Problematic Use of the Internet in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Susanne Walitza300 enrolled

Overview

Pathological internet use is a blanket term for problematic behavior types (e.g. uncontrolled gaming, cyber pornography, cyber mobbing and excessive use of social media): all perpetrated through the internet. There is little documentation or research on interdependencies/interplay between problematic internet and/or media use and child-adolescent disturbances. Very few clinical examples of syndromes like attention deficiency/hyperactivity (ADHS), anxiety disorder or affective disturbances associated with pathological media/internet use, or gaming, are found in literature.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

300

Conditions

Substance Use Disorders

Interventions

screening questionnaire

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 8 YearsMax age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * male and female patients ages from 8 - 18 years * All study participants or their legal representative have given written permission for their experiences to be documented in the study. Exclusion Criteria: * Inability to understand explanations and the questionnaire, whether linguistic or cognitative

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Symptoms severity of problematic internet and media use

The clinician screening questionnaire (PUI) contains 9 items designed to assess severity of problematic internet and media use of obsessive and compulsive in children and adolescents.The test uses a 4-point scale to rate severity of problematic internet and media use. Higher score means a worse outcome.

Time frame: 3 months

Central Contacts

Susanne Walitza, Prof. Dr. med. Dipl.-Psych.

CONTACT

+41 43 499 26 26 susanne.walitza@puk.zh.ch

Renate Drechsler, Prof. Dr. phil.