PSY3631

Screen
Addiction
What characterises
‘Addiction’?

2
Is the fear that
children and
adolescents spend
too much time
online a legitimate
concern or not?

3
○Not so long ago, the issue
was parents worrying that
their teens were spending
too much time in front of the
television.
○Could this be another form
of the intergenerational
disagreement about how
teens should spend their
time?
Do you think ‘screen or
internet addiction’
exists?
What would the
characteristics of an internet
addict be?
 A functional method of assessing
The Internet the presence of dependency on
Addiction Test the internet through criteria that
(Young, 1998) defined addictive behaviours.
To classify as dependent on the
internet, one has to meet the
diagnostic criteria related to
difficulties in impulse-control
which in turn bring about
difficulties in the individual’s life
because of the inability to control
internet use.

6
Adapted the DSM-IV criteria for pathological gambling:

• using the internet as a form

of escape or to enhance
• inability to control internet one’s mood
use
• lying or deceiving others
• neglecting daily activities regarding one’s Internet use
• behavioural and cognitive
salience

• experiencing negative
consequences due to
overuse

7
 Internet Addiction Test

○ 1. How often do you find that you stay on-line longer than you intended?
○ 2. How often do you neglect household chores to spend more time on-line?
○ 3. How often do you prefer the excitement of the Internet to intimacy with your partner?
○ 4. How often do you form new relationships with fellow on-line users?
○ 5. How often do others in your life complain to you about the amount of time you spend on-line?
○ 6. How often do your grades or school work suffers because of the amount of time you spend on-line?
○ 7. How often do you check your email before something else that you need to do?
○ 8. How often does your job performance or productivity suffer because of the Internet?
○ 9. How often do you become defensive or secretive when anyone asks you what you do on-line?
○ 10. How often do you block out disturbing thoughts about your life with soothing thoughts of the Internet?

Young, 1998
 Internet Addiction Test

○ 11. How often do you find yourself anticipating when you will go on-line again?
○ 12. How often do you fear that life without the Internet would be boring, empty, and joyless?
○ 13. How often do you snap, yell, or act annoyed if someone bothers you while you are on-line?
○ 14. How often do you lose sleep due to late-night log-ins?
○ 15. How often do you feel preoccupied with the Internet when off-line, or fantasize about being on-line?
○ 16. How often do you find yourself saying “just a few more minutes” when online?
○ 17. How often do you try to cut down the amount of time you spend on-line and fail?
○ 18. How often do you try to hide how long you’ve been on-line?
○ 19. How often do you choose to spend more time on-line over going out with others?
○ 20. How often do you feel depressed, moody or nervous when you are off-line, which goes away once you are back
on-line?

Young, 1998
○ Can we really use a survey that asks whether internet use interferes
with life activities?
○ Are there any items that are no longer relevant?
○ The questionnaire was formulated pre-social networking sites, pre-
smart phones, pre-web2.0
○ Could we speak of deficient self-regulation that may or may not
necessarily harmful?

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Self-Regulation

○ The individual is an active agent where media consumption is

concerned, and not just thoughtlessly following the effects of
reinforcements (LaRose & Eastin, 2004).
○ Self-regulation is based on the process of self-monitoring, through
which the individual judges that behaviour and reacts accordingly
(Bandura, 1991).
○ A problematic use of the internet could be the result of a deficient
type of self-regulation, where the individual no longer practices self-
control.

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Internet Gaming Disorder APA (2013)
The diagnosis would require experiencing five or more of these symptoms within a year.
○ Preoccupation with gaming
○ Withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away or not possible (sadness, anxiety,
irritability)
○ Tolerance, the need to spend more time gaming to satisfy the urge
○ Inability to reduce playing, unsuccessful attempts to quit gaming
○ Giving up other activities, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities due to gaming
○ Continuing to game despite problems
○ Deceiving family members or others about the amount of time spent on gaming
○ The use of gaming to relieve negative moods, such as guilt or hopelessness
○ Risk, having jeopardized or lost a job or relationship due to gaming
DSM-5: Gaming must cause
“significant impairment or
distress” in several aspects of a
person's life.
Is this the same as problems
related to the general use of
the internet, online gambling,
and the use of social media or
smartphones?

