Problematic Internet Users and Psychiatric Morbidity in a Sample of Egyptian Adolescents

Mona Reda, Menan Rabie, Nesrin Mohsen, Aisha Hassan

Institute of Childhood Postgraduate Studies.
Institute of Psychiatry Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egpyt.
Ministry of Health, Ahmed Maher Hospital, Alexandria, Egpyt.

DOI: 10.4236/psych.2012.38096                

Abstract

Background: A growing body of research suggests that Problematic Internet use is becoming more common in society as on-line usage increases everyday. Is psychiatric morbidity common among problematic internet users? What are the characteristics of these patients? Methods: 501 adolescents (295 males), 11 - 18 years old, recruited from 2 private (group 1) and 2 governmental schools (group 2). All were subjected to A Psychiatric sheet, An Informative designed questionnaire, Fahmy and El Sherbiny’s Social Classification Scale, Young internet addiction test (IAT), and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for children and adolescents (MINI KID). Results: Comparison between the two groups in regard places of use of internet, number of computers available, money spent on internet activities, parental knowledge of use, duration of use and purpose of use, revealed significant differences. Problematic internet use was more frequent in group 1, while internet addiction was more frequent in group 2. A significant relation was found between IAT score and social phobia, specific phobia and oppositional defiant disorder, and a highly significant relation with generalized anxiety disorder and ADHD. Female sex, horror movies and internet problematic use are independent predictors of psychiatric morbidity. Male sex, private schools, high social class are independent predictors for internet use problems in our sample. Conclusion: This study revealed that Egyptian adolescents are at high risk for problematic internet use and to a lesser extent Internet Addiction. Adolescents with Problematic Internet use were more prone to psychiatric disorders (social phobia, specific phobia, oppositional defiant disorders, generalized anxiety disorder and ADHD)

