Network Analysis of Internet Addiction Symptoms Among a Clinical Sample of Japanese Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Dis
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Network Analysis of Internet Addiction Symptoms Among a Clinical Sample of Japanese Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder Tomoya Hirota1 · Eoin McElroy2 · Ryuhei So3,4
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract In the present study, we employed network analysis that conceptualizes internet addiction (IA) as a complex network of mutually influencing symptoms in 108 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to examine the network architecture of IA symptoms and identify central/influential symptoms. Our analysis revealed that defensive and secretive behaviors and concealment of internet use were identified as central symptoms in this population, suggesting that mitigating these symptoms potentially prevent the development and/or maintenance of IA in adolescents with ASD. Providing adolescents and their caregivers with psychoeducation on the role of central symptoms above in IA can be a salient intervention. Doing so may facilitate nonconflicting conversations between them about adolescents’ internet use and promote more healthy adolescents’ internet use behavior. Keywords Internet addiction · Behavioral addiction · Autism spectrum disorder · Network analysis · Centrality
Introduction Internet addiction (IA) has been gaining recognition and popularity in research and clinical practice due to its impact on individuals’ wellbeing and health, including mental health (Kuss and Lopez-Fernandez 2016; Spada 2014). Although terminologies defining IA remain somewhat inconsistent (problematic internet use, pathological internet use, for example: Kuss and Lopez-Fernandez 2016), this condition is generally conceptualized as behavior addiction, Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04714-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Tomoya Hirota [email protected] 1
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, 401 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA, USA
2
Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
3
Department of Psychiatry, Okayama Psychiatric Medical Center, Okayama, Japan
4
Health Promotion and Human Behavior, Graduate School of Medicine / School of Public Health, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
featuring six core components: salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse (Griffiths 2005). Prevalence estimates of IA in a general population are reported to be approximately 4% (Durkee et al. 2012; Kaess et al. 2014; Mak et al. 2014). Existing cross-sectional studies indicate that IA is associated with challenges in interpersonal relationships, decreased well-being, poor academic performance, and mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression (Yücens and Üzer 2018). Recent studies have reported higher prevalence of IA in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than that estim
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