ArticleComprehensive psychiatry2020
Preventing problematic internet use during the COVID-19 pandemic: Consensus guidance.
Article in Comprehensive psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 269 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
269 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 812 citations in OpenAlex.
- Problematic internet use and borderline personality features: A systematic review informed by the alternative model of personality disorders.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Pooled it
- The intervention effect of physical and mental exercise on young adults internet addiction disorder: a systematic review and Bayesian model analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Problematic Media Use among Children up to the Age of 10: A Systematic Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Internet-based interventions for behavioral addictions: A systematic review.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2022Pooled it
- Eating Motives and Other Factors Predicting Emotional Overeating during COVID-19 in a Sample of Polish Adults.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy for Problematic Gaming in Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2026Article
- Post-pandemic shocks and non-suicidal self-injury risk in working-age adults: differential pathways via psychological distress and social support.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Understanding Emerging Adult Workers' Problematic Internet Use Before and During the Coronavirus Pandemic: Roles of Personality Traits, Online Activities, and Mental Health Symptoms.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2026Article
- Mobile Internet Use and Obesity Among Chinese Adults.Journal of prevention (2022) · 2026Article
- Social support mediates the associations of Information and Communication Technology use with mental health in Chinese COVID-19 patients during hospital quarantine.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Problematic Digital Behaviors, Procrastination, and Psychological Well-Being: An Integrative Explanatory Model of Happiness in Young Adults.Alpha psychiatry · 2026Article
- Article
- Cannabis consumption and problematic internet use: analysis of a free-text response collected through a self-reported online questionnaire.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- COVID-19, sense of control, and the rise of addictive behaviors: a study in Poland.Postepy psychiatrii neurologii · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of Digital Addiction and Health: A New Challenge for Modern Medicine.Cureus · 2025Review
- Perceived Stress, Loneliness, and Resilience in Relation to Game Addiction Among Adolescents in Bangkok During the COVID-19 Pandemic Transition Period.Journal of child and adolescent psychiatric nursing : official publication of the Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nurses, Inc · 2025Article
- Swipes vs. Strides: How Mobile Media Use Shapes Children's Gross and Fine Motor Skills.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Forms of interventions for problematic usage of the internet: A scoping review.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2025Article
- Managing Dentophobia in the Digital Age: The Role of Internet Addiction and Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Digitalization, Psychological Well-Being, and the Third-Level Digital Divide: Survey Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
209 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
31 authors at 20 institutions in 18 countries.
Funding
Abstract
As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments have introduced steps such as spatial distancing and "staying at home" to curb its spread and impact. The fear resulting from the disease, the 'lockdown' situation, high levels of uncertainty regarding the future, and financial insecurity raise the level of stress, anxiety, and depression experienced by people all around the world. Psychoactive substances and other reinforcing behaviors (e.g., gambling, video gaming, watching pornography) are often used to reduce stress and anxiety and/or to alleviate depressed mood. The tendency to use such substances and engage in such behaviors in an excessive manner as putative coping strategies in crises like the COVID-19 pandemic is considerable. Moreover, the importance of information and communications technology (ICT) is even higher in the present crisis than usual. ICT has been crucial in keeping parts of the economy going, allowing large groups of people to work and study from home, enhancing social connectedness, providing greatly needed entertainment, etc. Although for the vast majority ICT use is adaptive and should not be pathologized, a subgroup of vulnerable individuals are at risk of developing problematic usage patterns. The present consensus guidance discusses these risks and makes some practical recommendations that may help diminish them.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.