BACKGROUND: Prevalence studies of Internet addiction in the general population are rare. In addition, a lack of approved criteria hampers estimation of its occurrence. AIMS: This study conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) in a large general population sample to estimate prevalence. METHODS: A telephone survey was conducted based on a random digit dialling procedure including landline telephone (n=14,022) and cell phone numbers (n=1,001) in participants aged 14-64. The Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) served as the basis for a LCA used to look for subgroups representing participants with Internet addiction or at-risk use. CIUS was given to participants reporting to use the Internet for private purposes at least 1 h on a typical weekday or at least 1 h on a day at the weekend (n=8,130). RESULTS: A 6-class model showed best model fit and included two groups likely to represent Internet addiction and at-risk Internet use. Both groups showed less social participation and the Internet addiction group less general trust in other people. Proportions of probable Internet addiction were 1.0% (CI 0.9-1.2) among the entire sample, 2.4% (CI 1.9-3.1) in the age group 14-24, and 4.0% (CI 2.7-5.7) in the age group 14-16. No difference in estimated proportions between males and females was found. Unemployment (OR 3.13; CI 1.74-5.65) and migration background (OR 3.04; CI 2.12-4.36) were related to Internet addiction. CONCLUSIONS: This LCA-based study differentiated groups likely to have Internet addiction and at-risk use in the general population and provides characteristics to further define this rather new disorder.
BACKGROUND: Prevalence studies of Internet addiction in the general population are rare. In addition, a lack of approved criteria hampers estimation of its occurrence. AIMS: This study conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) in a large general population sample to estimate prevalence. METHODS: A telephone survey was conducted based on a random digit dialling procedure including landline telephone (n=14,022) and cell phone numbers (n=1,001) in participants aged 14-64. The Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) served as the basis for a LCA used to look for subgroups representing participants with Internet addiction or at-risk use. CIUS was given to participants reporting to use the Internet for private purposes at least 1 h on a typical weekday or at least 1 h on a day at the weekend (n=8,130). RESULTS: A 6-class model showed best model fit and included two groups likely to represent Internet addiction and at-risk Internet use. Both groups showed less social participation and the Internet addiction group less general trust in other people. Proportions of probable Internet addiction were 1.0% (CI 0.9-1.2) among the entire sample, 2.4% (CI 1.9-3.1) in the age group 14-24, and 4.0% (CI 2.7-5.7) in the age group 14-16. No difference in estimated proportions between males and females was found. Unemployment (OR 3.13; CI 1.74-5.65) and migration background (OR 3.04; CI 2.12-4.36) were related to Internet addiction. CONCLUSIONS: This LCA-based study differentiated groups likely to have Internet addiction and at-risk use in the general population and provides characteristics to further define this rather new disorder.
Authors: Esther Strittmatter; Peter Parzer; Romuald Brunner; Gloria Fischer; Tony Durkee; Vladimir Carli; Christina W Hoven; Camilla Wasserman; Marco Sarchiapone; Danuta Wasserman; Franz Resch; Michael Kaess Journal: Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2015-11-02 Impact factor: 4.785
Authors: Gerhard Gmel; Yasser Khazaal; Joseph Studer; Stéphanie Baggio; Simon Marmet Journal: Int J Methods Psychiatr Res Date: 2019-01-16 Impact factor: 4.035
Authors: Klaus Wölfling; Kai W Müller; Michael Dreier; Christian Ruckes; Oliver Deuster; Anil Batra; Karl Mann; Michael Musalek; Andreas Schuster; Tagrid Lemenager; Sara Hanke; Manfred E Beutel Journal: JAMA Psychiatry Date: 2019-10-01 Impact factor: 21.596