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Essay on Internet Addiction | Internet Addiction Essay for Students and Children in English

February 14, 2024 by Prasanna

Essay on Internet Addiction: The origins of the Internet can be traced back to the 1960s. Over the last 60 years, technology has improved in such strides that it seems virtually unrecognizable today to what it was when it started. No other invention has evolved at a pace as fast as this. The Internet gives us access to the entire world for anything and everything. If one has access to the Internet and enough money, there can be no need for any individual to step out of the house whatsoever. As much as it has connected us to the world, it has also isolated us.

What’s worse is that now there exists a phenomenon of ‘internet addiction.’ Which is an unhealthy addition to a world already struggling with addictions as it is. And just like any other addiction, it has its fair share of negative consequences and problems that can affect a person physically and mentally.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Internet Addiction for Students and Kids in English

As of recently, internet addiction has become a global problem among people of all ages. Not just the youth but also children. They sit in front of the screen on social media, chatting, or video games. Using the Internet in excess can be destructive for the person and even fatal.

While the Internet is a great tool and can be used to make life easier, it is essential to check how much time we spend. It is harmful when individuals make their whole lives revolve around the Internet.

The Internet is also filled with dangerous people, and it can therefore cause people to get isolated from their family and friends and influence individuals to make wrong decisions. It is crucial to regulate internet usage, and parents and guardians must be careful and aware of their children so that they don’t develop an over-dependence on the Internet.

Short Essay on Internet Addiction 350 Words in English

Short Essay on Internet Addiction is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Internet addiction has become a new age addiction that has gripped people around the world. People belonging to different age groups suffer from this addiction, though it’s more prevalent among the youth. People access the Internet to kill boredom, find a way out of loneliness, or simply to have some fun in their lives. However, before they know it, they are hooked to it.

The Internet is a massive entertainment and engagement source, and it’s hard to resist the addictive things it offers. However, it’s essential to regulate internet use to ensure that it has not become an addiction. Like any other addiction, this one too has grave consequences. It can have a severe impact on a person’s neurological functioning. People can lose their sense of time and bearing and neglect their family, friends, and even their work and responsibilities.

Many internet addicts develop anxiety issues and depression. This hampers their personal and professional growth. Their physical health also deteriorates. They can incur health problems like obesity, heart condition, and hypertension. To live a balanced life, it is essential to be careful of one’s internet usage and to have the self-control not to let it take over your life.

Introduction

The number of internet users worldwide is increasing drastically, and with every passing day, the number of internet addicts is also rising. The Internet can be a very alluring place. Video games, chat rooms, social media platforms, entertainment videos, engrossing web series, and interesting blogs can keep an individual hooked for hours. People begin to use the Internet to beat loneliness and tedium and end up attached to it within no time.

Smart Phones and Internet Addiction

Around a decade ago, when the Internet could only be accessed on the desktop or a laptop, web usage was limited. Many were still excessively using it, but it was not as bad as it is now. The introduction of smartphones has given the rates of internet addiction a boost. People are seen glued to their screens wherever they go. This becomes worse as work is done on screen as well. And in these times, you need this technology for getting an education as well.

Internet addicts forget to eat, complete essential tasks, and ignore their loved ones. All they need is a high-speed internet connection and a tool to access it. This is more than enough to consume all their attention throughout the day.

Internet addiction is a severe disorder that affects a person’s ability to think rationally. Even though internet addicts often know the harmful consequences of this addiction, they do not make much effort to beat it. This often results in severe problems like depression, anxiety, and other psychological disorders.

Read More: Social Media Essay 250 Words

Internet Addiction Essay 400 Words in English

The Internet is one of the world’s most important sources of data that is used worldwide. People from across the globe communicate with one another through the Internet. Whether it’s watching a movie or catching up with an old friend, the Internet has made everything easier. It has also made us more productive and has made life so much easier.

It is hard to pinpoint precisely what causes internet addiction. But it is known that it can be easily compared to other types of addictions with the sort of dependency it causes. Internet addiction is a more recent phenomenon, and the causes can vary with gender, age, and personality.

Causes of internet addiction

Social circles play a critical role in causing behavioral issues like addiction. Internet addiction is no exception, as constant internet surfing has become commonplace among the youth. There is even an encouragement to seek friends online while playing online games, chat rooms, or just on social media.

The Internet can also become a coping-mechanism for self-soothing and as an escape for those who are suffering from mental health issues and such. The same way that people who suffer from depression or anxiety use alcohol and drugs to self-medicate, the Internet can be a distraction. Be it by playing video games, watching shows, or merely surfing forums.

An addition to the last point is that emotions and thought patterns have a huge role to play when it comes to addictions being developed. Those that desire an evasion from real life or a distraction from problems go to the Internet for emotional support. When an individual finds this sort of support only on the Internet and not in real life, it becomes an addiction. Introverts or are shy and do not have social skills can also develop an internet addiction. They find that it is easier to interact with people online than in person. It is also that easy for people to fabricate their identities and scam people like those who are naïve.

People get addicted due to the dopamine high that internet surfing can give. A person who receives this only from the Internet and nowhere else can very quickly be addicted. All of us need to be careful with our internet usage and dependency. Regulation or completely cutting it off can sometimes be the answer.

Long Essay on Internet Addiction 800 Words in English

Long Essay on Internet Addiction is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

People around the world are now having the issue of compulsive internet usage. They spend hours and hours on end on the Internet knowing that it does not benefit and is simply a waste of time. They make no effort to change this even though they know that it is harmful and can become an addiction. This lack of self-control can be hazardous, just as any other addiction is. People who are addicted to the internet face mental and physical issues, which can end up being fatal and end a person’s life prematurely.

Internet Addiction and the Youth

Internet addiction is more prevalent among youngsters. They end up scrolling on social media or forums or other websites, watching videos, shows, chatting, or shopping online. Time on the Internet may have begun as very minimal but ends up taking hours and hours of a person’s day as the usage increases. As they grow addicted, other responsibilities at home or studying are neglected. This can affect a person’s education and even inhibit their social growth.

When social skills are not allowed to be built, they do not know how to function in society anymore. They are unable to interact with people in real life normally due to this. They can also develop social anxiety. They prefer friends online who can very easily be dangerous individuals scamming them and negatively influencing them. They can be groomed inappropriately or end up stealing and losing money. When their education is affected, it hampers their future, and they spend no time developing skills that can build their careers. Spending all the time online can cause health issues if they do not exercise or go out.

It is also regrettable that parents hand their children iPads to distract them. From a young age, the children begin to develop a dependency on the Internet. Even while eating, the children gravitate towards the screen to watch something. Another sad development is the fact that now smartphones and laptops are essential for education. Notes, lectures, and all resources can be found online. If all a student’s time studying and relaxing is spent online, there is no time to be present in real life.

In the same manner, many young working professionals also fall prey to the same problem. Their time is wasted on the Internet when they should concentrate on furthering their careers and networking. Internet addiction has an adverse effect on young people today and presents a genuine danger for their future.

Consequences 

Internet addiction can have extremely harmful consequences. It can deteriorate one’s ability to function normally in society and affect them physically and mentally. It can cause various types of disorders and problems. Here are some examples of the same.

Mental Health

Constant use of the Internet reduces the brain’s capacity to grasp and understand new things. It drastically affects one’s attention span. The addicts have a continual desire to get back on the screen and surf regardless of what work is pending. It affects productivity and can cause behavioral issues.

It can also induce mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. An excellent example of this is anxiety caused by doomscrolling. It can also cause paranoia.

Social well-being

As mentioned before, individuals spend more time online than offline, which hampers social skills growth. Individuals no longer know how to interact and function normally in society. And the lack of such skills results in more avoidance, which furthers the problem and does nothing to solve it. It can lead to a feeling of isolation and even depression.

Physical Health

When all of a person’s time is spent on the Internet, and no time is spent walking around and going out, they develop an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle. This can cause obesity and cardiac issues. They can even become overweight, putting them at risk for stroke, diabetes, and such illnesses.

Withdrawal Symptoms

An obvious indication that spending time on the Internet is becoming an addiction is withdrawal symptoms. Individuals begin to feel restless, angry, and irritated when offline. The Internet becomes a crutch that they cannot live without. This causes stress and anxiety, and the emotional outburst caused by not accessing the Internet can be disturbing. It can be harmful to people around as there have been incidents where people had murdered family members when the internet connection was cut off.

Internet Addiction Essay Conclusion

People must be careful not to let internet usage get this bad and get help if it does develop into an addiction. It should not be taken lightly, and we must be careful so that we can lead healthy lives.

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Internet Addiction

Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff

More a popular idea than a scientifically valid concept, internet addiction is the belief that people can become so dependent on using their mobile phones or other electronic devices that they lose control of their own behavior and suffer negative consequences. The harm is alleged to stem both from direct involvement with the device—something that has never been proven—and from the abandonment of other activities, such as studying, face-to-face socializing, or sleep.

• What Is Internet Addiction?
• Signs of Excessive Internet Use
• Internet Use and Mental Health
• What to Do About Internet Addiction

There is much debate in the scientific community about whether excessive internet use can be classified as a true addiction. In an addiction to substances such as drugs or alcohol , consumption ceases being pleasurable but continues and is difficult to escape even as the likelihood of harm to the body and life mounts. In the case of internet use, there is no clear point at which being online becomes non-pleasurable for most individuals. In part for this reason, behavioral "addictions," including using the internet, remain controversial: Experts debate where the line should be drawn between passionate absorption in any activity—say, devoting a lot of time to playing the cello or reading books—and being stuck in a rut of compulsivity that stops being useful and detrimentally affects other areas of life.

In preparing the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , psychiatrists and other experts debated whether to include internet addiction. They decided that there was not enough scientific evidence to support inclusion at this time, although the DSM-5 does recognize Internet Gaming Disorder as a condition warranting further study.

Most often, the word “addiction” is used in the colloquial sense. Common Sense Media finds that 59 percent of parents “feel” their kids are addicted to their mobile devices—just as 27 percent of the parents feel that they themselves are. Sixty-nine percent of parents say they check their own devices at least hourly, as do 78 percent of teens. Spending a lot of time on the internet is increasingly considered normal behavior, especially for adolescents. Much of their social activity has simply moved online. Like any new technology, the computer has changed the way everyone lives, learns, and communicates. It is possible to be online far too much, even though this does not constitute a true addiction in the eyes of most clinicians. 

