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 Influence of Culture on Behavior-Based Tasks of Impulsivity

Background: Among Latinx youth residing in the United States (U.S), the adoption of U.S cultural behaviors, values, and identity has been proposed to increase risk for negative outcomes, such as substance use. Research also suggests that the maintenance of Latinx cultural behaviors, values, and identity may be protective. Although there is an established link between impulsivity and substance use outcomes, very little research has sought to explore factors that influence impulsivity among Latinx groups. Furthermore, behavioral tasks have made substantial contributions as measures of impulsivity, yet few studies have examined cultural identity domains in relation to these behavioral tasks. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between cultural domains (i.e., behaviors, values, and identifications) of cultural identity and performance on behavior-based measures of impulsivity among a population of Latinx adolescents and emerging adults. Methods: Latinx adolescents (N = 92) between the ages of 13-18 and Latinx emerging adults (N = 278) between the ages of 18 and 25 were recruited for the present study. It was hypothesized that psychological domains of cultural identity, including ethnic identity, language use, self-construal, and familism values would be associated with lower preference for smaller more immediate rewards on the MCQ, higher preference for the less-risky reward on the PDQ, and increased levels of inhibitory control on the Flanker task. It was also hypothesized that Latinx participants who receive the family obligation/interdependent self-construal prime would have reduced rates of delay discounting and increased rates of probability discounting. Results: The current study found increased levels of comfort related to one’s bicultural identity to be associated with increased inhibitory control on the Flanker task for adolescents, but lower rates of probability discounting (i.e., preference for riskier option) on the PDQ for young adults. Spanish language use was found to be significantly associated with lower rates of delay discounting (i.e., preference for larger delayed rewards) on the MCQ and this association was unique to young adults. No significant effect as a result of cultural prime condition was observed

Dampak Globalisasi terhadap Kualitas Keluarga Ditinjau dari Karakter Kemandirian, Integritas dan Religiusitas Remaja

The research objective was to describe the impact of globalization, in this case internet addiction on family quality when viewed from several adolescent characters, namely independence, integrity and religiosity. This research is a qualitative descriptive study. The research instrument used interviewers. The research subjects were adolescents who had married if they were under 24 years old for boys and 21 years old for women. = The number of research subjects was 31 adolescents, who came from 6 districts in the city of Yogyakarta. The data analysis technique refers to the Miles and Huberman concept model, namely the interactive model. This study shows data on the intensity of adolescents who use gadgets as a medium in seeking information or as a medium for family entertainment, including children. Also need to be aware of, gadgets that do not depend on the partner, but depend on the children of the spouse (adolescents). The findings in this study are important because globalization in this case internet addiction has two sides, namely positive and negative, and if not used wisely, it can cause various problems related to the problem of internet addiction. Research data can be used as a basis for determining policies or interventions that are more related to internet addiction and family quality

Jovens e internet: relação com o bem-estar psicológico, Isolamento social e funcionamento familiar.

Hoje em dia a internet é uma ferramenta que faz parte da rotina diária dos indivíduos, principalmente dos mais jovens, por questões académicas ou de socialização. Sabe-se que o uso problemático da internet (UPI) pode afectar vários campos da vida do indivíduo (e.g. relações sociais; contexto familiar). O isolamento é um indicador de interferências no bem-estar do indivíduo e os jovens que percepcionam pouco suporte social tanto na escola com o seu grupo de pares, como no sistema familiar apresentam uma maior predisposição para o desenvolvimento do UPI. O objectivo geral da investigação foi analisar a relação entre o UPI, isolamento social, funcionamento familiar e bem-estar psicológico em jovens do ensino básico, secundário e universitário. Para o efeito utilizou-se um questionário de dados sociodemográficos (Patrão, 2014), um questionário de acesso e uso da internet, a Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale (GPIUS2 - Caplan, 2010), a Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS - Fernandes, Vasconcelos- Raposo & Teixeira, 2010), a Family Assesment Device (FAD – Epstein, Baldwin & Bishop, 1983) e a UCLA Loliness Scale (Russell, 1996). Os resultados de uma amostra de 1452 jovens portugueses do ensino básico, secundário e universitário (M=15.12; DP=4.035) indicam a relação entre a UPI, o isolamento social e o funcionamento familiar. Existe, por isso, a necessidade de uma intervenção conjunta com todos os atores (i.e. família, escola e jovens) de forma a delimitar-se estratégias adequadas para a promoção do uso seguro e saudável da internet no contexto escolar e familiar.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ličnost adol escenata s problemom zavisnosti od interneta i karakteristike njihovih porodica