13
○ Weinstein and Lejoyeux (2010) reviewed literature related to internet
addiction and found a prevalence that ranged from 1.5% to 8.2%.
○ Excessive internet use was often correlated with other psychosocial
problems, but this finding does not imply that excessive use causes
such problems. It can be argued that the pre-existing problems can
also give rise to excessive internet use.
○ Gentile (2009) found that 8.5% of those between 8 and 18 years had
pathological patterns of videogame playing. These gamers were more
likely to have attention-related problems. Again, despite this
correlation, identifying which of the pathological playing or other
problems occurs first could not be determined.
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Role of parenting styles in relation to children’s
internet addiction (Leung & Lee, 2011, p.126)
1. Preference for online: addicts are more comfortable with computers than with people, more
confident socializing online than offline, and feel being treated better and safer relating to others
in online relationships than in face-to-face.
2. Loss of control: adolescents feel the need to use the internet more and more to achieve
satisfaction; feel loss, restless, depressed, and irritable if they cannot go online; and have
concealed the extent of their internet use.
3. Preoccupation: adolescents spend a good deal of time online, go online for longer than
intended, and lose track of time online.
4. Negative life consequences: adolescents find that excessive use of the internet has caused
trouble such as missing class, work and social events, and feel worthless offline.
5. Withdrawal: Addicts use the internet to talk with others when they feel isolated, lonely, and
down.

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Stricter
parenting
was found
to be less
related to
addiction.

16
What could be
problematic with this
contextualisation?
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Adolescence

○ Fears It is not surprising

○ Anxieties that adolescents
○ Identity issues turn to social
○ Numerous physical, media given the
cognitive, and social enticements and
changes possibilities it
○ Continuous self- offers!
exploration
The issue with ‘Addiction’

“The opposite of
addiction is not
sobriety.
The opposite of
addiction is
connection.”
Johann Hari

https://youtu.be/PY9DcIMGxMs
Children’s excessive internet use conceptualised
as an ‘addiction’ can be problematic:
• The focus of the addiction model is too clinical.
• The risk of harm related to excessive use can be
overestimated.
• Could be a social representation pertaining to adults,
who anchor this excessive use into what they can
relate to and represent this as an addiction?

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Terminology

Internet Excessive Problematic Maladaptive

Addictive Use Internet Internet
Disorder Use Use
LaRose et al. Media consumption becomes
(2003): Redefined automatic and habitual, but
internet addiction not necessarily develops to be
as deficient self- harmful to be classified as an
regulation. addiction.
It is debatable that the
existence of an addiction can
be grasped through “a survey
item that asks whether
internet usage interferes with
other life activities” (p. 245).
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Livingstone et al. Instead of addiction, the
(2011) notion of ‘excessive’ internet
use where “the internet
displaces children’s social or
personal needs in a way that
they cannot control”, (p. 29)
seems to be more appropriate
for this discussion.

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1234 children aged
9-16 years
EU Kids Online (MT)
Methodology

Participants from 20
state, Church and
independent schools
in the 6 demographic
regions of Malta
Average Time Spent Online Daily
Most Common Activities
The most common activities carried out
everyday by students are those related to
communication and entertainment
○ 79% watch video clips
○ 72% listen to music online
○ 68% chat with friends and family
○ 54% played games online
○ 46% visit social networking sites
Percentages are higher among older
children. For example 92% of 15-16 year
olds use a mobile or smartphone everyday
in contrast to 54% of children aged 9-10
years.
Excessive Internet Use
The American Paediatric Association formulated the famous 2
x 2 recommendation about screen time for families: no screen
time below the age of 2 and no more than 2 hours daily for
older children.
Today:
Is this
realistic?
Do you
agree?
Disagree?
Why?

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 Screen Time - 2016 Revisions

○Personalised Family Media Plan

○Parent as Media Mentor
○Infants and toddlers should be ‘unplugged’
○For 2-5 year olds, less than 1 hr/day of screen time
○6+ media use plan, with limits to ensure screen time
doesn’t displace sleeping, playing, conversation and
physical activities.
Context of Screen Time

○ There are several problematic issues with advice being given to

parents about managing screen-time: Inconsistent Advice, based on
inconclusive evidence or sensationalist news.
○ A recommendation to shift from focusing solely on the amount of time
spent using digital devices to consider the context of screen time use,
the content accessed and their social connections.
Smahel et al., (2012)

○The conceptualisation of excessive use measured

through just time is not necessarily useful.
Instead, the socio-demographic and
psychological characteristics of the individual,
together with the internet use characteristics
bring about excessive internet use and the
negative consequences related to it.
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Context of Screen Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYk33qgWtAc
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Context of Screen Time:

1. Is my teen physically healthy and sleeping enough?

2. Is my teen connecting socially with family and friends (in any form)?
3. Is my teen engaged with and achieving in school?
4. Is my teen pursuing interests and hobbies (in any form)?
5. Is my teen having fun and learning in their use of digital media?

