Teenagers addicted to the internet have higher mental health risk

Posted by Doug Hanchard @ December 4, 2009 @ 11:44 AM

Categories: Australia, China, Education, HHS, Healthcare

Tags: Health Care, Therapy, i-GENERATION, Internet, Doug Hanchard

Technology like the Internet is now being studied by health experts around the world. The i-GENERATION is becoming a key focus area surrounding mental health. In a Globe & Mail article, it published findings of a study done by the University of Norte Dame Australia suggesting:

The students ranked as moderately addicted to the Internet were 2.4 times more likely to have self-injured one to five times in the past 6 months than students without an addiction, said Dr. Lawrence Lam from the University of Notre Dame Australia.

There are plenty of things to be addicted to: gambling, drugs, alcohol, even your job. Many of these addictions however occur at an age over 18. The variety of different social activities that teenagers have available has not changed such a sports activities, music, and other group activities and they are still very popular. Teenagers that did not participate in these activities had few options prior to the Internet to participate in interactive environments on their own terms.

Another key element significantly different prior to the explosion of the Internet has been the parent-child relationship and communication of problems that occur. Parents often do not have an understanding of where their children are surfing the Internet. That’s beginning to change yet clearly this study suggests more needs to be done. The question of how will be the next debate. Products that filter or control what parents let their children see on the Internet aren’t the only solution — and likely increase the potential for addiction.

In a search of the U.S. FDA website, I could find no recommended therapy solutions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services see Internet addiction as a increasing problem. Many argue that this problem is not new, only the medium. It could be suggested that we have simply replaced or augmented Television addiction with the power of the Internet.

There’s a counter argument that suggests that the Internet is addictive to all age categories. Our own Zack Whittaker responded to a question I posed to him about I-GENERATION addiction with;

The Internet already is as addictive; however we only really notice the dependence once our contact with the web is cut. Most would go to Google Maps before we went to an atlas; in fact many wouldn’t know how to access content offline in the now not-so usual fashion. Our dependence in always being connected needs to be laxed once in a while to gain perspective on the wider world to ensure we have an offline backup plan when access to the web inevitably fails from time to time.

Perhaps we all need therapy…

Are you or your friends addicted to social networking? Does social networking affect you and your friends?

A survey by SciJourner of 51 youth, ages 21 and under, finds that nearly a third say they are “addicted” to social networking, but only 8% of the teens and young adults surveyed feel that social networking affects their relationships with other people. The survey also showed that younger teens, ages 14 and 15, use the social networks Facebook and Bebo more than teens at the age of 17.

The survey was conducted by handing out questionnaires to Youth Exploring Science teens at the Saint Louis Science Center and to youth in the community, or posting as a wall on Facebook and Bebo.

Approximately equal number of males and female took the survey. Of those who responded, 37% are under 16. Most of the teens used Facebook, but 30% preferred Bebo and 20% were on both Bebo and Facebook.

How much time are teens spending on social networks? For this survey we defined addicted as checking their Facebook or Bebo page more than 3 times a day. Around a third of the 51 teens fell into that category, spending 30 minutes to 5 hours per day on social networking.

One interesting aspect of social networks is that they have a Teens can be spot where you can put if you are in a relationship—married, single etc. Teens in a really good relationship will say that they are “married”. “Complicated” means that you might be in a relationship, but it is not working that well.

Around 57% of the teens reported that they were in some kind of relationship. Why do so many of the teen’s relationship statuses say something other than single?

“Being married does not have anything to do with how many friends I have; I just network,” says Maurice M. Jr., age16. “If a girl wanted to add me that was attractive then I would add her, but that did not mean I have chat with her.” Does he fight with his “wife” on Facebook? “No. What my wife and I have going on it not for the public to know about,” says Maurice.

Do teens whose status is single look for relationships on social networks? Says Mark C., age 17, “No, I’m not really into that vibe, I want to find someone who I can ‘kick it’. I don’t want some random person on the Internet.” But he adds, “Sometimes, to my close friends, I do vent about being single on the computer, but not for the public to see.” Mark adds “Just because my status says single does not affect the amount of friends I have. “

“The only reason my relationship status is complicated is because one minute my boyfriend and I are arguing and the next we are happy,” states Niklya M., age 17. “When I put complicated I started to get a nice amount of boys that tried to add me, it was wired. But when we were in a relationship, I didn’t have that much friend requests.” She says that “This is not a permanent status, but for now I need [my boyfriend] to understand that we don’t have to be together.”

Most of the people surveyed say that social networks do not affect their relationships because they do not allow it. Others feel that because it’s a social network things are going to happen.