Pathological Internet Use and Risk-Behaviors among European Adolescents

Tony Durkee¹, Vladimir Carli², Birgitta Floderus³, Camilla Wasserman^{4

5}, Marco Sarchiapone^{6

7}, Alan Apter⁸, Judit A Balazs^{9

10}, Julio Bobes¹¹, Romuald Brunner¹², Paul Corcoran¹³, Doina Cosman¹⁴, Christian Haring¹⁵, Christina W Hoven^{16

17}, Michael Kaess¹⁸, Jean-Pierre Kahn¹⁹, Bogdan Nemes²⁰, Vita Postuvan²¹, Pilar A Saiz²², Peeter Värnik²³, Danuta Wasserman²⁴

Affiliations

¹ National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-17177, Sweden. tony.durkee@ki.se.
² National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-17177, Sweden. vladimir.carli@ki.se.
³ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-17177, Sweden. birgitta.floderus@ki.se.
⁴ Department of Medicine and Health Science, University of Molise, Campobasso 86100, Italy. camillaw@gmail.com.
⁵ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. camillaw@gmail.com.
⁶ Department of Medicine and Health Science, University of Molise, Campobasso 86100, Italy. marco.sarchiapone@gmail.com.
⁷ National Institute for Migration and Poverty, Via San Gallicano, Roma 25/A, Italy. marco.sarchiapone@gmail.com.
⁸ Feinberg Child Study Centre, Schneider Children's Medical Centre, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 49202, Israel. asapter@gmail.com.
⁹ Vadaskert Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital, Budapest 1021, Hungary. judit.agnes.balazs@gmail.com.
¹⁰ Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest 1064, Hungary. judit.agnes.balazs@gmail.com.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, Center for Biomedical Research in the Mental Health Network (CIBERSAM), University of Oviedo, Oviedo 33006, Spain. bobes@uniovi.es.
¹² Section for Disorders of Personality Development, Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre of Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg 69115, Germany. romuald.brunner@uni-heidelberg.de.
¹³ National Suicide Research Foundation, Western Rd., Cork, Ireland. pcorcoran@ucc.ie.
¹⁴ Department of Clinical Psychology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Str. Victor Babes Nr. 8, Cluj-Napoca 400000, Romania. doina_octaviancosman@yahoo.com.
¹⁵ Research Division for Mental Health, University for Medical Information Technology (UMIT), Klagenfurt, Innsbruck 6060, Austria. Christian.haring@tilak.at.
¹⁶ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. ch42@cumc.columbia.edu.
¹⁷ Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. ch42@cumc.columbia.edu.
¹⁸ Section for Disorders of Personality Development, Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre of Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg 69115, Germany. Michael.kaess@uni-heidelberg.de.
¹⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire de Nancy, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy 54500, France. jp.kahn@chu-nancy.fr.
²⁰ Department of Clinical Psychology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Str. Victor Babes Nr. 8, Cluj-Napoca 400000, Romania. nemes_bogdan@yahoo.com.
²¹ Slovene Center for Suicide Research, Andrej Marušič Institute, University of Primorska, Koper 6000, Slovenia. vita.postuvan@upr.si.
²² Department of Psychiatry, Center for Biomedical Research in the Mental Health Network (CIBERSAM), University of Oviedo, Oviedo 33006, Spain. pilaralejandra.saiz@gmail.com.
²³ Centre of Behavioral and Health Sciences, Estonian-Swedish Mental Health & Suicidology Institute, Tallinn University, Tallinn 10120, Estonia. peeterv@suicidology.ee.
²⁴ National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-17177, Sweden. danuta.wasserman@ki.se.

PMID: 27005644
PMCID: PMC4808957
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph13030294

Pathological Internet Use and Risk-Behaviors among European Adolescents

Tony Durkee et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016.

