adaptations that enhance human survival and inclusive fitness, self-disclosure and responsiveness evolved in the context of small kin networks to facilitate social bonds, promote trust, and enhance cooperation. These adaptations are central to the development of attachment bonds, and attachment theory is a middle-level evolutionary theory that provides a robust account of the ways human bonding provides for reproductive and inclusive fitness. Evolutionary mismatches operate when modern contexts cue ancestral adaptations in a manner that does not provide for their adaptive benefits. We argue that smartphones and their affordances, although highly beneficial in many circumstances, cue humans' evolved needs for self-disclosure and responsiveness across broad virtual networks and, in turn, have the potential to undermine immediate interpersonal interactions. We review emerging evidence on the topic of technoference, which is defined as the ways in which smartphone use may interfere with or intrude into everyday social interactions. The article concludes with an empirical agenda for advancing the integrative study of smartphones, intimacy processes, and close relationships.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Internet addiction: a systematic review of epidemiological research for the last decade

In the last decade, Internet usage has grown tremendously on a global scale. The increasing popularity and frequency of Internet use has led to an increasing number of reports highlighting the potential negative consequences of overuse. Over the last decade, research into Internet addiction has proliferated. This paper reviews the existing 68 epidemiological studies of Internet addiction that (i) contain quantitative empirical data, (ii) have been published after 2000, (iii) include an analysis relating to Internet addiction, (iv) include a minimum of 1000 participants, and (v) provide a full-text article published in English using the database Web of Science. Assessment tools and conceptualisations, prevalence, and associated factors in adolescents and adults are scrutinised. The results reveal the following. First, no gold standard of Internet addiction classification exists as 21 different assessment instruments have been identified. They adopt official criteria for substance use disorders or pathological gambling, no or few criteria relevant for an addiction diagnosis, time spent online, or resulting problems. Second, reported prevalence rates differ as a consequence of different assessment tools and cut-offs, ranging from 0.8% in Italy to 26.7% in Hong Kong. Third, Internet addiction is associated with a number of sociodemographic, Internet use, and psychosocial factors, as well as comorbid symptoms and disorder in adolescents and adults. The results indicate that a number of core symptoms (i.e., compulsive use, negative outcomes and salience) appear relevant for diagnosis, which assimilates Internet addiction and other addictive disorders and also differentiates them, implying a conceptualisation as syndrome with similar etiology and components, but different expressions of addictions. Limitations include the exclusion of studies with smaller sample sizes and studies focusing on specific online behaviours. Conclusively, there is a need for nosological precision so that ultimately those in need can be helped by translating the scientific evidence established in the context of Internet addiction into actual clinical practice

Hooked on the Internet: the prevalence, risk, theory and presenting problem of Internet addiction

As the Internet becomes increasingly ubiquitous and mobile, Internet addiction appears as a potential mental health problem in adolescents and students. From the reported negative consequences, it appears Internet addiction can have a variety of detrimental outcomes for young people that may require professional intervention. The unique contribution to knowledge of this research is (i) the assessment of the interplay between certain personality traits and the usage of specific Internet applications in contributing to an elevated risk of Internet addiction in two independent samples of 3,105 adolescents in the Netherlands and 2,257 university students in the UK, (ii) the development and testing of the concise Internet addiction components model using the quantitative data obtained, and (iii) the phenomenological exploration of the presenting problem of Internet addiction from the perspective of 20 psychotherapists from Europe, the USA, and Canada. A mixed methods approach was used in the form of psychometric measurement and qualitative interviews. Data were analysed using logistic regression, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling, and interpretative phenomenological analysis