Clinical psychology of Internet addiction: a review of its conceptualization, prevalence, neuronal processes, and implications for treatment

Research into Internet addiction (IA) has grown rapidly over the last decade. The topic has generated a great deal of debate, particularly in relation to how IA can be defined conceptually as well as the many methodological limitations. The present review aims to further elaborate and clarify issues that are relevant to IA research in a number of areas including: definition and characterization, incidence and prevalence rates, associated neuronal processes, and implications for treatment, prevention, and patient-specific considerations. It is concluded that there is no consensual definition for IA. Prevalence rates among nationally representative samples across several countries vary greatly (from 1% to 18.7%), most likely reflecting the lack of methodological consistency and conceptual rigor of the studies. The overlaps between IA and other more traditional substance-based addictions and the possible neural substrates implicated in IA are also highlighted. In terms of treatment and prevention, both psychological and pharmacological treatments are examined in light of existing evidence alongside particular aspects inherent to the patient perspective. Based on the evidence analyzed, it is concluded that IA may pose a serious health hazard to a minority of people

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL MALTREATMENT AND VIDEO GAME ENGAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF DISTRESS TOLERANCE

Problematic video gaming is a growing concern worldwide, with negative consequences on mental health and social functioning. This study examines the mediating role of distress tolerance in the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and problematic video game engagement. Childhood psychological maltreatment is a form of abuse that can lead to long-term consequences such as emotion regulation difficulties, which have been linked to problematic gaming. Distress tolerance, the perceived ability to endure negative emotional states, may influence how individuals cope with stress and engage in regulatory behaviors like problematic gaming. Using a sample of 474 college-aged individuals (56% male, aged 18-25) who endorsed playing video games for at least one-two hours on an average weekday or weekend day, this study tests three hypotheses: (1) childhood psychological maltreatment will be negatively associated with distress tolerance, (2) distress tolerance will be negatively associated with problematic gaming engagement, and (3) childhood psychological maltreatment will exhibit positive associations with problematic gaming engagement and a positive indirect association through distress tolerance, controlling for biological sex. The results support all three hypotheses, demonstrating that psychological maltreatment is weakly positively related to problematic gaming, moderately inversely related to distress tolerance, and has a weak positive indirect association with problematic gaming through distress tolerance. Female sex is moderately inversely associated with distress tolerance and weakly inversely associated with problematic gaming. These findings highlight the importance of addressing the role of distress tolerance and emotion regulation in clinical interventions for individuals with a history of childhood psychological maltreatment who report engaging problematically with video games. By focusing on developing healthy alternative regulation strategies and considering individual demographic characteristics, clinicians can optimize treatment outcomes and foster more adaptive coping mechanisms. Further research is needed to explore the specific motives and factors that may buffer against the development of psychopathology in individuals with problematic gaming behaviors

Moral Incongruence and Perceived Addiction: A Contemporary Dilemma with Pornography Use

Exposure to pornography has become more widespread due to the Internet, with the age of exposure as early as 13 years of age. With the shift of the moral narrative that pornography use is harmful personally and relationally, many who advocate against pornography use do so primarily on the basis of its maladaptive effects on the user and the user’s relationships. Within the context of the moral disapproval of pornography use, this study assesses the relationship that age, church attendance, and spirituality have with perceived addiction to pornography. This study hypothesized that age, church attendance, and spirituality will have a moderating effect on perceived addiction. The 127 participants consisted of Protestants, Catholics, and nondenominational Christians. A cross-sectional design was used for this study. This study found a strong relationship between moral incongruence and perceived pornography addiction. Age was found to be negatively correlated with perceived pornography addiction. Spirituality was found to have a strong positive correlation with perceived pornography addiction. Also, spirituality was found to moderate the relationship between moral incongruence and perceived pornography addiction. This study informs practitioners who utilize spirituality when working with those who have maladaptive effects from pornography use

Psychological Distress and Problematic Video Gaming: The Role of Psychological Inflexibility and Emotion Dysregulation

Our increasingly technology-driven society has seen a dramatic increase in reports of problematic video gaming. Emerging evidence suggests that psychological distress and avoidance lead to problematic internet use in psychologically vulnerable individuals (Burleigh et al., 2017; Rapinda et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2021). There is also evidence that this process is associated with psychological inflexibility and emotion dysregulation, which are two psychological mechanisms thought to be predictive of maladaptive coping. (Chou et al., 2017; Blasi et al., 2019). Although existing evidence points to a role of uncontrolled processes in maladaptive behavior, psychological mechanisms in which distressed individuals specifically develop problematic gaming are under researched. We expanded on this research by investigating the role of inflexible and uncontrolled responses to adversity in problematic video gaming. Specifically, we hypothesized that psychological distress and loneliness would predict problematic video gaming, and these relationships would be mediated by psychological inflexibility and emotion dysregulation. We conducted online surveys to measure these states and processes in a sample of 200 undergraduate students. We found that psychological inflexibility but not emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between psychological distress/loneliness and problematic gaming. Clinical and theoretical implications of findings are discussed to inform efforts to prevent, treat, and classify excessive gaming behavior

Problematic internet use and emotional dysregulation among young people: A literature review