The goal of the study was to identify specific personality characteristics of adolescents who have a problem with 'internet addiction', as well as the characteristics of their parents' personalities and of thefunctioning of their families. The sample consisted of 60 adolescents of both genders, agedbetween 15 and18. There were 30'internet addicts' belonging to the clinical group and 30 participants from the general population as the control group. Also, 120 parentswere examined; there were 30 parent couples of eachof the two groups of adolescents. The following measures were used in the research: Young's Internet Addiction Test -IAT, the Belgrade Adolescent Personality Inventory - BAPI, the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revisited -TCI-R (for the assessment of parental personality) and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale -FACES IV.The results indicate that adolescents with internet addiction difficulties exhibit a high degree of impulsiveness, low persistence, and immaturity in the personality domains which regulate responsible, goal-directed and co-operative behaviour. The fathers of adolescents from the clinical group were highly ambitious and less available to their children, while their mothers were more impulsive and prone to change versus continuity, which means that they were also less accessible to their children, albeit in a different way than the fathers. All dimensions associated with the positive aspects of family functioning, such as Cohesiveness, Flexibility, Communication and Satisfaction were lower in the clinical group, while the dimension of Chaotic relations was higher. The results have shownthat the parents of adolescents from the clinical group have formed a specific kindof disengaged and distant parenting style that has resultedin avoiding behaviours of adolescents and their withdrawal into the 'virtual world'. These findings could have a significant role in understanding the originsof internet addiction, planning prevention programs and defining guidelines for effective therapeutic treatment.Istraživanje se bavi utvrđivanjem specifičnih dimenzija ličnosti adolescenata 'internet-zavisnika', ličnosti njihovih roditelja i karakteristika porodičnog funkcionisanja s ciljem boljeg razumevanja faktora rizika za razvojovog poremećaja. Uzorak je činilo 60 adolescenata oba pola, uzrasta od 15 do 18 godina, od toga 30 iz kliničke grupe 'internet- zavisnika' i 30 ispitanika kontrolne grupe iz opšte populacije, kao i 120 roditelja, odnosno po 30 parova roditelja obe grupe adolescenata. U istraživanju su primenjeni upitnici za procenu zavisnosti od interneta (Young's Internet Adiction Test - IAT), za procenu ličnosti adolescenata (Belgrade Adolescent Personality Inventory - BAPI), ličnosti roditelja (Temperament and Character Inventory-Revisited - TCI-R) i procenu porodičnog funkcionisanja (Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale - FACES IV). Rezultati ukazuju na to da adolescente s problemom zavisnosti od interneta karakteriše visok stepen impulsivnosti i niska istrajnost, kao i nezreli aspekti karaktera koji regulišu odgovorno, ka cilju usmereno i kooperativno ponašanje. Očeviispitanika kliničke grupe imaju značajno više skorove na dimenziji Perzistencije, a majke na dimenziji Potrage za novinama, dok oba roditelja imaju povišene skorove na Self-transcendenciji, što potencijalno ukazuje na to da su manje dostupnisvojoj deci. Sve dimenzije koje se odnose na pozitivne aspekte porodičnog funkcionisanja kliničke grupe niske su prema proceni oba roditelja, dok je negativna dimenzija porodičnog funkcionisanja Haotičnost procenjena kao visoko izražena kod oba roditelja, a Neuključenost samo kod očeva. Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju na to da roditelji ispitanika kliničke grupe formiraju specifičan oblik dezangažovanog i distanciranog roditeljskog stila, koji rezultira izbegavajućim ponašanjem adolescenata i njihovim povlačenjem u 'virtuelni svet'. Takvi nalazi mogu imati značajnu ulogu u razumevanju nastanka zavisnosti od interneta, u koncipiranju preventivnih programa i definisanju smernica za efikasniji terapijski tretman

Propuesta de un programa para la prevención del uso problemático de Internet en adolescentes de la provincia de Alicante

El uso problemático de Internet (UPI) se ha visto incrementado entre los adolescentes debido a la situación de pandemia por COVID-19. En concreto en España aproximadamente un tercio de la población menor de edad afirma haber realizado un uso compulsivo de Internet durante el confinamiento. Variables como niveles de estrés, ansiedad y depresión elevados, habilidades sociales limitadas, funcionamiento familiar inadecuado, carencia de estrategias de afrontamiento o falta de autocontrol en los adolescentes han sido asociadas con el UPI en diferentes estudios. A pesar de que se conocen estos datos los programas destinados a la prevención del UPI son casi inexistentes. Por este motivo el presente trabajo tiene como objetivo la creación de una propuesta de intervención para la prevención del UPI en los adolescentes en la que se pretende trabajar dichas variables. La intervención constará de 7 sesiones que se realizarán de manera online, sincrónica y asincrónicamente, durante 6 semanas donde participarán alumnos de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria de la provincia de Alicante y sus padres. Mediante la intervención propuesta se espera obtener resultados positivos, no solo en la prevención del UPI, sino también en la promoción de variables como son las estrategias para el manejo de estrés o las habilidades sociales entre otras. Por último, cabría añadir que con el presente trabajo se pretende promover el inicio de líneas de investigación futuras que evalúen la eficacia de este tipo de programas en población general

