Internet addiction in adolescents in Central Siberia: analysis of prevalence and structure of consumed content

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Internet addiction (IА) and the structure of consumed content among adolescents in Central Siberia.

Materials and methods. From January to May 2019, 3,012 adolescents (45.8% of boys and 54.2% of girls) aged 12–18 years were examined (average age 14.5 ± 1.3 years). Younger adolescents (12–14 years old) accounted for 52.5%, and seniors (15–18 years old) accounted for 47.5%. Peculiarities of online behavior were evaluated according to Chen’s Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) adapted by V.L. Malygin and K.A. Feklisov; a  total CIAS score of ≥ 65 indicated Internet addiction. Gambling addiction was rated according to the Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents, and addiction to social networks was rated according to the Social Media Disorder Scale. The structure of the consumed content was estimated in the overall sample and in two age groups. The data obtained were processed by non-parametric statistical methods using the Statistica 12.0 software. Quantitative characteristics are presented as the median and the interquartile range Me (Q25 – Q75), binary signs are represented as a share (%) and the confidence interval. The significance of the  differences (p) for quantitative indicators was evaluated by Mann – Whitney U-test and for binary characters by Pearson’s χ2 criterion. The differences between the groups were considered statistically significant at p ≤ 0.05.

Results. The overall prevalence of IА was 6.9%, adaptive use of the Internet was observed in 49.4% of adolescents, non-adaptive use was registered in 43.6% of cases. The frequency of Internet addiction increases with age: from 6.0% in 12–14 year-old adolescents to 8.0% in 15–18 year-old adolescents (p = 0.0324). Content consumed by adolescents included gambling addiction (11%), addiction to social networks (8.0%), mixed IA (2.6%), and undifferentiated Internet addiction (2.8%). Younger adolescents are more often dependent on online games (12.2%), social networks (9.3%), and mixed IА (3.3%), while in older adolescents, undifferentiated IА is more often observed (39.5%).

Conclusion. High level of IA prevalence in adolescents in Central Siberia confirms the relevance of this problem and indicates the need to develop preventive measures aimed at maintaining child and adolescent health.

1. Schneider L.A., King D.L., Delfabbro P.H. Family factors in adolescent problematic Internet gaming: a systematic review. Journal of Behavioral Addictions. 2017; 6 (3): 321–333. DOI: 10.1556/2006.6.2017.035.

2. Moawad G.E., Ebrahem G.G.S. The relationship between use of technology and parent-adolescents social relationship. Journal of Education and Practice. 2016; 7 (14): 168–178.

3. Ballarotto G., Volpi B., Marzilli E., Tambelli R. Adolescent internet abuse: A study on the role of attachment to parents and peers in a large community sample. BioMed Research International. 2018; Article ID 5769250: 10. DOI:

4. 1155/2018/5769250.

5. Azab H.M., Effat S.M.A., Aly H.Y., Mahmoud O.A.A.. Correlation of internet addiction with anxiety, depression and personalitytraits – Upper Egyptstudy. Sohag Medical Journal. 2019; 23 (1):142–153. DOI: 10.21608 / smj.2019.41384.

6. Сухотина Н.К. Психическое здоровье детей и определяющие его факторы. Журнал неврологии и психиатрии. 2013; 5 (2): 16–22.

7. Kaess M., Durkee T., Brunner R, Carli V, Parzer P, Wasserman C. Pathological Internet use among European adolescents: psychopathology and selfdestructive behaviours. Eur. Child Adolesc. Psych. 2014; 23 (11): 1093–1020. DOI: 10.1007/s00787-014-0562-7.

8. Mak K.K., Lai C.M., Ko C.H., Chou C., Kim D.I., Watanabe H. et al. Psychometric properties of the Revised Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS-R) in Chinese adolescents. J. Abnorm. Child. Psychol. 2014; 42 (7): 1237–1245.

9. Малыгин В.Л., Хомерики Н.С., Антоненко А.А. Индивидуально-психологические свойства подростков как факторы риска формирования интернет-зависимого поведения. Медицинская психология в России: электрон. науч. журн. 2015; 7 (30): 7. URL: http://mprj.ru (дата обращения: 09.08.2019).