Internet content creators leverage the ways in which the brain works to rally consumers '  attention . One simple example: A perceived threat activates your fight-or-flight response, a part of the brain known as the Reticular Activating System mobilizes the body for action. So online content exploits potential dangers—violence, natural disaster, disease, etc.—to attract and hold your attention.  

Problematic or excessive internet use can indeed pose a serious problem. It can displace such important needs as sleep, homework, and exercise, often a source of friction between parents and teens. It can have negative effects on real-life relationships. 

The idea of internet addiction is a particular concern among parents, who worry about the harmful effects of screen time and often argue about device use with their children. According to a 2019 survey conducted by Common Sense Media, children aged 8 to 12 now spend 5 hours a day on digital devices, while teens clock more than 7 hours—not including schoolwork. Teen screen time is slowly ticking upward, and most teens take their phones to bed with them.

Whether classified as an addiction or not, heavy use of technology can be detrimental. It can impair focus, resulting in poor performance at school or work. Excessive internet consumption also makes it more difficult for people to communicate normally or to regulate their emotions. They spend less time on non-internet-related activities at the cost of relationships with friends, family, and significant others.

One way to assess whether you’re using the internet too much is to ask yourself if your basics needs (or your child’s, if they are the concern) are being met. Do you sleep enough, eat healthy, get enough exercise, enjoy the outdoors, and spend time socializing in-person? The real harm of screen time may lie in missed opportunities for growth and connection.

Excessive screen time can be particularly harmful to a developing brain: It decreases focus and attention span while increasing the need for more constant stimulation and instant gratification. Those who use the internet excessively may feel anxious if their access to their device gets restricted. They tend to be more impulsive and struggle to recognize facial and nonverbal cues in real life.

Internet use becomes a problem when people start substituting online connections for real, physical relationships. The effects of technology on relationships include increased isolation and loneliness . Defaulting to online communication also denies us the opportunity to hear someone’s voice and read their facial cues in-person; it can also lead to poorer outcomes and miscommunication. Experts recommend that we save the important conversations for when we can be face-to-face for just this reason.   

Online content has been designed to elicit specific “checking habits,” which can result in distraction and poor performance at school or work. Constantly checking your smartphone or another device can also lead to relationship-sabotaging behaviors, like phubbing (snubbing loved ones for the instant gratification of checking the internet on your device). As more time is spent online, less is devoted to the natural pleasures of everyday life.  

Excessive use of the internet is known to negatively impact a person’s mental health. It has been associated with mental health issues, such as loneliness, depression , anxiety , and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Research suggests that people are likely to use the internet more as an emotional crutch to cope with negative feelings instead of addressing them in proactive and healthy ways.

This is a subject of debate at present. While internet addiction is not in the DSM-V, it is clearly a behavior that negatively impacts mental health and cognition for many, and many struggle to cut back on their time online. The term "addiction" is often used as a shorthand for, “My child spends a lot of time on social media , texting friends, or playing video games, and I’m worried how it will affect his or her future development and success.” At the same time, many people label it a behavioral addiction, engaging reward circuitry seen in other problematic behaviors such as gambling.

Time online is also sometimes used as an escape from boredom or relief from loneliness or other unpleasantness. Occasionally, excessive screen time masks a state of depression or anxiety. In such cases, digital engagement becomes an attempt to remedy the feelings of distress caused by true mental health disorders that could likely benefit from professional or other attention.

Given how much people rely on technology to complete everyday tasks, from online schooling to paying bills to ordering food to keeping in touch with loved ones who are far away, it isn’t feasible to stop using the internet altogether. In most cases, the goal should be to reduce the time spent online. Many of those who’ve struggled to balance internet use with other activities recommend such simple “digital detox” measures as leaving devices in the kitchen or any other room but the bedroom at night. Cognitive behavioral therapy can also help address addiction-like behaviors, like constant checking habits. 

Amidst growing concerns about the increased amount of time people are spending online, the “digital detox” has become a popular way to cope. A digital detox involves temporarily abstaining from using devices, like computers and smartphones. Someone may go on a digital detox in order to re-engage with a passion or activity, focus more on in-person interactions, or break free of a pattern of compulsive or excessive use. Digital detoxes also allow more time for self-care that a person may have been neglecting in order to stay plugged into the internet, which can lead to lower stress levels and better sleep.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer. You may want to digitally detox if you notice that you’re experiencing sleep disruptions due to staying up late or waking up early to be on a device, if the internet is making you feel depressed, or if the constant need to be connected causes you stress. Other signs may include feeling anxious if you can’t locate your phone, having FOMO ( fear of missing out) if you’re not checking the internet or social media, struggling to focus without (or due to) constant checking behaviors, etc.

Unlike other detoxes where the goal is to abstain completely, digital detoxes are more flexible and tailored to the individual. It may not be possible due to work or personal obligations to shut your devices off entirely for long periods of time. If it’s time for a digital detox , there are some strategies you can try: Block off non-screen time during the day and/or night, set a “digital curfew” for using devices at night or on weekends, specify digital-free spaces in your home (e.g., the bedroom or dinner table), and use the additional time in fulfilling ways (e.g., socialize, rekindle old interests, volunteer, etc.).

Use the internet and social media with purpose; set time limits on your unstructured use to avoid going down long and unfulfilling rabbit holes. Take advantage of the extra free time you suddenly have. Spend more time socializing in-person and volunteer. Rekindle old interests or take up a new hobby. Go outside. Pay more attention to how you are feeling, both physically and emotionally.

The US Surgeon General recommends that social media come with a warning about its impact on children’s mental health.

Turning off your phone notifications is good for you and your kids. Try intermittent phone fasting for a few days and see if you agree!

Criticisms of evidence suggesting causal relationships between social media and mental health problems have some scientific merit, but clinically are wide of the mark.

Experts are warning that the problem of out-of-control technology continues to grow in alarming ways. Here are 8 ways parents can protect their children.

Anhedonia is the diminished ability to experience satisfying pleasures. The ability to experience healthy pleasures can be cultivated to restore overall well-being.

Dating apps are designed to help people find dates and develop long-term relationships. But they are also designed to keep users involved with the app.

Encouraging young adults to tell their stories may help heal the sense of disconnection technology and the pandemic have created.

Smartphones bridge global connections yet chip away at the essence, and the joy, of face-to-face interactions.

In a new study, teens report finding more benefits than harms online, yet they admit to feeling “happy” and “peaceful” when away from their smartphones.

Today, more teens are at peace and happier when they are detached from their devices. Here are 5 ways to help parents create a smartphone contract to manage screen time.

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Essay on Effects Of Internet Addiction

Students are often asked to write an essay on Effects Of Internet Addiction in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Effects Of Internet Addiction

Introduction.

The internet is a powerful tool for knowledge and communication. But, like all tools, it can be misused. When people use the internet too much, it can lead to internet addiction. This is a serious problem that can affect people’s lives in many ways.

Physical Health Problems

Mental health issues.

Internet addiction can also cause mental health issues. People can feel anxious or depressed if they can’t use the internet. They may also feel lonely or isolated, even when they are online all the time.

Negative Impact on Studies

Students who are addicted to the internet often find it hard to focus on their studies. They may spend too much time online and not enough time on their schoolwork. This can lead to poor grades and trouble at school.

250 Words Essay on Effects Of Internet Addiction

Internet addiction: an overview.

Internet addiction is a problem that can affect anyone, especially young people. It is like a disease that makes people spend too much time online, ignoring other important things in life. This essay will look at the effects of internet addiction.

The Impact on Health

One of the major effects of internet addiction is on our health. People who are addicted to the internet often sit in front of screens for many hours. This can lead to problems like bad eyesight, headaches, and even obesity. They may also have problems sleeping because they spend late nights online.

Effect on Relationships

Internet addiction can also harm relationships. People addicted to the internet may spend less time with family and friends. They may prefer to chat online rather than talk to people face-to-face. This can make them feel lonely and isolated.

Impact on Studies

For students, internet addiction can affect their studies. Instead of focusing on homework or reading books, they might be busy playing online games or surfing social media. This can lead to poor grades and a lack of interest in learning.

Emotional Effects

Lastly, internet addiction can lead to emotional problems. People can become anxious or depressed if they cannot be online. They might also feel stressed or angry when they are not connected to the internet.

500 Words Essay on Effects Of Internet Addiction

The meaning of internet addiction.

Internet addiction is when a person cannot stop using the internet for long periods. It is a problem when it starts to affect a person’s daily life, health, relationships, and school work. Just like how some people get addicted to alcohol or drugs, others get addicted to the internet.

One of the main effects of internet addiction is on a person’s physical health. When people spend too much time on the internet, they often forget to take care of their bodies. They might skip meals, not get enough sleep, or stop exercising. This can lead to health problems like obesity, eye strain, and poor posture. For example, sitting in front of a computer for many hours can cause back and neck pain.

Internet addiction can also lead to mental health problems. People who spend a lot of time online might start to feel anxious or depressed. They might feel lonely, even when they are talking to people online. They might also have trouble focusing on tasks, which can affect their performance at school. In severe cases, they might even have thoughts of suicide.

Impact on Relationships

Academic performance.

Internet addiction can also affect a person’s school performance. If a student is spending too much time online, they might not have enough time to study or do homework. They might also find it hard to concentrate in class because they are thinking about what is happening online. This can lead to poor grades and a lack of motivation to learn.

Remember, the internet can be a useful tool, but like anything else, it should be used in moderation. It’s important to take breaks, get plenty of exercise, and spend time with friends and family in the real world. This can help to maintain a healthy balance and prevent internet addiction.

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Internet Addiction as a Teenage Issue

Internet addiction (IA) is one of the leading contemporary issues affecting teenagers in modern settings despite heightened assessment, screening, and testing to solve it. The Internet is continuously evolving to enhance life, and it is gradually becoming an aspect of human progress. However, teenagers suffer the adverse effects of spending substantial time on the Internet. Accordingly, IA is a significant concern due to its negative impact on the youth. For instance, teenagers addicted to the Internet demonstrate irritation and negligence of duties. As a result, most of the victims experience depression, low self-esteem, and emotional instability. This paper evaluates Internet addiction as an issue affecting teenagers today and assesses the causes, assessment tools, and support options.

Foremost, external stressors driven by societal triggers contribute to teenager IA. Peer pressure is one factor, which pushes teens to Internet dependence by influencing an individual’s body image perception. Friends pursue their peers to spend most of their time online admiring their role models who motivate them to focus on physical appearance. Besides, family issues also drive them to social media as an escape route. Teens in families which experience constant conflicts tend to suffer from IA disorders (Schneider et al., 2017). Exposure to school demands exacerbates their situation concerning Internet use. Thus, stressful academic and social needs compel young people to depend on the Internet for relief.