Keywords

Problematic Internet Use; Psychiatric Morbidity; Adolescents

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Aboujaoude, E. (2010). Problematic internet use: An over view. World Psychiatry, 9, 85-90.
[2]	Akin, A., & Iskender, M. (2011). Internet addiction and depression, anxiety and stress. International online journal of educational sciences, 3, 138-148
[3]	Canan, F., Ataoglu, A., Nichols, L. A., Yildirim, T., & Ozturk, O. (2010). Evaluation of psychometric properties of the Internet addiction scale in a sample of Turkish high school students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 13, 317-320. doi:10.1089/cyber.2009.0160
[4]	Canbaz, S., Sunter, A. T., Peksen, Y., & Canbaz, M. A. (2009). Prevalence of the pathological Internet use in a sample of Turkish school adolescents. Iranian Journal of Public Health, 38, 64-71.
[5]	Ceyhan, A. A. (2008). Predictors of problematic Internet use on Turkish university students. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11, 363-366. doi:10.1089/cpb.2007.0112
[6]	Chak, K., & Leung, L. (2004). Shyness and locus of control as predictors of Internet addiction and Internet use. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 7, 559-570.
[7]	Dannon, P., & Iancu, I. (2007). Internet addiction. Harefuah, 146, 549- 553.
[8]	DeAngelis, T. (2000). American Psychological Association. Is internet addiction real? URL (last checked 20 November 2003). http://www.apa.org/monitor/aproo/addiction.html
[9]	Fahmy, S. I., & El Sherbini, A. F. (1988). Determining simple parameters for social classification for health researchers. The Bull of the High Institute of Public Health, 10, 95-108.
[10]	Frangos, C. C., & Sotiropoulos, I. (2011). Problematic Internet Use among Greek university students: An ordinal logistic regression with risk factors of negative psychological beliefs, pornographic sites, and online games. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14, 51-58. doi:10.1089/cyber.2009.0306
[11]	Ferris, J. R. (2003). Internet addiction disorder: Cause, symptoms, and consequences. URL (last checked 20 November 2003). http://www.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/cybaddict.html
[12]	Ghassemzadeh, L., Shahraray, M., & Moradi, A. (2008). Prevalence of Internet addiction and comparison of Internet addicts and non-addicts in Iranian high schools. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11, 731-733. doi:10.1089/cpb.2007.0243
[13]	Ha, J. H., Yoo, H. J., Cho, I. H., Chin, B., Shin, D., & Kim, J. H. (2006). Psychiatric comorbidity assessed in Korean children and adolescents who screen positive for Internet addiction. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 67, 821-826. doi:10.4088/JCP.v67n0517
[14]	Ko, C. H., Yen, J.Y., Chen, C. S., Yeh, Y. C., & Yen, C. F. (2009). Predictive values of psychiatric symptoms for internet addiction in adolescents: A 2-year prospective study. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 163, 937-943. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.159
[15]	Ko, C. H., Yen, J. Y., Yen, C. F., Chen, C. S., & Chen, C. C. (2012). The association between Internet addiction and psychiatric disorder: a review of the literature. European Psychiatry, 27, 1-8. doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2010.04.011
[16]	Ko, C. H., Yen, J. Y., Yen, C. F., Chen, C. S., Weng, C. C., & Chen, C. C. (2008). The association between Internet addiction and problematic alcohol use in adolescents: the problem behavior model. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11, 571-576. doi:10.1089/cpb.2007.0199
[17]	Ko, C. H., Yen, J. Y., Yen, C. F., Lin, H. C., & Yang, M. J. (2007). Factors predictive for incidence and remission of Internet addiction in young adolescents: A prospective study. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10, 545-551. doi:10.1089/cpb.2007.9992
[18]	MCIT (2010). Ministry of communication and information technology. Arab republic of Egypt.ICT indicators in brief. www.mcit.gov.eg.
[19]	Milani, L., Osualdella, D., & Di, B. P. (2009). Quality of interpersonal relationships and problematic internet use in adolescence. Cyber- Psychology & Behavior, 12, 681-684. doi:10.1089/cpb.2009.0071
[20]	Mu?oz-Rivas, M. J., Fernández, L., & Gámez-Guadix, M. (2010). Analysis of the indicators of pathological Internet use in Spanish university students. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 13, 697-707.
[21]	Pallanti, S., Bernardi, S., & Quercioli, L. (2006). The Shorter PROMIS Questionnaire and the Internet Addiction Scale in the assessment of multiple addictions in a high-school population: prevalence and related disability. CCNS Spectrums, 11, 966-974.
[22]	Park, S. K., Kim, J. Y., & Cho, C. B. (2008). Prevalence of Internet addiction and correlations with family factors among South Korean adolescents. Adolescence, 43, 895-909.
[23]	Paul, B., & Bryant, J. A. (2005). Adolescents and the internet. olescent Medicine Clinics, 16, 413-426.
[24]	Shapira, N. A., Goldsmith, T. D., Keck Jr., P. E., Khosla, U. M., & McElroy, S. L. (2000). Psychiatric features of individuals with problematic Internet use. Journal of Affective Disorders, 57, 267-272. doi:10.1016/S0165-0327(99)00107-X
[25]	Sheehan, D. V., Lecrubier, Y., Sheehan, K. H., Amorim, P., Janavs, J., Weiller, E., Hergueta, T., Baker, R., & Dunbar, G. C. (1998). The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI): The development and validation of a structured diagnostic psychiatric inter- view for DSM-IV and ICD-10. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 59, 22-33.
[26]	Siomos, K. E., Dafouli, E. D., Braimiotis, D. A., Mouzas, O. D., & Angelopoulos, N. V. (2008). Internet addiction among Greek adolescent students. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11, 653-657. doi:10.1089/cpb.2008.0088
[27]	Song, X. Q., Zheng, L., Li, Y., Yu, D. X., & Wang, Z. Z. (2010). Status of “Internet addiction disorder” (IAD) and its risk factors among first-grade junior students in Wuhan. Chinese Journal of Epidemiology, 31, 14-17.
[28]	Statistical Package of Social Science version 15.0. (2006). Command Syntax Reference 2006. Chicago, IL: SPSS Inc.
[29]	UNDP & INP (2010). Human development report. http://www.undp.org.eg/Portals/english.pdf
[30]	Villella, C., Martinotti, G., Di Nicola, M., Cassano, M., La Torre, G., Gliubizzi, M. D., Messeri, I., Petruccelli, F., Bria, P., Janiri, L., & Conte, G. (2010). Behavioural addictions in adolescents and young adults: Results from a prevalence study. Journal of Gambling Studies, 27, 203-214. doi:10.1007/s10899-010-9206-0
[31]	Widyanto, L., & Mcmurran, M. (2004). The psychometric properties of internet addiction test. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 7, 443-450. doi:10.1089/cpb.2004.7.443
[32]	Young, K. S. (1999). Internet addiction: Symptoms, evaluation, and treatment innovations in clinical practice (Vol. 17). In L. VandeCreek, & T. L. Jackson (Eds.), Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press.