Objective: In recent years scientific interest in Internet use disorders, especially among young people, has grown dramatically. Within this contemporary research field, difficulties in regulating emotions have been increasingly explored in association with problematic Internet use (PIU). Indeed, individuals who experience difficulties in emotion regulation might be more exposed to the risk of developing PIU. Therefore, the present study aimed to review the literature from the last ten years focused on the relationship between young people’s emotional dysregulation and PIU, taking into account the main variables involved in this relationship and possible gender-related differences. Method: This review included studies published between 2010 and 2020 that were indexed in major databases with the following keywords: emotion regulation, problematic Internet use, Internet addiction, social network addiction, and social media addiction. In the selection process of the studies, close attention was paid for the mean age of the involved samples that had to range between 13 and 25 years. Results: A total of 23 studies satisfied the initial inclusion criteria and were included in the present literature review. Several reviewed studies found a strong association between emotion dysregulation and both PIU and problematic social networking with controversial gender-based findings. Furthermore, the relationships among emotional dysregulation, PIU, attachment styles, and metacognitions were largely explored. Conclusions: Overall, the present review showed that problematic Internet use might represent a coping strategy to compensate for emotional regulation deficits. The lack of social support and the lack of a good parent-adolescent relationship seem to negatively affect emotional regulation abilities, which in turn increase the risk of developing PIU. Moreover, good metacognitive abilities might represent a protective factor towards emotional dysregulation and PIU. Finally, males with emotional dysregulation are likely to be more problematically engaged in Internet use than females. These results might have important practical implications to implement health prevention/promotion programs, emotion regulation-based training programmes and therapies

Models of collaboration between psychologist and family doctor: a systematic review of primary care psychology

open2noThe prevalence of psychological suffering is greater than the actual request for clinical consultation in Europe (Alonso et al., 2004). In Italy, no more than 5.5% of the population requested psychological assistance during lifetime (Miglioretti et al., 2008). There are different obstacles that prevent the access to mental health services, such as economic restrictions (Mulder et al., 2011), cultural prejudice (Kim et al., 2010), and lack of knowledge about the service providers that can answer to the patient’s psychological needs (Molinari et al., 2012). Therefore, the psychologist is often consulted as a last resort, only after everything else has failed, when problems have become severe, and thus requiring longer, more intensive, and expensive treatments. The introduction of the Primary Care Psychologist, a professional who works together with the family doctor, allows to overcome the above-mentioned problems and intercept unexpressed needs for psychological assistance. This professional role is operating in many countries since several years. In this study, current literature concerning different models of collaboration between physician and psychologist, in Europe and in Italy, was reviewed. A systematic search of Web of Science (ISI), Pubmed, Scopus, and PsychINFO was conducted using the initial search terms Primary Care Psychologist, Family Doctor, Primary Care, Collaborative Practice, and several relevant papers were identified. The review has shown the improved quality of care when mental health care is integrated into primary. Analyzing how different programs are implemented, results indicated that the more efficacious models of Primary Care Psychology are those tailored on the environment’s needs.The results of our systematic review stress the importance of the Primary Care Psychologist implementation also in Italy, to intercept unexpressed psychological needs and enhance clients’ quality of life.openFrancesca, Bianco; Enrico, BenelliBianco, Francesca; Benelli, Enric

Internet Addiction and the Relationship to Self and Interpersonal Functioning Within the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD): Implications for Psychosocial Development

Internet addictive use inclusive of inextricably interconnected mobile devices, applications, and social media predicts diminished Self and Interpersonal functioning. Internet addiction research is burdened by conflicting theoretical views, lack of standardized definitions and criteria, and the use of assessment measures adapted from those used for substance use disorders. Alternative and dimensional diagnostic models for internet addiction through a psychosocial developmental lens might further understanding of Internet addiction and reduce challenges which impact the ability to advance research and achieve clinically useful, culturally informed, and evidence-based practices for the assessment and treatment of Internet addiction

The Role of Attachment in Young Adults\u27 Use of Facebook for Coping

The Internet has become integrated into the daily lives of adolescents and young adults, and researchers have begun to investigate the predictors, correlates, and consequences of Internet use. Research has suggested that individuals with social strengths and individuals with social weaknesses both may benefit from using the Internet to cope. The purpose of this study was to explore the relations among attachment, offline coping, online coping, and adjustment, as well as to evaluate whether the rich-get-richer or social compensation hypotheses of Internet use explained these relations. Undergraduate students aged 17 to 25 years ( N = 296) completed online measures of their Internet and Facebook use, attachment anxiety and avoidance, offline coping, online coping through Facebook, well-being, and distress. Results showed that the relation between higher levels of attachment anxiety and greater distress was partially mediated by online coping. Attachment avoidance was not related to online coping, but the relation between higher levels of attachment avoidance and decreased well-being was partially mediated by less frequent use of adaptive offline coping strategies. An alternative model suggested a possible reciprocal path indicating that individuals higher in both distress and well-being reported greater frequency of online coping. Further analyses of online coping indicated that most subtypes were related to more intense usage of Facebook, greater attachment anxiety and avoidance, greater use of avoidant coping strategies offline, greater distress, and reduced well-being. These results suggested that the relations among attachment, offline coping, online coping, and psychosocial adjustment are more complex than can be explained by either the rich-get-richer or social compensation hypotheses. Implications of these findings for the development of pathological Internet use also are outlined

The Role of Anticipation of Anxiety and Emotion Regulation among Adolescents with Internet Addiction

Introduction: Internet addiction among adolescents is a growing problem in every society. The present study aimed to investigate the role of anticipation of anxiety and emotion regulation in Internet addiction among adolescents. Methods: 263 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 (121 boys, 142 girls) were selected using available sampling method and participated in this study. The participants completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Young Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies Questionnaire (CERQ). Pearson correlation and stepwise regression were used to analyze the data. Results: The results of this study showed that there is a significant positive correlation between maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and anxiety with Internet addiction. There was a significant negative correlation between adaptive emotion regulation strategies and Internet addiction (P<0.01). Based on the results of regression analysis, Two variables of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and anxiety explained 38% of the variance for Internet addiction (p<0.01). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that it is necessary to emphasize the role of emotion regulation strategies and anxiety in designing interventions for the prevention and treatment of Internet addiction in adolescents. Declaration of Interest: None