10. Рагулина М.В. Эмоциональное неблагополучие интернет-зависимых подростков. Научные тенденции: Педагогика и психология. 2017. DOI: 10.18411/spc-04-12-2017-24.

11. Титова В.В., Катков А.Л., Чугунов Д.Н. Интернет-зависимость: причины и механизмы формирования. Диагностика, подходы к лечению и профилактике. Педиатр. 2014; 5 (4): 132–139.

12. Варламова С.Н., Гончарова Е.Р., Соколова И.В. Интернет-зависимость молодежи мегаполисов: критерии и типология. Мониторинг общественного мнения. 2015; 2 (125): 165– DOI: 18210.14515/monitoring.

13. Pontes H.M., Kuss D., Griffiths M. Clinical psychology of Internet addiction: a review of its conceptualization, prevalence, neuronal processes, and implications for treatment. Neuroscience and Neuroeconomics. 2015; 4 (11): 23.

14. Calado F., Alexandre J., Griffiths M.D. Prevalence of adolescent problem gambling: A systematic review of recent research. J. Gambl. Stud. 2017; 33: 397–424. DOI: 10.1007/s10899-016-9627-5.

15. Online social network site addiction: A comprehensive review. 2015; 2 (2): 175–184.

16. Вайнштейн А. Интернет-зависимость: диагностика, коморбидность и лечение. Медицинская психология в России: электронный научный журнал. 2015; 4 (33): 3. URL: http://mprj.ru (дата обращения: 12.08.2019).

17. Хомерики Н.С. Индивидуально-психологические особенности подростков, склонных к интернет- зависимому поведению. Психическое здоровье. 2013; 5 (84): 49–51.

18. Individual differences in implicit learning abilities and impulsive behavior in the context of Internet addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder under the consideration of gender. Addictive Behaviors Reports. 2017; 5: 19–28. DOI: 10.1016/j.abrep.2017.02.002.

19. Internet gaming disorder: Trends in prevalence 1998–2016. Addictive Behaviors. 2017; 75: 17–24. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.06.010.

20. Mindfulness facets and problematic Internet use: A six-month longitudinal study. Addictive Behaviors. 2017; 72: 57–63. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.03.018.

21. Karacic S., Oreskovic S. Internet addiction through the phase of adolescence: A questionnaire study. JMIR Mental Health. 2017; 4 (2). Article e11. DOI: 10.2196/mental.5537.

22. Reiner I.A., Tibubos N., Hardt J., Müller K., Wölfling K., Beutel M.E. Peer attachment, specific patterns of internet use and problematic internet use in male and female adolescents. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2017; 26 (10): 1257–1268. DOI: 10.1007/s00787-017-0984-0.

23. Chen S.-H., Weng L.-J., Su Y.-J., Wu H.-M., Yang P.-F. Development of chinese internet addiction scale and its psychometric study. Chinese Journal of Psychology. 2003; 45: 251–266. DOI: 10.1037/t44491-000.

24. Малыгин В.Л., Феклисов К.А. Интернет-зависимое поведение. Критерии и методы диагностики: учебное пособие. М.: МГМСУ; 2011: 32.

25. Lemmens J.S., Valkenburg P.M., Peter J. Development and validation of a game addiction scale for adolescents. Media Psychol. 2009; 12 (1): 77–95. DOI: 10.1080/15213260802669458.

26. Van den Eijnden R.J.J.M., Lemmens J.S., Valkenburg P.M. The social media disorder scale. Computers in Hum. Behav. 2016; 61: 478–487. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.038.

27. Cerniglia L., Zoratto F., Cimino S., Laviola G., Ammaniti M., Adriani W. Internet addiction in adolescence: neurobiological, psychosocial and clinical issues. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2017; 76: 174– 184. DOI:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.12.024.

