Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Apr 1:7:63.
doi: 10.4103/2008-7802.179511. eCollection 2016.

Trends in Scientific Literature on Addiction to the Internet, Video Games, and Cell Phones from 2006 to 2010

Xavier Carbonell  1 , Elena Guardiola  2 , Héctor Fuster  1 , Frederic Gil  1 , Tayana Panova  1
Affiliations

Trends in Scientific Literature on Addiction to the Internet, Video Games, and Cell Phones from 2006 to 2010

Xavier Carbonell et al. Int J Prev Med. .

Abstract

Background: The goals of the present work were to retrieve the scientific articles published on addiction to the Internet, video games, and cell phones and to analyze the pattern of publications in this area (who is doing the research, when and where it is taking place, and in which journals it is being published), to determine the research being conducted as well as to document geographical trends in publication over time in three types of technological addictions: Internet, cell phones, and video games.

Methods: Articles indexed in PubMed and PsycINFO between 2006 and 2010 related to the pathological use of Internet, cell phones, and video games were retrieved. Search results were reviewed to eliminate articles that were not relevant or were duplicates.

Results: Three hundred and thirty valid articles were retrieved from PubMed and PsycINFO from 2006 to 2010. Results were compared with those of 1996-2005. The year with the highest number of articles published was 2008 (n = 96). The most productive countries, in terms of number of articles published, were China (n = 67), the United States (n = 56), the United Kingdom (n = 47), and Taiwan (n = 33). The most commonly used language was English (70.3%), followed by Chinese (15.4%). Articles were published in 153 different journals. The journal that published the most articles was Cyberpsychology and Behavior (n = 73), followed by Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology (n = 27) and International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (n = 16). Internet was the area most frequently studied, with an increasing interest in other areas such as online video games and cell phones.

Conclusions: The number of publications on technological addictions reached a peak in 2008. The scientific contributions of China, Taiwan, and Korea are overrepresented compared to other scientific fields such as drug addiction. The inclusion of Internet Gaming Disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5(th) Edition could change the publication trends in the technological addiction area and underline the relevance of this upcoming disorder in dissatisfaction with life in general.

Keywords: Cell phone addiction; Internet addiction; research; scientific publications; video games addiction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of articles published each year on addiction to the Internet, video games, and cell phones (1996–2010)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of articles published on addiction to the Internet, video games, and cell phones in the periods 1996–2005 and 2006–2010 by geographical areas
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Griffiths MD. Technological addictions. Clin Psychol Forum. 1995;76:14–9.
    1. Carbonell X, Guardiola E, Beranuy M, Bellés A. A bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on internet, video games, and cell phone addiction. J Med Libr Assoc. 2009;97:102–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kuss DJ, Griffiths MD, Karila L, Billieux J. Internet addiction: A systematic review of epidemiological research for the last decade. Curr Pharm Des. 2013;1:397–413. - PubMed
    1. Young K. Internet addiction over the decade: A personal look back. World Psychiatry. 2010;9:91. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Billieux J, Maurage P, Lopez-Fernandez O, Kuss DJ, Griffiths MD. Can disordered mobile phone use be considered a behavioral addiction? An update on current evidence and a comprehensive model for future research. Curr Addict Rep. 2015;2:156–62.