(Blum-Ross & Livingstone, 2016, p.30)

○When the answers to these questions are in the
affirmative, parents are recommended to review the
grounds for their fears.
○By contrast, the problematic use of digital devices
needs to be addressed when parents realise that
children are having problems with these aspects of
their lives.

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 Analysed internet use,
The EU ADB.net psychosocial characteristics and
research administered the Internet
(Tsitsika et al., Addiction Test and other tests
related to gambling to a sample
2012)
of over 13,000 adolescents from
7 European countries.
It was found that 1.2% of
participants exhibited ‘Internet
Addictive Behaviour’ and 12.7%
were considered at risk for this
kind of behaviour.
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Dysfunctional Internet Behaviour (DIB)

○The participants that exhibited ‘Internet Addictive Behaviour’

and those considered at risk for this kind of behaviour.
○Males, older adolescents and those from middle and lower
socio-economic status had a higher incidence of DIB.
○This was not a homogenous group and there were both
adaptive and maladaptive types of internet use.

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Adaptive and Maladaptive Use (Tsavela et al., 2015).

1. Need satisfaction: complementary or compensatory?

2. Impact of internet use: interferes or facilitates social and
interpersonal relations?
3. The ability to regulate oneself or the lack thereof?
While adaptive internet use promotes one's development, the
learning of useful skills and the ability to participate in
everyday life, maladaptive use hinders development and does
not facilitate skill acquisition

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 Dysfunctional Internet Behaviour

Stuck Online Juggling It All

- excessive internet use - balancing everyday
- neglect other areas of life activities and internet
- specific online activities use
- negative effects of overuse - online & offline presence
- difficulty to reduce - stress within a busy
schedule

Killing Boredom
Coming Full Cycle - offline perceived as
- excessive online pattern “boring”
- progressive and adaptive - lacking alternative
change and self- activities online is a time
correction filler
- reaction to boredom
Excessive
internet use is
not always a
useful criterion
for classifying
online behaviour
as maladaptive.

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The Meaning of Problematic Situations Online
(Smahel & Wright, 2014)

Children quite often mentioned in the interviews problems related

to excessive use of the internet. Many admitted spending too much
time online, and thought this may affect them negatively in two
different ways. On the one hand, it may cause them anxiety
related to their need to be permanently connected and pay
attention to new messages on their mobiles or on SNSs. On the
other hand, they may feel guilty because they were aware that
they should be spending more time on some necessary activities –
such as schoolwork – or on some more gratifying activities.
You are always connected, but sometimes I put the mobile away,
because it can get too much when everybody…well not everybody
but…if you are speaking to someone and you don’t feel like talking
any more it’s not like…chatting on FB or Tuenti, you can’t just
disconnect! So I pretend I haven’t heard it, or I put it on silent
mode. (girl, 14, Spain)

It’s sort of like...yes, I know. It’s sort of, like, addictive really.
It’s...like, once you start talking to people you want, like, someone
to talk to different people, and stuff like that. It’s, like, you have to
update your status all the time, so... (boy, 13–14, UK)

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○ Children reported cases when they were able to see connections between health
and internet usage. What children perceived as problematic is, first, excessive use
of the internet. They perceived it as an “addiction” such as when they couldn’t
stop playing games or get offline. Many cases perceived as addiction were linked
with games, SNSs, or just globally, with the internet. They also mentioned
examples of being online “non-stop” and using their smartphone at school.
And I wanted to see what is it about, how you play it, what is it...and like this, I
couldn’t give it up. It was winter, I liked it. I like to see how it snows, I like to make
snowmen and I just couldn’t quit. My mom was calling me to dinner, I was telling
her 5 more minutes, and on and on, it kept on going until she came to get me.
(boy, 10, Romania)

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○ Some children did not mention situations in which they spent a lot of
time online as “addiction.” Instead, they reflected that time passed
them by while they were online. They felt “bothered” or “annoyed”
that they spent too much time online.

