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Meta-Analysis
. 2019 Sep 9;11(9):2151.
doi: 10.3390/nu11092151.

Problematic Internet Use as a Predictor of Eating Disorders in Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study

Francisco-Javier Hinojo-Lucena  1 , Inmaculada Aznar-Díaz  1 , María-Pilar Cáceres-Reche  1 , Juan-Manuel Trujillo-Torres  1 , José-María Romero-Rodríguez  2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Problematic Internet Use as a Predictor of Eating Disorders in Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study

Francisco-Javier Hinojo-Lucena et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Problematic Internet use (PIU) has begun to be linked to the development of certain eating disorders. This uncontrolled use of the Internet is mainly found in the student population. The purposes of this paper were to determine PIU-related eating disorders in students from a systematic review of the literature and to analyze the incidence of PIU in eating disorders through a meta-analysis of the literature. We used two electronic databases (Web of Science and Scopus) from inception to June 2019. The systematic literature review was based on fixed inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 12 studies were identified (systematic review) and 10 studies for meta-analysis, which included 16,520 students. Different eating disorders were associated with PIU: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, food preoccupation, loss of control eating, and dieting. Furthermore, meta-analysis confirmed that PIU is a predictor of eating disorders in students. The groups of students with PIU presented a higher rate in the presence of eating disorders, these differences being significant. Finally, this study showed empirical evidence on the link between PIU and eating disorders. The need for prevention in childhood and adolescence is highlighted.

Keywords: Internet addiction; eating disorders; meta-analysis; students; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart according PRISMA Declaration.
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Figure 2
Number of articles per year.
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Figure 3
Forest plot of meta-analysis with continuous data.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of meta-analysis with dichotomous data.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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