Stigma, Mental Health, and Dyadic Coping for Sexual Minority Persons in the United States

There is increasing evidence that sexual minority individuals experience high levels of stigma associated with their sexuality, and this stigma is detrimental to the health of sexual and gender minority persons. However, the majority of this research has involved indivudals in urban settings. The overall aim of this work is to examine these knowledge gaps for these dyads and rural individuals, understudied subpopulations about whom there has been a paucity of research. This dissertation included three separate but highly related studies, each with its own specific aim. The first study examined the association between self-reported sexuality-based stigma and self-reported depression among a nationally representative online sample of 771 rural sexual minority persons. Using multiple and binary regression modeling, significant associations were demonstrated between three types of stigma (internalized, enacted, and anticipated) and clinically significant depression for this population. The second study used a multilevel modeling technique known as actor partner interdependence modeling (APIM) to examine aspects of dyadic functioning that contribute to the maintenance of health behaviors that prevent new HIV infection. Among a sample of 270 partnerships, hypothesized associations between stigma and adverse outcomes were not demonstrated. However, relationship satisfaction was significantly associated with three communal coping outcome scales (planning and decision-making, communication, and joint effort) as antecedents to the maintenance of health-enhancing behaviors. The third study also involved male couples, but utilized qualitative thematic analysis to explore how individuals in 30 same-sex male partnerships describe their experiences of coping with sexuality-based stigma, as well as the meaning they ascribe to those experiences. This was accomplished by analyzing transcribed interviews of male couples discussing stigmatizing events during their relationships and coping strategies used to manage those events. Results from this study indicated same-sex male couples utilize a number of both adapative and maladaptive coping mechanisms, though adaptive strategies were more commonly reported. Couples placed particular emphasis on the importance of social support, as well as specific stigma management strategies such as avoidance, concealment, anticipating stigma, and purposefully living as openly gay men. Results indicated the need to tailor existing theory to address this population. Despite recent gains made in human rights and social justice for sexual minority persons, what has already been done is not enough. LGBT persons still endure an unfair distribution of decreased benefits and increased burdens in both healthcare and research. This dissertation work aims to establish equity for this disadvantaged population by increasing their representation in research. These results address gaps in knowledge and inform recommendations for future research, interventions, laws, policies, and clinical practice to address these health disparities and protect the health of this vulnerable population. Future research and interventions that are evidence-based, theoretically driven, and formed with the help of the community they serve will have the greatest capacity for improving the health of LGBT persons, both for individuals and for couples. National policy changes must be made to prohibit stigma and discrimination in all domains that might impact social determinants of health, including housing, employment, and healthcare to create comprehensive protections. With changes made informed by this research, the social benefit of this work lies in potential disparity reduction, establishing equity for this disadvantaged population.PHDNursingUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144198/1/marsjess_1.pd

Training Effects on Recovering Parents' Self-Efficacy to Identify Problems, Solutions and Resources to Prevent Internet Addiction in Youth

This study examined the effects of a 2-hour training on the self-efficacy of parents in recovery from substance use disorder to intercede in their children's Internet technology use in order to prevent future problems with Internet addiction (IA). Using a quasi-experimental pre-post-test/post-test design, 32 parents between the ages of 19-48 in a recovery center were assigned to receive the parent training or to participate in control-comparison group. Prior to the study, a Parental Self-Assessment Inventory (PSAI) was developed and field tested as a measure of Parental Self-Efficacy (PSE) to identify problems, solutions and resources supported in research to increase resiliency of children and adolescents to manage appropriately their technology use. During the study, The PSAI demonstrated internal consistency and was shown to be an effective measure of PSE to intervene effectively in youth Internet technology use. A doubly univariate analysis was conducted to determine whether there were significant PSAI outcomes between study participants. Significant multivariate effects were not found for main effect of group. However, significant multivariate effect with a large effect size was found for the main effect of time. Moreover, a statistically significant and large effect size was also found for the multivariate the training by group interaction. The parent training produced a significant positive effect on PSE of the study participants who attended the 2-hour training. Researchers, counselor educators, and clinicians could all benefit from considering these findings when addressing parenting issues for individuals in recovery