Yes, there are times that you are on the internet and the time just flies
and you think, ‘Oh no, an hour has passed and I was here the whole
time.’ But I think that if you don’t want to be on the internet, you can
do other things. (girl, 14, Spain)

45
Sources of awareness: Own Experience

○Most of the children interviewed talked about excessive use of

the internet based on their own experience. For instance, it was
very common to hear them say how time had flown by while
surfing on the internet.

Interviewer: Have you ever felt you were a little addicted or not?
Girl: Ahm…no. It was just…sometimes I…go to the computer, I have a full battery…
That has happened, yeah. And then suddenly I go and check how much battery I
have left and there’s only 17 minutes and I start thinking: ‘Was I on the computer
for such a long time?’ (girl, 11, Portugal)

46
Source of Awareness: Parents

○Parents called the children’s attention to what they regarded as

excessive use.

Interviewer: How do you evaluate your parents’ view?

Girl: I think they‘re right. But I feel I need to go online for some time.
Interviewer: Why do you think that they are right in telling you off?
Girl: Because it distracts me from homework, and I get sucked into it for hours in
front of a screen without interacting with the rest of the family. (girl, 14, Greece)

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Excessive Use and Age

○Children in all age groups talked about excessive use of the

internet, even among the youngest ones, referring to
excessive use and its consequences for their everyday life
activities:
Interviewer: What exactly do you mean? Because I ‘read’ it in a different way...
Boy: Well, sometimes I sit in front of the PC and don’t even listen to what others
say!… Once my brother was talking to me and [was distracting me]…but I didn’t
want to drop what I was doing, so [showing a gesture of attracting one’s attention]
I pushed him away and threw him on a chair! (boy, 9, Greece)

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Excessive Use and Age

○Children’s perception of risks related to excessive use

changes with their age – while the eldest ones talked often
about addiction and even described it as a traumatic
situation in their lives, the youngest ones, when referring to
it, often mentioned the harm caused to their eyes:

We shouldn’t spend a lot of time – first of all it’s because of your eyes. Secondly
you need to study as well and not just spend time on the computer. Apart from
that, the more time you spend online, the greater the chance that someone you do
not know talks to you. (boy, 10, Malta)

49
Coping Measures Related to Excessive Internet Use

○ Although aware of the existence of the problem “out there,” some children chose to
exercise no restrictions, as they didn’t perceive their own behaviour as problematic.
○ Other times, even if they acknowledged their use of the internet or mobile devices as
problematic, they chose to ignore the problem.
○ Self-awareness is the turning point before they start doing something about the way they
use the internet.
○ Other times, physical constraints, such as sore eyes and headaches, prompted the
stopping (boys, 11–13, Italy). Among the self-reliant measures, self-monitoring for signs
of addiction (girl, 13, Romania) and self-imposed restrictions were reported. Stopping the
behaviour was a common solution, sometimes supplemented by technical measures,
such as disabling the account (girls, 14–15, Romania). Other times they needed an extra
push, such as placing bets with their friends, in order to stay on course.

50
Coping Measures Related to Excessive Internet Use

○ Another useful strategy was making resolutions to change the behaviour, to

prevent it from happening in the future, and engaging in other activities,
such as playing sport or simply going outside, away from the screen, to
consciously curb the addictive behaviour (boy, 15, Czech Republic; boys,
14–16, Spain)
○ Finally, when self-reliant measures fail, children reported instances of
parental intervention. For example, one Portuguese girl (14–16)
reported that she was addicted to Facebook, and when her parents
banned her from going online, she felt “she was going to die”;
however, she was glad she got over the addiction eventually.

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Time Children (9-12) spend online
(Farrugia, 2020)

30

25 24.2
22.6 22.8
21.3
20 19.4

15 14.1
11.9
10.6 9.9
10 9.3
8
5.8 6.6 6.5
5 3.1
0.7
0
< 30 mins < 1 hr < 2 hrs < 3 hrs < 4 hrs <5 hrs > 5 hrs Always Online
Weekdays Weekend
How do Children Understand Excessive Use?
(Farrugia, 2020)

Children aged 9-12 discussing how they make sense of online

risks. Few mentioned internet excessive internet use.
Who defines excessive?