To combat the issue, physicians use evidence-based assessment strategies to screen external stressors for IA in adolescent patients. Leading examination models include the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) developed to evaluate Internet compulsion’s presence and degree (Poli, 2017). IAT consists of 20 items extracted from research and clinical studies, which identify possible addiction indicators. The Internet addiction scale (IAS) is a framework employed to assess compulsion aspects, such as obsession, withdrawal, tolerance deception, general impairment, and distraction (Poli, 2017). An additional question to include in the assessment tools is whether financial needs compel teens to spend most of their time on the Internet. Parents or guardians have the right to know about the money spent by their children, but it would be unethical to ask to explain what the teenagers do with the money provided. Availability of research-based assessment tools helps to assess IA stressors.

Therefore, support options concentrate on behavior change in adolescent patients with IA. According to Young (2019), The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) does not include the problem in its classification. Hence, social interventions include those used to treat similar conditions, such as gambling addiction. Therapy is a recommendable option to help adolescent patients with Internet compulsion. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a specific support tool, which clinicians can use to help victims adjust their Internet usage. Mihajlov and Vejmelka (2017) suggest that a participant can engage in timed therapy sessions concentrating on the interactive traits. Attending CBT meetings is an effective therapeutic approach to help patients confront mental predispositions which cause the problematic behavior.

In conclusion, IA is one of the leading issues experienced by teenagers today. Most victims demonstrate problematic behaviors, such as irritation, negligence, and subsequent depression or stress. Notably, IA is attributed to body image, family, and academic demand issues in teens. Hence, clinicians use IAT and IAS to screen and recognize the victims exposed to IA. Accordingly, timed CBT is a useful support tool, which can help adolescent patients modify their behavior and overcome addiction. Although IA remains a concern, appropriate interventions can help youths challenge it and adjust to normal behavior.

Mihajlov, M., & Vejmelka, L. (2017). Internet addiction: A review of the first twenty years. Psychiatria Danubina , 29 (3), 260-272. Web.

Poli, R. (2017). Internet addiction update: Diagnostic criteria, assessment and prevalence. Neuropsychiatry , 7 (1), 4-8. Web.

Schneider, L. A., King, D. L., & Delfabbro, P. H. (2017). Family factors in adolescent problematic Internet gaming: A systematic review . Journal of Behavioral Addictions , 6 (3), 321–333. Web.

Young, K. (2019). Internet addiction. Good Therapy. Web.

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Cause And Effect Internet

There has been a big percentage of people spending their time on the internet rather than spending time with their family, or friends. Internet use has been categorized as an actual disorder, and has been termed ‘Internet Addiction’ because of its similarity to addictions like smoking, drinking, and watching too much TV. There are several reasons and causes why people get addicted to the internet; boredom, loneliness, online TV, social networks, etc.

Essay Example on Effects Of Internet Addiction

They could be lonely in the way that they’re the only child, or they have no friends due to being home schooled, so they waste their time on the internet.

Or they could just be bored; they could be home alone, or it could be raining outside, and they can’t go out, so they stay in and surf the web. There are also a lot of social networks online like chat rooms, Facebook, Twitter, MSN, and more. People enter social networks to meet new people, and get into virtual online relationships.

Entering social networks can also relate to loneliness sometimes. Spending too much time on the internet can affect you very much. It can interfere with your social life, the addiction can lead to the inability to communicate in the real world, and your family bonding. You could have mixed feelings of guilt while at the computer, and it can also distract you from your work/school related work. And because of the lack of exercise and movement, obesity is a huge symptom.

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To some people, when you are not on the computer, you think about it frequently and anticipate when you will use it again. I suppose that if anyone is too addicted to the internet, they should maybe set an alarm clock for only 1-2 hours, to lessen their addiction. Or they could talk to their mothers, or guardians about it, or maybe get a therapist for some help, and try their best to think of all of the effects that could happen to them, and try to stop.

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Causes and effects of Internet addiction

These days, there is a significant increase in the number of students using the Internet and they have the tendency to overuse it. This undesirable problem can be related to the imbalance between studying and entertaining on the websites. This essay will explore some possible reasons and impacts for this serious phenomenon. To begin with, there are many reasons why students are prone to be addicted to using the Internet. The major reason for this is the multifunction of the Internet. In fact, the learners can easily access the Internet with the assistance of electrical services such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, and so on. In other words, when they connect their devices with the Internet connection, they can search for any type of website. As a result, they cannot take their eyes off the screens due to attractive video games and films or movies. Another contributing factor is that shy students can build virtual relationships with others thanks to the Internet without seeing their friends in real life. This phenomenon has many critical effects on students. The biggest impact is destruction to health. Some diseases related to the vision and nervous system are demonstrated because of Internet addiction. If the students spend most of their time using the Internet, not only their eyes will become short-sighted but the development of their brain can be reduced. In addition, they can suffer from obesity and cardiovascular problems due to lack of outdoor activities. Another adverse effect is on the studying performance. The more time they spend using the Internet, the less time they spend studying and social life. Excessive Internet use discourages them from reading books, exploring new aspects of learning. Therefore, their studying performance at school is seriously influenced. In conclusion, it seems to me that Internet addiction is an extremely alarming problem for the students because of the abuse and results in health problems and loss of learning productivity. Hence, the students should put their Internet use time into limitation to ensure good health and studying performance.

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Essay evaluations by e-grader

Transition Words or Phrases used: but, hence, if, so, therefore, in addition, in conclusion, in fact, such as, as a result, in other words, to begin with

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech: To be verbs : 13.0 13.1623246493 99% => OK Auxiliary verbs: 10.0 7.85571142285 127% => OK Conjunction : 13.0 10.4138276553 125% => OK Relative clauses : 3.0 7.30460921844 41% => More relative clauses wanted. Pronoun: 27.0 24.0651302605 112% => OK Preposition: 45.0 41.998997996 107% => OK Nominalization: 13.0 8.3376753507 156% => OK

Performance on vocabulary words: No of characters: 1787.0 1615.20841683 111% => OK No of words: 337.0 315.596192385 107% => OK Chars per words: 5.30267062315 5.12529762239 103% => OK Fourth root words length: 4.28457229495 4.20363070211 102% => OK Word Length SD: 2.82095823915 2.80592935109 101% => OK Unique words: 189.0 176.041082164 107% => OK Unique words percentage: 0.560830860534 0.561755894193 100% => OK syllable_count: 541.8 506.74238477 107% => OK avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.60771543086 100% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by: Pronoun: 9.0 5.43587174349 166% => OK Article: 6.0 2.52805611222 237% => Less articles wanted as sentence beginning. Subordination: 3.0 2.10420841683 143% => OK Conjunction: 1.0 0.809619238477 124% => OK Preposition: 5.0 4.76152304609 105% => OK

Performance on sentences: How many sentences: 20.0 16.0721442886 124% => OK Sentence length: 16.0 20.2975951904 79% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short. Sentence length SD: 37.2325126737 49.4020404114 75% => OK Chars per sentence: 89.35 106.682146367 84% => OK Words per sentence: 16.85 20.7667163134 81% => OK Discourse Markers: 5.95 7.06120827912 84% => OK Paragraphs: 4.0 4.38176352705 91% => OK Language errors: 0.0 5.01903807615 0% => OK Sentences with positive sentiment : 4.0 8.67935871743 46% => More positive sentences wanted. Sentences with negative sentiment : 12.0 3.9879759519 301% => Less negative sentences wanted. Sentences with neutral sentiment: 4.0 3.4128256513 117% => OK What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion: Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.202067219221 0.244688304435 83% => OK Sentence topic coherence: 0.0649048603264 0.084324248473 77% => OK Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0518946811656 0.0667982634062 78% => OK Paragraph topic coherence: 0.120890076993 0.151304729494 80% => OK Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0458941188517 0.056905535591 81% => OK

Essay readability: automated_readability_index: 12.0 13.0946893788 92% => Automated_readability_index is low. flesch_reading_ease: 55.24 50.2224549098 110% => OK smog_index: 3.1 7.44779559118 42% => Smog_index is low. flesch_kincaid_grade: 9.5 11.3001002004 84% => OK coleman_liau_index: 13.16 12.4159519038 106% => OK dale_chall_readability_score: 8.74 8.58950901804 102% => OK difficult_words: 92.0 78.4519038076 117% => OK linsear_write_formula: 8.5 9.78957915832 87% => OK gunning_fog: 8.4 10.1190380762 83% => OK text_standard: 9.0 10.7795591182 83% => OK What are above readability scores?

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15.9 Cause-and-Effect Essay

Learning objective.

• Read an example of the cause-and-effect rhetorical mode.

Effects of Video Game Addiction

Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day. Most players are able to limit their usage in ways that do not interfere with their daily lives, but many others have developed an addiction to playing video games and suffer detrimental effects.

An addiction can be described in several ways, but generally speaking, addictions involve unhealthy attractions to substances or activities that ultimately disrupt the ability of a person to keep up with regular daily responsibilities. Video game addiction typically involves playing games uncontrollably for many hours at a time—some people will play only four hours at a time while others cannot stop for over twenty-four hours. Regardless of the severity of the addiction, many of the same effects will be experienced by all.

One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. The effect of this isolation can lead to a breakdown of communication skills and often a loss in socialization. While it is true that many games, especially massive multiplayer online games, involve a very real form of e-based communication and coordination with others, and these virtual interactions often result in real communities that can be healthy for the players, these communities and forms of communication rarely translate to the types of valuable social interaction that humans need to maintain typical social functioning. As a result, the social networking in these online games often gives the users the impression that they are interacting socially, while their true social lives and personal relations may suffer.

Another unfortunate product of the isolation that often accompanies video game addiction is the disruption of the user’s career. While many players manage to enjoy video games and still hold their jobs without problems, others experience challenges at their workplace. Some may only experience warnings or demerits as a result of poorer performance, or others may end up losing their jobs altogether. Playing video games for extended periods of time often involves sleep deprivation, and this tends to carry over to the workplace, reducing production and causing habitual tardiness.

Video game addiction may result in a decline in overall health and hygiene. Players who interact with video games for such significant amounts of time can go an entire day without eating and even longer without basic hygiene tasks, such as using the restroom or bathing. The effects of this behavior pose significant danger to their overall health.

