SynthesisBMC psychology2026
The relationship between internet addiction and psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInternet addiction (IA) has emerged as a growing concern among children and adolescents and has been increasingly linked to a variety of psychiatric disorders. However, the strength and consistency of these associations remained unclear due to methodological differences across studies. This meta-analysis aimed to systematically evaluate the relationship between internet addiction and common psychiatric disorders in youth populations.
methodsA systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO for studies published between January 2015 and June 2025. Studies were included if they assessed IA using validated tools and reported its association with psychiatric disorders among individuals aged ≤ 18 years. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I
resultsA total of 22 studies with 36,432 participants were included. Internet addiction was significantly associated with depression (OR = 2.35; 95% CI: 1.95-2.82), anxiety (OR = 2.11; 95% CI: 1.72-2.60), ADHD (OR = 2.78; 95% CI: 2.09-3.69), and OCD (OR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.31-2.81). Heterogeneity was moderate to high for most outcomes. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses confirmed the stability of results across geographic regions, study design, and assessment tools.
conclusionThe findings supported the clinical relevance of assessing problematic internet use in child and adolescent psychiatric practice. Integrating routine screening into mental health evaluations may facilitate identify at-risk individuals earlier.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.