ArticleBMC psychiatry2020
Problematic internet use in children and adolescents: associations with psychiatric disorders and impairment.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
51 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 145 citations in OpenAlex.
- The relationship between internet addiction and psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Screen Time and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Risk, Usage, and Addiction.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of digital addiction on youth health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2025Pooled it
- Caught in the Web of the Net? Part I: Meta-analyses of Problematic Internet Use and Social Media Use in (Young) People with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2025Pooled it
- Problematic Internet Use and Family Rules Among Children and Adolescents.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2026Article
- Predictors of Problematic Internet Use Among Gifted Children: The Role of Health Literacy and Health-Promoting Lifestyle Beliefs.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Predictors of Weekday and Weekend Screen Time in a Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Sample (Aged 12-18 Years).Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Subjective happiness moderates the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes and excessive digital media use among adolescents.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents: Technical Report.Pediatrics · 2026Review
- Digital Addiction Scale for Children (DASC): Age, Gender, Sleep and Emotional Correlates.Europe's journal of psychology · 2026Article
- Effects of a Dance-Based Intervention on Affective States and Self-Esteem in Adolescents Receiving Psychiatric Care: Differences Between Youth with and Without Problematic Internet Use-A Pilot Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- A latent profile transition analysis of internet addiction for rural adolescents and its associations with emotional and interpersonal problems.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Co-occurrence Patterns and Transitions in Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms and Problematic Smartphone Use: The Roles of Social Support and Self-control.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2026Article
- From loneliness to internet addiction in adolescents: disentangling the within-person mediating role of rumination via RI-CLPM.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Profiling Teen Social Networking Sites Users: Developmental, Identity, and Psychological Issues.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2025Article
- Overlap and Differences of Autism and ADHD: Digital Phenotyping of Movement and Communication During Development.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Evolving diagnosis and comorbidities of gaming disorder: Insights from psychiatry departments in five Chinese hospitals from 2018 to 2023.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2025Observational
- Problematic Use of the Internet and Cybervictimization: An Empirical Study with Spanish Adolescents.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Internal and external factors influencing Gen Z wellbeing.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Effects of Machiavellianism on Cyberbullying Perpetration: Serial Mediating Role of Perceived Social Support and Problematic Internet Use Among University Students.Psychology in Russia : state of the art · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundProblematic internet use (PIU) is an increasingly worrisome issue, as youth population studies are establishing links with internalizing and externalizing problems. There is a need for a better understanding of psychiatric diagnostic profiles associated with this issue, as well as its unique contributions to impairment. Here, we leveraged the ongoing, large-scale Child Mind Institute Healthy Brain Network, a transdiagnostic self-referred, community sample of children and adolescents (ages 5-21), to examine the associations between PIU and psychopathology, general impairment, physical health and sleep disturbances.
methodsA total sample of 564 (190 female) participants between the ages of 7-15 (mean = 10.80, SD = 2.16), along with their parents/guardians, completed diagnostic interviews with clinicians, answered a wide range of self-report (SR) and parent-report (PR) questionnaires, including the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and underwent physical testing as part of the Healthy Brain Network protocol.
resultsPIU was positively associated with depressive disorders (SR: aOR = 2.43, CI: 1.22-4.74, p = .01; PR: aOR = 2.56, CI: 1.31-5.05, p = .01), the combined presentation of ADHD (SR: aOR = 1.91, CI: 1.14-3.22, p = .01; PR: n.s.), Autism Spectrum Disorder (SR: n.s.; PR: aOR = 2.24, CI: 1.34-3.73, p < .001), greater levels of impairment (SR: Standardized Beta = 4.63, CI: 3.06-6.20, p < .001; PR: Standardized Beta = 5.05, CI: 3.67-6.42, p < .001) and increased sleep disturbances (SR: Standardized Beta = 3.15, CI: 0.71-5.59, p = .01; PR: Standardized Beta = 3.55, CI: 1.34-5.75, p < .001), even when accounting for demographic covariates and psychiatric comorbidity.
conclusionsThe association between PIU and psychopathology, as well as its impact on impairment and sleep disturbances, highlight the urgent need to gain an understanding of mechanisms in order to inform public health recommendations on internet use in U.S. youth.
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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.