The causes of video game addiction are complex and can vary greatly, but the effects have the potential to be severe. Playing video games can and should be a fun activity for all to enjoy. But just like everything else, the amount of time one spends playing video games needs to be balanced with personal and social responsibilities.

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Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Functional connectivity changes in the brain of adolescents with internet addiction: A systematic literature review of imaging studies

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Department of Brain Sciences, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Roles Conceptualization, Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Behavioural Brain Sciences Unit, Population Policy Practice Programme, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom

• Max L. Y. Chang, 
• Irene O. Lee

• Published: June 4, 2024
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022
• Peer Review
• Reader Comments

Internet usage has seen a stark global rise over the last few decades, particularly among adolescents and young people, who have also been diagnosed increasingly with internet addiction (IA). IA impacts several neural networks that influence an adolescent’s behaviour and development. This article issued a literature review on the resting-state and task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies to inspect the consequences of IA on the functional connectivity (FC) in the adolescent brain and its subsequent effects on their behaviour and development. A systematic search was conducted from two databases, PubMed and PsycINFO, to select eligible articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Eligibility criteria was especially stringent regarding the adolescent age range (10–19) and formal diagnosis of IA. Bias and quality of individual studies were evaluated. The fMRI results from 12 articles demonstrated that the effects of IA were seen throughout multiple neural networks: a mix of increases/decreases in FC in the default mode network; an overall decrease in FC in the executive control network; and no clear increase or decrease in FC within the salience network and reward pathway. The FC changes led to addictive behaviour and tendencies in adolescents. The subsequent behavioural changes are associated with the mechanisms relating to the areas of cognitive control, reward valuation, motor coordination, and the developing adolescent brain. Our results presented the FC alterations in numerous brain regions of adolescents with IA leading to the behavioural and developmental changes. Research on this topic had a low frequency with adolescent samples and were primarily produced in Asian countries. Future research studies of comparing results from Western adolescent samples provide more insight on therapeutic intervention.

Citation: Chang MLY, Lee IO (2024) Functional connectivity changes in the brain of adolescents with internet addiction: A systematic literature review of imaging studies. PLOS Ment Health 1(1): e0000022. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022

Editor: Kizito Omona, Uganda Martyrs University, UGANDA

Received: December 29, 2023; Accepted: March 18, 2024; Published: June 4, 2024

Copyright: © 2024 Chang, Lee. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting information files.

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

The behavioural addiction brought on by excessive internet use has become a rising source of concern [ 1 ] since the last decade. According to clinical studies, individuals with Internet Addiction (IA) or Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) may have a range of biopsychosocial effects and is classified as an impulse-control disorder owing to its resemblance to pathological gambling and substance addiction [ 2 , 3 ]. IA has been defined by researchers as a person’s inability to resist the urge to use the internet, which has negative effects on their psychological well-being as well as their social, academic, and professional lives [ 4 ]. The symptoms can have serious physical and interpersonal repercussions and are linked to mood modification, salience, tolerance, impulsivity, and conflict [ 5 ]. In severe circumstances, people may experience severe pain in their bodies or health issues like carpal tunnel syndrome, dry eyes, irregular eating and disrupted sleep [ 6 ]. Additionally, IA is significantly linked to comorbidities with other psychiatric disorders [ 7 ].

Stevens et al (2021) reviewed 53 studies including 17 countries and reported the global prevalence of IA was 3.05% [ 8 ]. Asian countries had a higher prevalence (5.1%) than European countries (2.7%) [ 8 ]. Strikingly, adolescents and young adults had a global IGD prevalence rate of 9.9% which matches previous literature that reported historically higher prevalence among adolescent populations compared to adults [ 8 , 9 ]. Over 80% of adolescent population in the UK, the USA, and Asia have direct access to the internet [ 10 ]. Children and adolescents frequently spend more time on media (possibly 7 hours and 22 minutes per day) than at school or sleeping [ 11 ]. Developing nations have also shown a sharp rise in teenage internet usage despite having lower internet penetration rates [ 10 ]. Concerns regarding the possible harms that overt internet use could do to adolescents and their development have arisen because of this surge, especially the significant impacts by the COVID-19 pandemic [ 12 ]. The growing prevalence and neurocognitive consequences of IA among adolescents makes this population a vital area of study [ 13 ].

Adolescence is a crucial developmental stage during which people go through significant changes in their biology, cognition, and personalities [ 14 ]. Adolescents’ emotional-behavioural functioning is hyperactivated, which creates risk of psychopathological vulnerability [ 15 ]. In accordance with clinical study results [ 16 ], this emotional hyperactivity is supported by a high level of neuronal plasticity. This plasticity enables teenagers to adapt to the numerous physical and emotional changes that occur during puberty as well as develop communication techniques and gain independence [ 16 ]. However, the strong neuronal plasticity is also associated with risk-taking and sensation seeking [ 17 ] which may lead to IA.

Despite the fact that the precise neuronal mechanisms underlying IA are still largely unclear, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) method has been used by scientists as an important framework to examine the neuropathological changes occurring in IA, particularly in the form of functional connectivity (FC) [ 18 ]. fMRI research study has shown that IA alters both the functional and structural makeup of the brain [ 3 ].

We hypothesise that IA has widespread neurological alteration effects rather than being limited to a few specific brain regions. Further hypothesis holds that according to these alterations of FC between the brain regions or certain neural networks, adolescents with IA would experience behavioural changes. An investigation of these domains could be useful for creating better procedures and standards as well as minimising the negative effects of overt internet use. This literature review aims to summarise and analyse the evidence of various imaging studies that have investigated the effects of IA on the FC in adolescents. This will be addressed through two research questions:

• How does internet addiction affect the functional connectivity in the adolescent brain?
• How is adolescent behaviour and development impacted by functional connectivity changes due to internet addiction?

The review protocol was conducted in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (see S1 Checklist ).

Search strategy and selection process

A systematic search was conducted up until April 2023 from two sources of database, PubMed and PsycINFO, using a range of terms relevant to the title and research questions (see full list of search terms in S1 Appendix ). All the searched articles can be accessed in the S1 Data . The eligible articles were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria used for the present review were: (i) participants in the studies with clinical diagnosis of IA; (ii) participants between the ages of 10 and 19; (iii) imaging research investigations; (iv) works published between January 2013 and April 2023; (v) written in English language; (vi) peer-reviewed papers and (vii) full text. The numbers of articles excluded due to not meeting the inclusion criteria are shown in Fig 1 . Each study’s title and abstract were screened for eligibility.

• PPT PowerPoint slide
• PNG larger image
• TIFF original image

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022.g001

Quality appraisal

Full texts of all potentially relevant studies were then retrieved and further appraised for eligibility. Furthermore, articles were critically appraised based on the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations) framework to evaluate the individual study for both quality and bias. The subsequent quality levels were then appraised to each article and listed as either low, moderate, or high.

Data collection process

Data that satisfied the inclusion requirements was entered into an excel sheet for data extraction and further selection. An article’s author, publication year, country, age range, participant sample size, sex, area of interest, measures, outcome and article quality were all included in the data extraction spreadsheet. Studies looking at FC, for instance, were grouped, while studies looking at FC in specific area were further divided into sub-groups.

Data synthesis and analysis

Articles were classified according to their location in the brain as well as the network or pathway they were a part of to create a coherent narrative between the selected studies. Conclusions concerning various research trends relevant to particular groupings were drawn from these groupings and subgroupings. To maintain the offered information in a prominent manner, these assertions were entered into the data extraction excel spreadsheet.

With the search performed on the selected databases, 238 articles in total were identified (see Fig 1 ). 15 duplicated articles were eliminated, and another 6 items were removed for various other reasons. Title and abstract screening eliminated 184 articles because they were not in English (number of article, n, = 7), did not include imaging components (n = 47), had adult participants (n = 53), did not have a clinical diagnosis of IA (n = 19), did not address FC in the brain (n = 20), and were published outside the desired timeframe (n = 38). A further 21 papers were eliminated for failing to meet inclusion requirements after the remaining 33 articles underwent full-text eligibility screening. A total of 12 papers were deemed eligible for this review analysis.

Characteristics of the included studies, as depicted in the data extraction sheet in Table 1 provide information of the author(s), publication year, sample size, study location, age range, gender, area of interest, outcome, measures used and quality appraisal. Most of the studies in this review utilised resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques (n = 7), with several studies demonstrating task-based fMRI procedures (n = 3), and the remaining studies utilising whole-brain imaging measures (n = 2). The studies were all conducted in Asiatic countries, specifically coming from China (8), Korea (3), and Indonesia (1). Sample sizes ranged from 12 to 31 participants with most of the imaging studies having comparable sample sizes. Majority of the studies included a mix of male and female participants (n = 8) with several studies having a male only participant pool (n = 3). All except one of the mixed gender studies had a majority male participant pool. One study did not disclose their data on the gender demographics of their experiment. Study years ranged from 2013–2022, with 2 studies in 2013, 3 studies in 2014, 3 studies in 2015, 1 study in 2017, 1 study in 2020, 1 study in 2021, and 1 study in 2022.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022.t001

(1) How does internet addiction affect the functional connectivity in the adolescent brain?

The included studies were organised according to the brain region or network that they were observing. The specific networks affected by IA were the default mode network, executive control system, salience network and reward pathway. These networks are vital components of adolescent behaviour and development [ 31 ]. The studies in each section were then grouped into subsections according to their specific brain regions within their network.

Default mode network (DMN)/reward network.

Out of the 12 studies, 3 have specifically studied the default mode network (DMN), and 3 observed whole-brain FC that partially included components of the DMN. The effect of IA on the various centres of the DMN was not unilaterally the same. The findings illustrate a complex mix of increases and decreases in FC depending on the specific region in the DMN (see Table 2 and Fig 2 ). The alteration of FC in posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in the DMN was the most frequently reported area in adolescents with IA, which involved in attentional processes [ 32 ], but Lee et al. (2020) additionally found alterations of FC in other brain regions, such as anterior insula cortex, a node in the DMN that controls the integration of motivational and cognitive processes [ 20 ].

