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Teenagers who spend too much time on social media have complained that they feel like they can’t pay attention to more important things like homework or time with loved ones.
A new study may have captured it objectively, finding that for teenagers diagnosed with Internet addiction, signaling between brain regions important for controlling attention, working memory and more was disrupted.
The findings are from a review, published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Mental Health, of 12 neuroimaging studies of several hundred teenagers aged 10 to 19 between 2013 and 2022.
“Behavioral addiction caused by excessive Internet use has become a source of increasing concern since the last decade,” the authors wrote in the study.
The criteria for the clinical diagnosis of Internet addiction in the included studies were “one’s persistent preoccupation with the Internet, withdrawal symptoms when leaving the Internet, and sacrificing relationships (for) time to go online for a long period of time (p .eg 12 months),” said Max Chang, the study’s first author and field case manager at the nonprofit Peninsula Family Service in San Francisco, via email. “The pattern of behavior results in significant harm or disruption to the individual’s life.”
Given the difference in the brain state of adolescents compared to adults, the authors felt that understanding the effects of Internet addiction on the brains of adolescent participants was vital.
When participants clinically diagnosed with Internet addiction engaged in activities driven by the brain’s executive function network—behaviors that require attention, planning, decision-making, and impulse control—those brain regions showed significant disruptions in their ability to worked together, compared to those of peers without Internet addiction. The authors suggest that such signaling changes may suggest that these behaviors may become more difficult to perform, potentially affecting development and well-being.
“While this paper presents a straightforward systematic review that suggests there is a link between functional brain connectivity and Internet ‘addiction,’ there are a number of fundamental limitations to be aware of that are critical to any interpretation,” Dr. David Ellis. a behavioral scientist at the University of Bath’s Institute for Digital Safety and Behaviour, said in a press release.
“Cause and effect cannot be inferred from these studies,” said Ellis, who was not involved in the study. “Second, the focus on functional connectivity comes at the expense of any criticism of the primary measure of interest. Specifically, Internet ‘addiction’, which was originally coined by (psychiatrist) Ivan K. Goldberg in 1995 as a joke.
“Today, the conceptualization and measurement of Internet ‘addiction’ is not even universally accepted and certainly cannot be diagnosed using the survey instruments used in the studies included as part of the review,” Ellis added. “Similarly, the sheer amount of activities the Internet allows immediately makes this definition somewhat redundant.”
In the United States, Internet addiction is not included in the DSM-V – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the US. However, it does list online gaming disorders. All the studies the authors reviewed were all conducted in Asia and consisted of predominantly male participants. China was the first country to declare internet addiction a “public health crisis”.
“Such definitions, despite being widely criticized, also have a tendency to shift the focus away from the actual harm the Internet is causing and toward a conclusion that suggests removing technology from people’s lives will be beneficial,” Ellis said. “Strong evidence to suggest that removing the Internet brings any tangible benefit has not been.”
Additionally, all studies were conducted at one point in time, said Dr. Eva Telzer, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who was not involved in the study.
“Given that there is no longitudinal data,” Telzer said, “it is quite possible that teenagers who have fundamental differences in brain connectivity patterns are more vulnerable to developing Internet addiction.”
If Internet addiction is what caused the disruption in participants’ brain signaling, the reason may have to do with the neural pathways associated with addiction, said Dr. Smita Das, an addiction psychiatrist and clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford Medicine in California. Das was not involved in the study.
The functional patterns of connectivity in the participants’ brains are, in fact, consistent with those observed in people with substance addictions, said Dr. Caglar Yildirim, an associate professor of computer science in the Khoury College of Computer Science at Northeastern University in Boston. Yildirim was not involved in the study.
“Overall, the mechanisms underlying Internet addiction are more like an evolving model than a finished picture,” Chang said. “Much of the causality between what happens in the brain and what manifests through behavior is still being understood. So far, observation using biomarkers such as functional connectivity helps bridge this gap.”
If you’re wondering if your teen struggles with Internet addiction, behaviors like withdrawing from relationships are a telltale sign, Chang said.
“Similar to substance and gambling disorders, Internet addiction rewires the brain, making it harder to resist Internet-related stimuli,” he added. “However, unlike gambling or substance use, the Internet is an important part of our lives. Balancing the benefits and risks of the Internet is an area that is very important to adolescent development.”
Find what’s keeping your teen off the Internet and help him do more, Yildirim suggested.
You can also talk to your child’s doctor to see if behavioral strategies might work, Das suggested. Therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and motivational interviewing are helpful. The latter, which originated in the field of addiction treatment, is a counseling method that aims to increase the patient’s motivation and commitment to behavior change by eliciting and exploring the patient’s own reasons for wanting change.
In severe cases, a psychiatrist may suggest medication to treat certain types of technology addiction, she added.
READ MORE: How to tell if you have phone addiction – and 12 ways to treat it
“In addition to treating Internet addiction, there may be other underlying mental health conditions that need attention,” Das said. “Finally, some of the preventative measures we recommended include limiting screen time and breaks and avoiding the punishment movement.”
Addictions to technology have become widespread enough for the American Psychiatric Association to include it as a topic in its 2023-2024 presidential initiative, said Das, the immediate past chair of the APA’s council on addictions.
“Because we know families are desperate for help and confused about the science,” Das said, “we’ve developed several resources, many of which are on the APA website.”
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