28. Floros G., Fisoun V., Siomos K. Internet addiction in the island of hippokrates: impact of gender and age in teenage use and abuse of the internet. European Psychiatry. 2010; 25: 414. DOI: 10.1016/S0924-9338(10)70410-7.

29. Kuss D.J., van Rooij A., Shorter G.W., Griffiths M.D., van de Mheen D. Internet addiction in adolescents: Prevalence and risk factors. Computers in Human Behavior. 2013; 29 (5): 1987–1996. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2013.04.002.

30. Wang H., Zhou X., Lu C., Wu J., Deng X., Hong L. Problematic internet use in high school students in Guangdong Province, China. PLoS One. 2011; 6 (5). Article ID e19660. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019660.

31. Takahashi M., Adachi M., Nishimura T., Hirota T., Yasuda S., Kuribayashi M., Nakamura K. Prevalence of pathological and maladaptive Internet use and the association with depression and health-related quality of life in Japanese elementary and junior high school-aged children. Soc. Psych. Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 2018; 53 (12): 1349–1359. DOI: 10.1007/s00127-018-1605-z.

32. Jelenchick L.A., Hawk S.T., Moreno M.A. Problematic internet use and social networking site use among Dutch adolescents. J. Adolesc. Med. Health. 2016; 28 (1): 119– 121. DOI: 10.1515/ijamh-2014-0068.

33. Cimino S., Cerniglia L. A longitudinal study for the empirical validation of an etiopathogenetic model of internet addiction in adolescence based on early emotion regulation. BioMed Research International. 2018; 2018: 4038541. DOI: 10.1155/2018/4038541.

34. Hong S.B., Zalesky A., Cocchi L., Fornito A., Choi E.J., Kim H.H., Suh J.E., Kim C.D., Kim J.W., Yi S.H. Decreased functional brain connectivity in adolescents with internet addiction. PLoS One. 2013; 8 (2): e57831. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057831.

35. Kuss D.J., Lopez-Fernandez O. Internet addiction and problematic Internet use: A systematic review of clinical research. World J. Psychiatry. 2016; 6 (1): 143–176. DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v6.i1.143.

36. Griffiths M. A ‘components’ model of addiction within a biopsychosocial framework. Journal of Substance Use. 2005; 10 (4): 191–197. DOI: 10.1080/14659890500114359.

37. Kim H.S., Hodgins D.C. Component model of addiction treatment: A pragmatic transdiagnostic treatment model of behavioral and substance addictions. Front. Psychiatry. 2018; 9: 406. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00406.

38. Luczak S.E., Khoddam R., Yu S., Wall T.L., Schwartz A., Sussman S. Review: Prevalence and co-occurrence of addictions in US ethnic/racial groups: Implications for genetic research. Am. J. Addict. 2017; 26 (5): 424–436. DOI: 10.1111/ajad.12464.

39. Kuss D.J., Griffiths M.D., Karila L., Billieux J. Internet addiction: a systematic review of epidemiological research for the last decade. Curr. Pharm. Des. 2014; 20 (25): 4026–4052. DOI: 10.2174/13816128113199990617.

40. Yates T.M., Gregor M.A., Haviland M.G. Child maltreatment, alexithymia, and problematic internet use in young adulthood. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 2012; 15 (4): 219–225. DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2011.0427.

41. Durkee T., Carli V., Floderus B., Wasserman C., Sarchiapone M., Apter A., Balazs J.A., Bobes J., Brunner R., Corcoran P., Cosman D., Haring C., Hoven C.W., Kaess M., Kahn J.P., Nemes B., Postuvan V., Saiz P.A., Varnik P., Wasserman D. Pathological internet use and risk-behaviors among European adolescents. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public. Health. 2016; 13 (3). DOI: 10.3390/ijerph13030294.

42. Kaess M., Parzer P., Brunner R., Koenig J., Durkee T., Carli V., Wasserman C., Hoven C.W., Sarchiapone M., Bobes J., Cosman D., Varnik A., Resch F., Wasserman D. Pathological internet use is on the rise among European adolescents. J. Adolesc. Health. 2016; 59 (2): 236–239. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.04.009.