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022.g002

The overall changes of functional connectivity in the brain network including default mode network (DMN), executive control network (ECN), salience network (SN) and reward network. IA = Internet Addiction, FC = Functional Connectivity.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022.t002

Ding et al. (2013) revealed altered FC in the cerebellum, the middle temporal gyrus, and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) [ 22 ]. They found that the bilateral inferior parietal lobule, left superior parietal lobule, and right inferior temporal gyrus had decreased FC, while the bilateral posterior lobe of the cerebellum and the medial temporal gyrus had increased FC [ 22 ]. The right middle temporal gyrus was found to have 111 cluster voxels (t = 3.52, p<0.05) and the right inferior parietal lobule was found to have 324 cluster voxels (t = -4.07, p<0.05) with an extent threshold of 54 voxels (figures above this threshold are deemed significant) [ 22 ]. Additionally, there was a negative correlation, with 95 cluster voxels (p<0.05) between the FC of the left superior parietal lobule and the PCC with the Chen Internet Addiction Scores (CIAS) which are used to determine the severity of IA [ 22 ]. On the other hand, in regions of the reward system, connection with the PCC was positively connected with CIAS scores [ 22 ]. The most significant was the right praecuneus with 219 cluster voxels (p<0.05) [ 22 ]. Wang et al. (2017) also discovered that adolescents with IA had 33% less FC in the left inferior parietal lobule and 20% less FC in the dorsal mPFC [ 24 ]. A potential connection between the effects of substance use and overt internet use is revealed by the generally decreased FC in these areas of the DMN of teenagers with drug addiction and IA [ 35 ].

The putamen was one of the main regions of reduced FC in adolescents with IA [ 19 ]. The putamen and the insula-operculum demonstrated significant group differences regarding functional connectivity with a cluster size of 251 and an extent threshold of 250 (Z = 3.40, p<0.05) [ 19 ]. The molecular mechanisms behind addiction disorders have been intimately connected to decreased striatal dopaminergic function [ 19 ], making this function crucial.

Executive Control Network (ECN).

5 studies out of 12 have specifically viewed parts of the executive control network (ECN) and 3 studies observed whole-brain FC. The effects of IA on the ECN’s constituent parts were consistent across all the studies examined for this analysis (see Table 2 and Fig 3 ). The results showed a notable decline in all the ECN’s major centres. Li et al. (2014) used fMRI imaging and a behavioural task to study response inhibition in adolescents with IA [ 25 ] and found decreased activation at the striatum and frontal gyrus, particularly a reduction in FC at inferior frontal gyrus, in the IA group compared to controls [ 25 ]. The inferior frontal gyrus showed a reduction in FC in comparison to the controls with a cluster size of 71 (t = 4.18, p<0.05) [ 25 ]. In addition, the frontal-basal ganglia pathways in the adolescents with IA showed little effective connection between areas and increased degrees of response inhibition [ 25 ].

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022.g003

Lin et al. (2015) found that adolescents with IA demonstrated disrupted corticostriatal FC compared to controls [ 33 ]. The corticostriatal circuitry experienced decreased connectivity with the caudate, bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), as well as the striatum and frontal gyrus [ 33 ]. The inferior ventral striatum showed significantly reduced FC with the subcallosal ACC and caudate head with cluster size of 101 (t = -4.64, p<0.05) [ 33 ]. Decreased FC in the caudate implies dysfunction of the corticostriatal-limbic circuitry involved in cognitive and emotional control [ 36 ]. The decrease in FC in both the striatum and frontal gyrus is related to inhibitory control, a common deficit seen with disruptions with the ECN [ 33 ].

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), ACC, and right supplementary motor area (SMA) of the prefrontal cortex were all found to have significantly decreased grey matter volume [ 29 ]. In addition, the DLPFC, insula, temporal cortices, as well as significant subcortical regions like the striatum and thalamus, showed decreased FC [ 29 ]. According to Tremblay (2009), the striatum plays a significant role in the processing of rewards, decision-making, and motivation [ 37 ]. Chen et al. (2020) reported that the IA group demonstrated increased impulsivity as well as decreased reaction inhibition using a Stroop colour-word task [ 26 ]. Furthermore, Chen et al. (2020) observed that the left DLPFC and dorsal striatum experienced a negative connection efficiency value, specifically demonstrating that the dorsal striatum activity suppressed the left DLPFC [ 27 ].

Salience network (SN).

Out of the 12 chosen studies, 3 studies specifically looked at the salience network (SN) and 3 studies have observed whole-brain FC. Relative to the DMN and ECN, the findings on the SN were slightly sparser. Despite this, adolescents with IA demonstrated a moderate decrease in FC, as well as other measures like fibre connectivity and cognitive control, when compared to healthy control (see Table 2 and Fig 4 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022.g004

Xing et al. (2014) used both dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and insula to test FC changes in the SN of adolescents with IA and found decreased structural connectivity in the SN as well as decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) that correlated to behaviour performance in the Stroop colour word-task [ 21 ]. They examined the dACC and insula to determine whether the SN’s disrupted connectivity may be linked to the SN’s disruption of regulation, which would explain the impaired cognitive control seen in adolescents with IA. However, researchers did not find significant FC differences in the SN when compared to the controls [ 21 ]. These results provided evidence for the structural changes in the interconnectivity within SN in adolescents with IA.

Wang et al. (2017) investigated network interactions between the DMN, ECN, SN and reward pathway in IA subjects [ 24 ] (see Fig 5 ), and found 40% reduction of FC between the DMN and specific regions of the SN, such as the insula, in comparison to the controls (p = 0.008) [ 24 ]. The anterior insula and dACC are two areas that are impacted by this altered FC [ 24 ]. This finding supports the idea that IA has similar neurobiological abnormalities with other addictive illnesses, which is in line with a study that discovered disruptive changes in the SN and DMN’s interaction in cocaine addiction [ 38 ]. The insula has also been linked to the intensity of symptoms and has been implicated in the development of IA [ 39 ].

“+” indicates an increase in behaivour; “-”indicates a decrease in behaviour; solid arrows indicate a direct network interaction; and the dotted arrows indicates a reduction in network interaction. This diagram depicts network interactions juxtaposed with engaging in internet related behaviours. Through the neural interactions, the diagram illustrates how the networks inhibit or amplify internet usage and vice versa. Furthermore, it demonstrates how the SN mediates both the DMN and ECN.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022.g005

(2) How is adolescent behaviour and development impacted by functional connectivity changes due to internet addiction?

The findings that IA individuals demonstrate an overall decrease in FC in the DMN is supported by numerous research [ 24 ]. Drug addict populations also exhibited similar decline in FC in the DMN [ 40 ]. The disruption of attentional orientation and self-referential processing for both substance and behavioural addiction was then hypothesised to be caused by DMN anomalies in FC [ 41 ].

In adolescents with IA, decline of FC in the parietal lobule affects visuospatial task-related behaviour [ 22 ], short-term memory [ 42 ], and the ability of controlling attention or restraining motor responses during response inhibition tests [ 42 ]. Cue-induced gaming cravings are influenced by the DMN [ 43 ]. A visual processing area called the praecuneus links gaming cues to internal information [ 22 ]. A meta-analysis found that the posterior cingulate cortex activity of individuals with IA during cue-reactivity tasks was connected with their gaming time [ 44 ], suggesting that excessive gaming may impair DMN function and that individuals with IA exert more cognitive effort to control it. Findings for the behavioural consequences of FC changes in the DMN illustrate its underlying role in regulating impulsivity, self-monitoring, and cognitive control.

Furthermore, Ding et al. (2013) reported an activation of components of the reward pathway, including areas like the nucleus accumbens, praecuneus, SMA, caudate, and thalamus, in connection to the DMN [ 22 ]. The increased FC of the limbic and reward networks have been confirmed to be a major biomarker for IA [ 45 , 46 ]. The increased reinforcement in these networks increases the strength of reward stimuli and makes it more difficult for other networks, namely the ECN, to down-regulate the increased attention [ 29 ] (See Fig 5 ).

Executive control network (ECN).

The numerous IA-affected components in the ECN have a role in a variety of behaviours that are connected to both response inhibition and emotional regulation [ 47 ]. For instance, brain regions like the striatum, which are linked to impulsivity and the reward system, are heavily involved in the act of playing online games [ 47 ]. Online game play activates the striatum, which suppresses the left DLPFC in ECN [ 48 ]. As a result, people with IA may find it difficult to control their want to play online games [ 48 ]. This system thus causes impulsive and protracted gaming conduct, lack of inhibitory control leading to the continued use of internet in an overt manner despite a variety of negative effects, personal distress, and signs of psychological dependence [ 33 ] (See Fig 5 ).

Wang et al. (2017) report that disruptions in cognitive control networks within the ECN are frequently linked to characteristics of substance addiction [ 24 ]. With samples that were addicted to heroin and cocaine, previous studies discovered abnormal FC in the ECN and the PFC [ 49 ]. Electronic gaming is known to promote striatal dopamine release, similar to drug addiction [ 50 ]. According to Drgonova and Walther (2016), it is hypothesised that dopamine could stimulate the reward system of the striatum in the brain, leading to a loss of impulse control and a failure of prefrontal lobe executive inhibitory control [ 51 ]. In the end, IA’s resemblance to drug use disorders may point to vital biomarkers or underlying mechanisms that explain how cognitive control and impulsive behaviour are related.

A task-related fMRI study found that the decrease in FC between the left DLPFC and dorsal striatum was congruent with an increase in impulsivity in adolescents with IA [ 26 ]. The lack of response inhibition from the ECN results in a loss of control over internet usage and a reduced capacity to display goal-directed behaviour [ 33 ]. Previous studies have linked the alteration of the ECN in IA with higher cue reactivity and impaired ability to self-regulate internet specific stimuli [ 52 ].

Salience network (SN)/ other networks.

Xing et al. (2014) investigated the significance of the SN regarding cognitive control in teenagers with IA [ 21 ]. The SN, which is composed of the ACC and insula, has been demonstrated to control dynamic changes in other networks to modify cognitive performance [ 21 ]. The ACC is engaged in conflict monitoring and cognitive control, according to previous neuroimaging research [ 53 ]. The insula is a region that integrates interoceptive states into conscious feelings [ 54 ]. The results from Xing et al. (2014) showed declines in the SN regarding its structural connectivity and fractional anisotropy, even though they did not observe any appreciable change in FC in the IA participants [ 21 ]. Due to the small sample size, the results may have indicated that FC methods are not sensitive enough to detect the significant functional changes [ 21 ]. However, task performance behaviours associated with impaired cognitive control in adolescents with IA were correlated with these findings [ 21 ]. Our comprehension of the SN’s broader function in IA can be enhanced by this relationship.