. 2016 Mar 8;13(3):294.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph13030294.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-17177, Sweden. tony.durkee@ki.se.
² National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-17177, Sweden. vladimir.carli@ki.se.
³ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-17177, Sweden. birgitta.floderus@ki.se.
⁴ Department of Medicine and Health Science, University of Molise, Campobasso 86100, Italy. camillaw@gmail.com.
⁵ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. camillaw@gmail.com.
⁶ Department of Medicine and Health Science, University of Molise, Campobasso 86100, Italy. marco.sarchiapone@gmail.com.
⁷ National Institute for Migration and Poverty, Via San Gallicano, Roma 25/A, Italy. marco.sarchiapone@gmail.com.
⁸ Feinberg Child Study Centre, Schneider Children's Medical Centre, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 49202, Israel. asapter@gmail.com.
⁹ Vadaskert Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital, Budapest 1021, Hungary. judit.agnes.balazs@gmail.com.
¹⁰ Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest 1064, Hungary. judit.agnes.balazs@gmail.com.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, Center for Biomedical Research in the Mental Health Network (CIBERSAM), University of Oviedo, Oviedo 33006, Spain. bobes@uniovi.es.
¹² Section for Disorders of Personality Development, Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre of Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg 69115, Germany. romuald.brunner@uni-heidelberg.de.
¹³ National Suicide Research Foundation, Western Rd., Cork, Ireland. pcorcoran@ucc.ie.
¹⁴ Department of Clinical Psychology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Str. Victor Babes Nr. 8, Cluj-Napoca 400000, Romania. doina_octaviancosman@yahoo.com.
¹⁵ Research Division for Mental Health, University for Medical Information Technology (UMIT), Klagenfurt, Innsbruck 6060, Austria. Christian.haring@tilak.at.
¹⁶ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. ch42@cumc.columbia.edu.
¹⁷ Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. ch42@cumc.columbia.edu.
¹⁸ Section for Disorders of Personality Development, Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre of Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg 69115, Germany. Michael.kaess@uni-heidelberg.de.
¹⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire de Nancy, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy 54500, France. jp.kahn@chu-nancy.fr.
²⁰ Department of Clinical Psychology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Str. Victor Babes Nr. 8, Cluj-Napoca 400000, Romania. nemes_bogdan@yahoo.com.
²¹ Slovene Center for Suicide Research, Andrej Marušič Institute, University of Primorska, Koper 6000, Slovenia. vita.postuvan@upr.si.
²² Department of Psychiatry, Center for Biomedical Research in the Mental Health Network (CIBERSAM), University of Oviedo, Oviedo 33006, Spain. pilaralejandra.saiz@gmail.com.
²³ Centre of Behavioral and Health Sciences, Estonian-Swedish Mental Health & Suicidology Institute, Tallinn University, Tallinn 10120, Estonia. peeterv@suicidology.ee.
²⁴ National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-17177, Sweden. danuta.wasserman@ki.se.

PMID: 27005644
PMCID: PMC4808957
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph13030294

Abstract

Risk-behaviors are a major contributor to the leading causes of morbidity among adolescents and young people; however, their association with pathological Internet use (PIU) is relatively unexplored, particularly within the European context. The main objective of this study is to investigate the association between risk-behaviors and PIU in European adolescents. This cross-sectional study was conducted within the framework of the FP7 European Union project: Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE). Data on adolescents were collected from randomized schools within study sites across eleven European countries. PIU was measured using Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire (YDQ). Risk-behaviors were assessed using questions procured from the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS). A total of 11,931 adolescents were included in the analyses: 43.4% male and 56.6% female (M/F: 5179/6752), with a mean age of 14.89 ± 0.87 years. Adolescents reporting poor sleeping habits and risk-taking actions showed the strongest associations with PIU, followed by tobacco use, poor nutrition and physical inactivity. Among adolescents in the PIU group, 89.9% were characterized as having multiple risk-behaviors. The significant association observed between PIU and risk-behaviors, combined with a high rate of co-occurrence, underlines the importance of considering PIU when screening, treating or preventing high-risk behaviors among adolescents.

Keywords: Internet addiction; SEYLE; adolescents; multiple risk-behaviors; pathological Internet use; risk-behavior; unhealthy lifestyles.

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Figures

**Figure 1**
Box and whisker plot of multiple risk-behaviors among adaptive Internet users (AIU), maladaptive Internet users (MIU) and pathological Internet users (PIU) stratified by gender *.

**Figure 2**
Linear relationship between the number of hours online per day and the number of risk-behaviors among AIU, MIU and PIU groups *.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Pathological Internet Use and Risk-Behaviors among European Adolescents

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Pathological Internet Use and Risk-Behaviors among European Adolescents

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