20
sahtak - June 2011
O
ne in every 25 teens had "problematic Internet use" in a
new study of high school students from Connecticut.
What's more, those students who reported an "irresistible
urge" to be on the Internet and tension when they weren't on-
line were more likely to be depressed and aggressive and to
use drugs than their peers.
However, it's not clear that the obsessive computer use was
causing the depression and related behaviors.
"It's really hard to explain the link," Dr. Elias Aboujaoude,
a Stanford University researcher who was not involved in the
study, told Reuters Health.
"It often becomes a chicken and egg issue: are they online
because they're depressed or are they depressed because
they're spending inordinate amounts of time online?" ex-
plained Aboujaoude, the author of the book Virtually You:
The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality.
The answer to that question, in turn, is critical for whether
or not exaggerated Internet use should be considered a prob-
lem in its own right.
Led by Yale University's Dr. Timothy Liu, the authors of
the new study surveyed students at ten different high schools
in Connecticut, asking more than 150 questions about health,
risky behaviors, and impulsiveness — including seven ques-
tions on Internet use.
Teens were asked to report if they had ever missed school
or important social activities because they were surfing the
Web, or if their family had expressed concern about their time
online.
Specifically, Liu and his colleagues used three questions
to determine if a student had "problematic Internet use."
They asked students if they had ever had an "irresistible urge"
to be online, if they had experienced "a growing tension or
anxiety that can be relieved only by using the Internet," or if
they had tried to quit or cut down on using the Internet.
Out of 3,560 students, four percent met the criteria for
problematic Internet use. Asian and Hispanic students were
most likely to qualify as problematic users — although the
majority of students in the study, published in The Journal
of Clinical Psychiatry, were white.
Girls were more likely to answer yes to one of the ques-
tions on problematic Internet use, but more boys said they
spent in excess of 20 hours a week online — about 17 per-
cent of boys, compared to 13 percent of girls.
Students who were problematic Internet users according
to the survey also tended to be more depressed and would get
into serious fights more often. And boys in that category had
higher rates of smoking and drug use.
However, they didn't do any worse in school based on
their grades.
Liu and colleagues note that the findings can't prove a
cause-and-effect relationship between problematic Internet
use and depression and drug use.
They say that more research is needed to get at the causes
behind different kinds of Internet use — such as social net-
working and role-playing games.
Preliminary evidence, Aboujaoude said, suggests that
problematic Internet use shares common features of drug and
alcohol abuse disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and
disorders where people have trouble controlling their pleas-
ure-seeking impulses.
Dr. Jerald Block, a psychiatrist at Oregon Health & Sci-
ence University, said that to him the evidence points toward
an addiction.
"There seems to be common pathways within the brain
for addictive behaviors, of which pathological gambling is
one example," he told Reuters
Health. "I would say that
there's sufficient data to show
that pathological computer use
is another example of an addic-
tive behavior."
He also suggested that because rates of computer use were
based on students' responses about their own behavior, the
new study might be underestimating the number of kids who
actually have the problem.
"With pretty much any addiction there's a tendency to
under-report" how much time you spend doing the activity,
explained Block, who was not involved in the new research.
There's not a one-size-fits-all way to treat problematic In-
ternet use, said Liu, the new study's author.
"I would support treating all the underlying conditions
(such as depression) as you would treat anyone with psychi-
atric illness," he told Reuters Health. But, he added, "we don't
really have a lot of evidence for treatment."
Block said that while it might take some time, he has "ab-
solutely no doubt" that psychiatrists will eventually recognize
problematic Internet use as its own disorder.
"When you start using (the computer) 30 hours a week, it
becomes a container for emotion," he said. "It occupies time.
The computer itself becomes a significant other, becomes a
relationship."
1 in 25 teens addicted to Internet, study finds
Students who were problematic Internet users were more depressed, prone to fighting
Girls were more likely to answer yes to
one of the ques ons on problema c
Internet use, but more boys said they
spent in excess of 20 hours a week
online — about 17 percent of boys,
compared to 13 percent of
girls.
By Lyndon Conrad Bell
T
he World Health Organization International
Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classi-
fied radiofrequency electromagnetic fields
as possibly carcinogenic to humans, based on an
increased risk for glioma, a malig-
nant type of brain cancer, associated
with wireless phone use. This is of
particular concern to African
Americans and Latinos as many
studies have shown usage of these
devices is highest among these
segments of the population.
Over the last few years, there
has been mounting concern about
the possibility of adverse health effects
resulting from exposure to radiofre-
quency electromagnetic fields, such
as those emitted by wireless com-
munication devices (cellphones,
smartphones and the like). Currently, the number of mobile
phone subscriptions is estimated at five billion globally.
Dr Jonathan Samet (University of Southern California,
USA), overall Chairman of the IARC Working Group,
states "the evidence, while still accumulating, is strong
enough to support a conclusion. The conclusion means
that there could be some risk, and therefore we need to
keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and can-
cer risk."
"Given the potential consequences for public health of
this classification and findings," said IARCDirector Christo-
pher Wild, "it is important that additional research be con-
ducted into the long-term, heavy use of mobile phones.
Pending the availability of such information, it is im-
portant to take pragmatic measures to reduce ex-
posure such as hands-free devices or texting."
In other words, until they know for sure, use
the speaker, avoid using the handset
next to your head, and texting
might be the best way to use these
devices after all.
World Health Organiza on: Cell phones
poten ally linked to cancer
Currently, the
number of
mobile phone
subscrip ons is
es mated at five
billion globally.