Research study supports the idea that different psychological issues are caused by the functional reorganisation of expansive brain networks, such that strong association between SN and DMN may provide neurological underpinnings at the system level for the uncontrollable character of internet-using behaviours [ 24 ]. In the study by Wang et al. (2017), the decreased interconnectivity between the SN and DMN, comprising regions such the DLPFC and the insula, suggests that adolescents with IA may struggle to effectively inhibit DMN activity during internally focused processing, leading to poorly managed desires or preoccupations to use the internet [ 24 ] (See Fig 5 ). Subsequently, this may cause a failure to inhibit DMN activity as well as a restriction of ECN functionality [ 55 ]. As a result, the adolescent experiences an increased salience and sensitivity towards internet addicting cues making it difficult to avoid these triggers [ 56 ].

The primary aim of this review was to present a summary of how internet addiction impacts on the functional connectivity of adolescent brain. Subsequently, the influence of IA on the adolescent brain was compartmentalised into three sections: alterations of FC at various brain regions, specific FC relationships, and behavioural/developmental changes. Overall, the specific effects of IA on the adolescent brain were not completely clear, given the variety of FC changes. However, there were overarching behavioural, network and developmental trends that were supported that provided insight on adolescent development.

The first hypothesis that was held about this question was that IA was widespread and would be regionally similar to substance-use and gambling addiction. After conducting a review of the information in the chosen articles, the hypothesis was predictably supported. The regions of the brain affected by IA are widespread and influence multiple networks, mainly DMN, ECN, SN and reward pathway. In the DMN, there was a complex mix of increases and decreases within the network. However, in the ECN, the alterations of FC were more unilaterally decreased, but the findings of SN and reward pathway were not quite clear. Overall, the FC changes within adolescents with IA are very much network specific and lay a solid foundation from which to understand the subsequent behaviour changes that arise from the disorder.

The second hypothesis placed emphasis on the importance of between network interactions and within network interactions in the continuation of IA and the development of its behavioural symptoms. The results from the findings involving the networks, DMN, SN, ECN and reward system, support this hypothesis (see Fig 5 ). Studies confirm the influence of all these neural networks on reward valuation, impulsivity, salience to stimuli, cue reactivity and other changes that alter behaviour towards the internet use. Many of these changes are connected to the inherent nature of the adolescent brain.

There are multiple explanations that underlie the vulnerability of the adolescent brain towards IA related urges. Several of them have to do with the inherent nature and underlying mechanisms of the adolescent brain. Children’s emotional, social, and cognitive capacities grow exponentially during childhood and adolescence [ 57 ]. Early teenagers go through a process called “social reorientation” that is characterised by heightened sensitivity to social cues and peer connections [ 58 ]. Adolescents’ improvements in their social skills coincide with changes in their brains’ anatomical and functional organisation [ 59 ]. Functional hubs exhibit growing connectivity strength [ 60 ], suggesting increased functional integration during development. During this time, the brain’s functional networks change from an anatomically dominant structure to a scattered architecture [ 60 ].

The adolescent brain is very responsive to synaptic reorganisation and experience cues [ 61 ]. As a result, one of the distinguishing traits of the maturation of adolescent brains is the variation in neural network trajectory [ 62 ]. Important weaknesses of the adolescent brain that may explain the neurobiological change brought on by external stimuli are illustrated by features like the functional gaps between networks and the inadequate segregation of networks [ 62 ].

The implications of these findings towards adolescent behaviour are significant. Although the exact changes and mechanisms are not fully clear, the observed changes in functional connectivity have the capacity of influencing several aspects of adolescent development. For example, functional connectivity has been utilised to investigate attachment styles in adolescents [ 63 ]. It was observed that adolescent attachment styles were negatively associated with caudate-prefrontal connectivity, but positively with the putamen-visual area connectivity [ 63 ]. Both named areas were also influenced by the onset of internet addiction, possibly providing a connection between the two. Another study associated neighbourhood/socioeconomic disadvantage with functional connectivity alterations in the DMN and dorsal attention network [ 64 ]. The study also found multivariate brain behaviour relationships between the altered/disadvantaged functional connectivity and mental health and cognition [ 64 ]. This conclusion supports the notion that the functional connectivity alterations observed in IA are associated with specific adolescent behaviours as well as the fact that functional connectivity can be utilised as a platform onto which to compare various neurologic conditions.

Limitations/strengths

There were several limitations that were related to the conduction of the review as well as the data extracted from the articles. Firstly, the study followed a systematic literature review design when analysing the fMRI studies. The data pulled from these imaging studies were namely qualitative and were subject to bias contrasting the quantitative nature of statistical analysis. Components of the study, such as sample sizes, effect sizes, and demographics were not weighted or controlled. The second limitation brought up by a similar review was the lack of a universal consensus of terminology given IA [ 47 ]. Globally, authors writing about this topic use an array of terminology including online gaming addiction, internet addiction, internet gaming disorder, and problematic internet use. Often, authors use multiple terms interchangeably which makes it difficult to depict the subtle similarities and differences between the terms.

Reviewing the explicit limitations in each of the included studies, two major limitations were brought up in many of the articles. One was relating to the cross-sectional nature of the included studies. Due to the inherent qualities of a cross-sectional study, the studies did not provide clear evidence that IA played a causal role towards the development of the adolescent brain. While several biopsychosocial factors mediate these interactions, task-based measures that combine executive functions with imaging results reinforce the assumed connection between the two that is utilised by the papers studying IA. Another limitation regarded the small sample size of the included studies, which averaged to around 20 participants. The small sample size can influence the generalisation of the results as well as the effectiveness of statistical analyses. Ultimately, both included study specific limitations illustrate the need for future studies to clarify the causal relationship between the alterations of FC and the development of IA.

Another vital limitation was the limited number of studies applying imaging techniques for investigations on IA in adolescents were a uniformly Far East collection of studies. The reason for this was because the studies included in this review were the only fMRI studies that were found that adhered to the strict adolescent age restriction. The adolescent age range given by the WHO (10–19 years old) [ 65 ] was strictly followed. It is important to note that a multitude of studies found in the initial search utilised an older adolescent demographic that was slightly higher than the WHO age range and had a mean age that was outside of the limitations. As a result, the results of this review are biased and based on the 12 studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Regarding the global nature of the research, although the journals that the studies were published in were all established western journals, the collection of studies were found to all originate from Asian countries, namely China and Korea. Subsequently, it pulls into question if the results and measures from these studies are generalisable towards a western population. As stated previously, Asian countries have a higher prevalence of IA, which may be the reasoning to why the majority of studies are from there [ 8 ]. However, in an additional search including other age groups, it was found that a high majority of all FC studies on IA were done in Asian countries. Interestingly, western papers studying fMRI FC were primarily focused on gambling and substance-use addiction disorders. The western papers on IA were less focused on fMRI FC but more on other components of IA such as sleep, game-genre, and other non-imaging related factors. This demonstrated an overall lack of western fMRI studies on IA. It is important to note that both western and eastern fMRI studies on IA presented an overall lack on children and adolescents in general.

Despite the several limitations, this review provided a clear reflection on the state of the data. The strengths of the review include the strict inclusion/exclusion criteria that filtered through studies and only included ones that contained a purely adolescent sample. As a result, the information presented in this review was specific to the review’s aims. Given the sparse nature of adolescent specific fMRI studies on the FC changes in IA, this review successfully provided a much-needed niche representation of adolescent specific results. Furthermore, the review provided a thorough functional explanation of the DMN, ECN, SN and reward pathway making it accessible to readers new to the topic.

Future directions and implications

Through the search process of the review, there were more imaging studies focused on older adolescence and adulthood. Furthermore, finding a review that covered a strictly adolescent population, focused on FC changes, and was specifically depicting IA, was proven difficult. Many related reviews, such as Tereshchenko and Kasparov (2019), looked at risk factors related to the biopsychosocial model, but did not tackle specific alterations in specific structural or functional changes in the brain [ 66 ]. Weinstein (2017) found similar structural and functional results as well as the role IA has in altering response inhibition and reward valuation in adolescents with IA [ 47 ]. Overall, the accumulated findings only paint an emerging pattern which aligns with similar substance-use and gambling disorders. Future studies require more specificity in depicting the interactions between neural networks, as well as more literature on adolescent and comorbid populations. One future field of interest is the incorporation of more task-based fMRI data. Advances in resting-state fMRI methods have yet to be reflected or confirmed in task-based fMRI methods [ 62 ]. Due to the fact that network connectivity is shaped by different tasks, it is critical to confirm that the findings of the resting state fMRI studies also apply to the task based ones [ 62 ]. Subsequently, work in this area will confirm if intrinsic connectivity networks function in resting state will function similarly during goal directed behaviour [ 62 ]. An elevated focus on adolescent populations as well as task-based fMRI methodology will help uncover to what extent adolescent network connectivity maturation facilitates behavioural and cognitive development [ 62 ].

A treatment implication is the potential usage of bupropion for the treatment of IA. Bupropion has been previously used to treat patients with gambling disorder and has been effective in decreasing overall gambling behaviour as well as money spent while gambling [ 67 ]. Bae et al. (2018) found a decrease in clinical symptoms of IA in line with a 12-week bupropion treatment [ 31 ]. The study found that bupropion altered the FC of both the DMN and ECN which in turn decreased impulsivity and attentional deficits for the individuals with IA [ 31 ]. Interventions like bupropion illustrate the importance of understanding the fundamental mechanisms that underlie disorders like IA.

The goal for this review was to summarise the current literature on functional connectivity changes in adolescents with internet addiction. The findings answered the primary research questions that were directed at FC alterations within several networks of the adolescent brain and how that influenced their behaviour and development. Overall, the research demonstrated several wide-ranging effects that influenced the DMN, SN, ECN, and reward centres. Additionally, the findings gave ground to important details such as the maturation of the adolescent brain, the high prevalence of Asian originated studies, and the importance of task-based studies in this field. The process of making this review allowed for a thorough understanding IA and adolescent brain interactions.

Given the influx of technology and media in the lives and education of children and adolescents, an increase in prevalence and focus on internet related behavioural changes is imperative towards future children/adolescent mental health. Events such as COVID-19 act to expose the consequences of extended internet usage on the development and lifestyle of specifically young people. While it is important for parents and older generations to be wary of these changes, it is important for them to develop a base understanding of the issue and not dismiss it as an all-bad or all-good scenario. Future research on IA will aim to better understand the causal relationship between IA and psychological symptoms that coincide with it. The current literature regarding functional connectivity changes in adolescents is limited and requires future studies to test with larger sample sizes, comorbid populations, and populations outside Far East Asia.