Too much time on the internet I stay on the sofa, not to hurt
hurts your eyes my back
EU Kids Online 2020: Survey results from 19 countries
(Smahel et al., 2020)

In the survey we asked children aged 12–16 five questions corresponding to the criteria of
excessive internet use defined in Griffith’s (2000) research:
• Salience: when the specific online activity becomes the most important activity in the child’s
life;
• Mood modification: a subjective experience influenced by the online activity, such as using
online activities to improve the mood or feel better;
• Tolerance: the need to increase the amounts of the online activity to achieve the former
effects;
• Withdrawal symptoms: unpleasant feelings, states and/or physical states after termination of
the online activity;
• Conflict: disagreements between the child and those around them (such as parents or friends)
or within the individual’s own mind associated with the online activity;
• Relapse: when children tried to reduce the amount spent on the online activity but failed.

54
In the PAST YEAR, how often have these things
happened to you?
Table 9: Excessive internet use: Children aged 12–16 who answered at least weekly or daily

I have gone I have felt I have caught I have spent I have tried
without bothered myself using less time than unsuccessfully
eating or when I cannot the internet I should with to spend less
sleeping be on the although I’m either family, time on the
because of the internet not really friends or internet
internet interested doing
schoolwork
because of the
time I spent
on the
internet
MT 6 12 13 19 20
Average 4 10 11 13 10

55
Children experience excessive use if all the five criteria
are present:

○ All the criteria of excessive internet use are experienced by a minority of children
– between 0% (Italy and Slovakia) and 2.1% (Croatia and Malta).
○ Between 2% (Italy, Lithuania and Slovakia) and 8% (Switzerland, Croatia and
Romania) of the children experience three or four excessive internet use criteria.
○ The majority of the children in all of the countries do not experience any of the
criteria of excessive internet use. The number of children who did not report any
criteria of problematic use ranged between 64% (Switzerland) and 92%
(Slovakia).
○ This finding corresponds with findings from the EU Kids Online 2010 survey, in
which the proportion of children who experience all criteria of excessive internet
use also ranged between 0% and 2%.
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Gender and Excessive Use

○ In most countries, there are almost no gender differences (i.e., the difference is
equal or less than 5 percentage points).
○ The gendered pattern is not consistent across the countries. In some of the
countries, more boys experience some of the criteria than girls. In Estonia, this
difference is 8 percentage points, in Norway 7 percentage points, and in Romania,
10 percentage points. On the other hand, in France, more girls experience some
of the criteria for excessive internet use (a difference of 7 percentage points).

57
Age and Excessive Use

○ In the majority of the countries, more older children than younger children report
some criterion of internet excessive use, differences ranging between 6 (Estonia,
Flanders) and 21 (Switzerland) percentage points.
○ This pattern is similar to findings from the survey in 2010, where more older
children also experience at least one criterion of excessive internet use. This is
probably because older children use the internet more.
○ In Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Slovakia, there are no substantial age
differences. However, these minor differences are particularly present in countries
with a low prevalence of children experiencing some of the criteria of excessive
internet use, so these differences should be interpreted with caution.

58
Points to Consider
○ The majority of children in most of the participating countries do not experience any of the criteria
for excessive internet use. Only a small number of children meet all five criteria.
○ The findings may be in contrast with the views of some parents, caregivers and teachers who
would argue that the percentages are too low and that many more children use the internet ‘too
much’. However, ‘too much’ is subjective. Such perceptions may vary in different families as they
are also part of the family environment. There is no clear answer as to how much is ‘too much’.
The study focuses on the impact that internet use has on children’s lives. This impact is important
for measuring excessive internet use because it is what determines the severity of the issue.
Whether a parent perceives that a child spends ‘too much time on the internet’ and whether this
has a serious impact on their life may be two different things in most families.
○ Parents, caregivers and teachers often overestimate the problem of excessive internet use or
online addiction. The phrase ‘addicted to the internet’ became a buzzword and the common
language use grew far apart from its clinical meaning. It is recommended that parents are
educated about the clinical meaning of the word ‘addiction’ and its associated symptoms.

59
Thank
You
Lorleen Farrugia

[email protected]

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=
en&authuser=1&user=SVzeagEAAAAJ

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lo
rleen_Farrugia