This review aimed to demonstrate the inner workings of how IA alters the connection between the primary behavioural networks in the adolescent brain. Predictably, the present answers merely paint an unfinished picture that does not necessarily depict internet usage as overwhelmingly positive or negative. Alternatively, the research points towards emerging patterns that can direct individuals on the consequences of certain variables or risk factors. A clearer depiction of the mechanisms of IA would allow physicians to screen and treat the onset of IA more effectively. Clinically, this could be in the form of more streamlined and accurate sessions of CBT or family therapy, targeting key symptoms of IA. Alternatively clinicians could potentially prescribe treatment such as bupropion to target FC in certain regions of the brain. Furthermore, parental education on IA is another possible avenue of prevention from a public health standpoint. Parents who are aware of the early signs and onset of IA will more effectively handle screen time, impulsivity, and minimize the risk factors surrounding IA.

Additionally, an increased attention towards internet related fMRI research is needed in the West, as mentioned previously. Despite cultural differences, Western countries may hold similarities to the eastern countries with a high prevalence of IA, like China and Korea, regarding the implications of the internet and IA. The increasing influence of the internet on the world may contribute to an overall increase in the global prevalence of IA. Nonetheless, the high saturation of eastern studies in this field should be replicated with a Western sample to determine if the same FC alterations occur. A growing interest in internet related research and education within the West will hopefully lead to the knowledge of healthier internet habits and coping strategies among parents with children and adolescents. Furthermore, IA research has the potential to become a crucial proxy for which to study adolescent brain maturation and development.

Supporting information

S1 checklist. prisma checklist..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022.s001

S1 Appendix. Search strategies with all the terms.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022.s002

S1 Data. Article screening records with details of categorized content.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022.s003

Acknowledgments

The authors thank https://www.stockio.com/free-clipart/brain-01 (with attribution to Stockio.com); and https://www.rawpixel.com/image/6442258/png-sticker-vintage for the free images used to create Figs 2 – 4 .

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• v.27(1); Jan-Jun 2018

A study on Internet addiction and its relation to psychopathology and self-esteem among college students

Manish kumar.

Department of Psychiatry, Calcutta Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Anwesha Mondal

1 Department of Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry- A Center of Excellence, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Background:

Internet use is one of the most important tools of our present-day society whose impact is felt on college students such as increased use of Internet. It brings change in mood, an inability to control the amount of time spent with the Internet, withdrawal symptoms when not engaged, a diminishing social life, and adverse work or academic consequences, and it also affects self-esteem of the students.

The main objective of this study is to explore the Internet use and its relation to psychopathology and self-esteem among college students.

Methodology:

A total of 200 college students were selected from different colleges of Kolkata through random sampling. After selection of the sample, Young's Internet Addiction Scale, Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were used to assess the Internet usage, psychopathology, and self-esteem of the college students.

Depression, anxiety, and interpersonal sensitivity were found to be correlated with Internet addiction. Along with that, low self-esteem has been found in students to be associated with possible users of Internet.

Conclusion:

Internet usage has been found to have a very strong impact on college students, especially in the areas of anxiety and depression, and at times it affected their social life and their relationship with their family.

Internet is being integrated as a part of day-to-day life because the usage of the Internet has been growing explosively worldwide. It has dramatically changed the current communication scenario, and there has been a considerable increase in the number of Internet users worldwide in the last decade. With the advancement in media and technologies, Internet has emerged as an effective tool in eliminating human geographical barriers. With the availability and mobility of new media, Internet addiction (IA) has emerged as a potential problem in young people which refers to excessive computer use that interferes with their daily life. The Internet is used to facilitate research and to seek information for interpersonal communication and for business transactions. On the other hand, it can be used by some to indulge in pornography, excessive gaming, chatting for long hours, and even gambling. There have been growing concerns worldwide for what has been labeled as “Internet Addiction,” which was originally proposed as a disorder by Goldberg[ 1 ] Griffith considered it a subset of behavioral addiction that meets the six “core components” of addiction, i.e., salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse. Increasing research has been conducted on IA.[ 2 , 3 ] With regard to IA, it has been questioned whether people become addicted to the platform or to the content of the Internet.[ 4 ] A study suggested that Internet addicts become addicted to different aspects of online use where it is differentiated between three subtypes of Internet addicts: excessive gaming, online sexual preoccupation, and e-mailing/texting.[ 5 , 6 ] According to the study, various types of IA are cyber-sexual addiction, cyber-relationship addiction, net compulsions, information overload, and computer addiction.

Based on a growing research base, the American Psychiatric Association vision is to include Internet use disorder in the appendix of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders[ 7 ] for the first time, acknowledging the problems arising from this type of addictive disorder. There has been an explosive growth in the use of Internet not only in India but also worldwide. Reports reveal that there were about 137 million Internet users in India in 2013 and further suggest India as the world's second largest in Internet use after China in the near future. According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India and Indian Market Research Bureau, out of 80 million active Internet users in urban India, 72% (58 million individuals) have accessed some form of social networking in 2013,[ 8 ] which is to touch around 420 million by June 2017.

The warning signs of IA include the following:

• Preoccupation with the Internet (thoughts about previous online activity or anticipation of the next online session)
• Use of the Internet in increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction
• Repeated, unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use
• Feelings of restlessness, moodiness, depression, or irritability when attempting to cut down the use of the Internet
• Online longer than originally intended
• Jeopardized or risked loss of significant relationships, job, educational, or career opportunities because of Internet use
• Lies to family members, therapists, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet
• Use of the Internet is a way to escape from problems or to relieve a dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of hopelessness, guilt, anxiety, and depression)
• Feeling guilty and defensive about Internet use
• Feeling of euphoria while performing Internet-based activities
• Physical symptoms of IA.

Internet or computer addiction can also cause physical discomforts such as:

• Carpal tunnel syndrome (pain and numbness in hands and wrists)
• Dry eyes or strained vision
• Backaches and neck aches; severe headaches
• Sleep disturbances
• Pronounced weight gain or weight loss.

IA results in personal, family, academic, financial, and occupational problems that are characteristic of other addictions. Impairments of real-life relationships are disrupted as a result of excessive use of the Internet. IA leads to different social, psychological, and physical disorders. The worst effects of IA are anxiety, stress, and depression. Excessive use of Internet also affects the academic achievements of students. Students addicted to Internet are more involved in it than their studies, and hence they have poor academic performance.[ 9 ] This hypothesis has been confirmed by a number of studies. Many studies examined the association between psychiatric symptoms and IA in adolescents. They found that IA is associated with psychological and psychiatric symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. In addition, several studies have shown links between Internet use and personality traits. They have found loneliness, shyness, loss of control, and low self-esteem to be associated with IA.

In a study[ 10 ] on young adolescents, it was found that about 74.5% were moderate (average) users and 0.7% were found to be addicts. Those with excessive use of Internet had high scores on anxiety, depression, and anxiety depression. In another study,[ 11 ] the prevalence of IA among Greek students was 4.5% and at-risk population was 66.1%. There were significant differences between the means of psychiatric symptoms in Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) subscales among addicted and nonaddicted students. Depression and anxiety appeared to have the most consistent correlation with IA. In addition, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, hostility/aggression, time in the Internet, and quarrel with parents are associated with IA. In another study by Paul et al ., 2015, on 596 students, 246 (41.3%) were mild addicts, 91 (15.2%) were moderate addicts, and 259 (43.5%) were not addicted to Internet use. There was no pattern of severe IA among the study group. Males, students of arts and engineering stream, those staying at home, no extracurricular activity involvement, time spent on Internet per day, and mode of accessing Internet were some of the factors significantly associated with IA pattern. In another study,[ 12 ] the prevalence of IA among 1100 respondents was 10.6%. People with higher scores were characterized as male, single, students, high neuroticism, life impairment due to Internet use, time for Internet use, online gaming, presence of psychiatric morbidity, recent suicidal ideation, and past suicidal attempts. Logistic regression showed that neuroticism, life impairment, and Internet use time were the three main predictors for IA. Compared to those without IA, the Internet addicts had higher rates of psychiatric morbidity (65.0%), suicidal ideation in a week (47.0%), lifetime suicidal attempts (23.1%), and suicidal attempt in a year (5.1%). In another study,[ 13 ] a significant relationship was found between IA and general psychopathology and self-esteem. The addiction status was assessed as risk of low level in 59 (31.89%) participants, high level in 27 (14.59%) participants, and none in 99 (53.51%) participants. A high positive correlation was found between Internet Addiction Scale (IAS) and SCL-90 subscales and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). In three different IA groups, it was found that all SCL-90 subscale averages increase and RSES subscale averages decrease as IA severity increases.

In India, use of Internet is enormous, especially in the young population. Hence, it was found necessary to study the pattern of Internet usage in young adults in Indian setting and its relationship with their mental and physical health and self-esteem. With this aim in mind, the present study has been undertaken to take a close look on this issue.

METHODOLOGY

• Sociodemographic data sheet: A self-made, semistructured, sociodemographic data sheet was prepared to collect the participant's details, details of any previous history of psychopathology, substance abuse, and details of the Internet use
• Internet Addiction Scale: The IAS[ 14 ] is a 20-item scale that measures the presence and severity of Internet dependency. This questionnaire is scored on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 to 5. The marking for this questionnaire ranges from 20 to 100, the higher the marks, the greater the dependence on the Internet
• Symptom Checklist-90-Revised: It is a multidimensional self-report symptom inventory[ 15 ] designed to measure psychopathology by quantifying nine dimensions as follows: somatization, obsession-compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychotism. In addition, there are three global indices of distress, the General Severity Index, representing the extent or depth of the present psychiatric disturbance; the Positive Symptom Total, representing the number of questions rated above 1 point; and the Positive Symptom Distress Index, representing the intensity of the symptoms. Higher scores on the SCL-90 indicate greater psychological distress. The SCL-90 was proven to hold excellent test–retest reliability, internal consistency, and concurrent validity
• Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: This scale was developed by sociologist Rosenberg[ 16 ] to measure self-esteem, which is widely used in social science research. It is a 10-item scale with items answered on a 4-point scale – from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Five of the items have positively worded statements and five have negatively worded ones. The scale measures state self-esteem by asking the respondents to reflect on their current feelings. The RSES is considered a reliable and valid quantitative tool for self-esteem assessment.

A sample of 200 students studying in various disciplines such as science, arts, and commerce were selected through random sampling from five different colleges of Kolkata.

In the initial phase of the study, a total of five colleges were selected according to the convenience of the researchers. After receiving permission from the administrative departments of respective colleges for data collection, researchers approached the participants directly during their college hours, explained the purpose and method of using the questionnaires, and also ensured the confidentiality of the data. Verbal consent was taken from the participants. Only the day scholars were included in the study. The colleges selected for collecting the data did not have free Wi-Fi services. Responses were collected from the participants having Internet connection on their android phones. First, the sociodemographic data sheet was filled up by the participants. Participants having a previous history of psychopathology and substance abuse were excluded from the study. After exclusion of the participants, the questionnaires were distributed to the included participants and after completion, they were scored and interpreted according to the tool. Confidentiality of the data has been maintained.

Sociodemographic and Internet user's characteristics

Two hundred students participated in the study. The mean age of the students was found to be 21.68 years (±2.82). Students were unmarried and were undergraduates. Majority of the students reported that they use Internet for pleasure and mainly get involved in activities of social networks and online gaming. Focusing on users' characteristics and Internet activities, it was found that the concerning age of computer use initiation was 15 years, frequency of Internet use per day in hours was 3–4 h, and frequency of Internet use per week in days was every day.

Table 1 suggests the frequency of IA on the IAS. The frequency of mild users (IAS score: 20–49) was 58 and the percentile was 29. The highest frequency and percentile found in the severe users (80–100) were 79 and 39.5, respectively. The next higher frequency found in moderate users (50–79) was 63 and the percentile was 31.5.

Frequency of Internet users

Table 2 reflects t -test results between SCL-90 and IA. The comparison of scores in all dimensions and the three global indices on SCL-90 between moderate users and severe users of Internet demonstrated that severe users of Internet had higher scores in all dimensions. Symptoms such as obsession-compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, and anxiety were associated with IA.

t -test results of psychiatric symptoms with Internet addiction

Table 3 reflects t -test results between self-esteem and IA. The comparison of scores on self-esteem between moderate users and severe users of Internet demonstrated that no significant difference was found between them.

t -test results of self-esteem with Internet addiction

Table 4 describes the regression analysis results of the association between Internet users, the ten dimensions of the SCL-90. The results indicated that students with high usage of Internet had higher level of obsession-compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, and anxiety.

Regression analysis results: IAT score

A number of studies have been conducted across the world among adults with respect to IA. This study is a preliminary step toward understanding the extent of IA among college students in India.

The random sampling method gave the opportunity to gather information from five different colleges in Kolkata. The procedure for selecting the sample has allowed the generalization of the results to the entirety of the college population.

The Internet Addiction Test has been found to be the only validated instrument which identifies the high, low, and average users of Internet. It is found from this study that 39.5% of the students were severe users of Internet. Nearly 31.5% of the students were moderate users. A number of studies reported a higher percentage of Internet-addicted youths.[ 17 , 18 ] It is of note that 29% of the students were average users of Internet. Whether these students will actually develop an addiction is difficult to be predicted. Nevertheless, the continuous exposure to Internet and a possible susceptibility to addictive behaviors may represent a possible danger. Previous studies have found similar results concerning moderate IA.[ 19 , 20 ] Students who are found to be severe users of Internet use a maximum of 3–4 h per day and they are not able to perform their responsibilities properly such as concentration on academics and developing social isolation owing to excessive use of the Internet. Users who spend a significant amount of time online experience academic, relational, economic, and occupational problems, as well as physical disorders.

The results of the present study show that severe users of Internet have shown higher psychopathological symptoms in four dimensions such as obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity and depression, anxiety, and global severity index than those with moderate users of Internet. This finding has been supported by other studies[ 21 ] where the association between psychiatric symptoms and IA using the SCL-90 scale had been examined and was found that there was a strong association between psychiatric symptoms and IA. Students with excessive use of Internet reported the presence of psychopathological problems such as obsessive-compulsive and depression. Anxiety and problems such as interpersonal sensitivity were supported by many studies.[ 10 , 19 , 20 ] In another study,[ 22 ] it was found that psychiatric features are associated with IA.

In the present study, no significant relationship has been found between moderate users and severe users of Internet and self-esteem. This is consistent with the result of a previous study.[ 10 ] It may be attributed to the fact which states that the participants' use of the Internet is not associated as a coping style or as a way of compensating some deficiencies, rather it makes them feel better, as it allows them to assume a different personality and social identity.

Logistic regression analysis showed that obsession -compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, and anxiety were associated with IA. It reflects that the higher the use of Internet, the individual is more prone to develop obsessive-compulsive symptoms such as difficulty in controlling to use Internet, repetitive thoughts about using Internet, and checking the Internet repetitively. The association between obsessive-compulsive disorder and IA supports previous findings.[ 23 ] Interpersonal sensitivity and anxiety were associated with IA as well. These findings are consistent with that of other studies.[ 23 , 24 ] It indicates that individuals with high usage of Internet are prone to become more sensitive in interpersonal relationships and also become more anxious when not using the Internet. In an article, a majority of surveys conveyed the association between pathological Internet use and depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.[ 19 ]

High Internet usage leads to psychological difficulties such as anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Severe users were more likely to be anxious and depressed than moderate users and low users. This study showed that severe users of Internet use the Internet more often when they are anxious and depressed. It is clear that the relation between Internet use, anxiety, and depression is affected by many variables. Severe users of Internet have also been associated with increases in impulsivity. Severe and average Internet users displayed significant difference on interpersonal relationships. Individuals with high use of Internet experience have a sense of criticism by others, shyness, and a sense of discomfort when criticized and can be easily hurt, have perceived lower social support, and found it easier to create new social relationships online. The consequence of exploring social support online often worsens their interpersonal problems in reality, accompanied by psychological problems such as anxiety symptoms. Severe users' Internet group has obsessive-compulsive symptoms more than average users' Internet group, where severe users' Internet group was found to be preoccupied with Internet, needs longer amounts of time online, makes repeated attempts to reduce Internet use, feels withdrawal when reducing Internet use, has time management issues, has environmental distress (family, school, work, and friends), and has deception around the time spent online, thus doing mood modification through Internet use.

Students are steered toward more Internet use because of many factors such as different cheap offers of Internet recharge by different telecom companies, blocks of unstructured time, newly experienced freedom from parental intervention, no monitoring of what they express online, facing a peer pressure in showing their identity, and gaining random instant popularity on social media platform. In other words, these users derive great satisfaction from Internet use and perceive it as a way of making up for their shortcomings, which, however, turns into a dependent relationship.

Psychopathologic features increase as the severity of IA increases as found in a study.[ 22 ] A causal relationship between psychiatric and psychological problems and IA needs to be further analyzed in order to determine whether Internet use causes psychiatric problems or exacerbates symptoms that already exist.

In the last one decade, the Internet has become an integral part of our life. In this article, an attempt has been made to study the severity of Internet use and its relation to psychopathology and self-esteem in college students. Individuals having high usage showed depression and anxiety. IA is also associated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms and interpersonal sensitivity. This result highlights the need for more clinical studies focusing on psychiatric or psychological symptoms.

This study has a few limitations too. No specific tool has been used to exclude any previous psychopathology apart from the information gathered through the sociodemographic data sheet. Accurate estimates of the prevalence of IA in college students are lacking. The study did not manage to clarify the causal relationship between IA and psychiatric symptoms. IA may precipitate psychiatric symptoms which may lead to IA. Another limitation of this study is it did not take into account whether psychiatric symptoms may preexist any IA and may create a vulnerability to addiction. The study did not allow us to differentiate the essential use of the Internet from its recreational use. Future studies can be implicated to analyze the results of the students according to different streams of subjects.

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Zonisamide ameliorated the apoptosis and inflammation in cerebellar tissue of induced alcohol addiction animal model.

1. Introduction

2. materials and methods, 2.1. animal housing and experimental design.

• Sham group: 6 cc of physiological saline was given orally to rats 3 times a day for 4 days at 8 h intervals.
• Ethanol (EtOH) group: 6 cc of EtOH was administered orally to rats 3 times a day for 4 days at 8 h intervals.
• EtOH + zonisamide group: Rats were given 6 cc of EtOH orally 3 times a day for 4 days at 8 h intervals. One hour before each EtOH administration, 100 mg/kg of zonisamide was administered to the rats once a day for 4 days.

2.2. Open Field Maze

2.3. measurement of serum tnf-α, 2.4. tissue preparation, 2.5. immunohistochemical examination, 2.6. semi-quantitative histological scoring, 2.7. functional enrichment analysis, 2.8. statistical analysis, 3.1. zonisamide elevated locomotor activities of rats, 3.2. zonisamide decreased the serum tnf-α levels, 3.3. zonisamide improved histopathology of cerebellar tissue, 3.4. zonisamide prevented apoptosis and neuroinflammation in cerebellum, 3.5. zonisamide downregulated expression of apaf-1 and tnf-α, 3.6. aa is molecularly associated with apaf-1 and tnf-α pathways, 4. discussion, 5. conclusions, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Share and Cite

Aşır, F.; Erdemci, F.; Çankırı, Z.; Korak, T.; Başaran, S.Ö.; Kaplan, Ö.; Yükselmiş, Ö.; Dönmezdil, N.; Ayaz, H.; Kaplan, Ş.; et al. Zonisamide Ameliorated the Apoptosis and Inflammation in Cerebellar Tissue of Induced Alcohol Addiction Animal Model. Life 2024 , 14 , 795. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14070795

Aşır F, Erdemci F, Çankırı Z, Korak T, Başaran SÖ, Kaplan Ö, Yükselmiş Ö, Dönmezdil N, Ayaz H, Kaplan Ş, et al. Zonisamide Ameliorated the Apoptosis and Inflammation in Cerebellar Tissue of Induced Alcohol Addiction Animal Model. Life . 2024; 14(7):795. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14070795

Aşır, Fırat, Fikri Erdemci, Zuhal Çankırı, Tuğcan Korak, Süreyya Özdemir Başaran, Özge Kaplan, Özkan Yükselmiş, Nilüfer Dönmezdil, Hayat Ayaz, Şehmus Kaplan, and et al. 2024. "Zonisamide Ameliorated the Apoptosis and Inflammation in Cerebellar Tissue of Induced Alcohol Addiction Animal Model" Life 14, no. 7: 795. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14070795

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