Internet Use Habits, Parental Control and Psychiatric Comorbidity in Young Subjects with Asperger Syndrome

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 50; no. 1; pp. 171 - 179
• Main Authors: Coskun, Murat, Hajdini, Aydan, Alnak, Alper, Karayagmurlu, Ali
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.01.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Addictions; Addictive Behavior; Adolescent; Adolescents; Anxiety Disorders; Asperger Syndrome; Asperger Syndrome - epidemiology; Asperger's syndrome; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Behavior Problems; Behavior, Addictive - epidemiology; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Between-subjects design; Care and treatment; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child Rearing; College Faculty; Comorbidity; Computer Use; Computers and children; Construct Validity; Depression (Psychology); Depression - epidemiology; Emotional Problems; Factor Analysis; Female; Habits; Health aspects; Humans; Individual Characteristics; Internalization; Internalizing disorders; Internet; Male; Mental depression; Mental Disorders; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Parent-Child Relations; Parental control; Parenting; Parents; Parents & parenting; Pediatrics; Psychiatry; Psychological Evaluation; Psychology; Public Health; Schizophrenia; School Phobia; Semi Structured Interviews; Severity; Social aspects; Turkey - epidemiology; Validity; Youth; Turkey; Autism; Parental control; Internet; Asperger; Comorbidity
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-04243-2

We aimed to investigate the characteristics of internet use in a clinical sample of 60 young subjects with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and its relationship with parental control and psychiatric comorbidity. Of the participants, 38.3% were classified as having problematic internet use (PIU). Subjects with normal internet use (NIU), compared to the subjects with PIU, had significantly higher scores on parental control scale. While there was no significant difference in terms of any comorbid diagnoses between subjects with NIU versus PIU, severity of depressive symptoms was found to predict higher scores on Young Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS). In conclusion, PIU may be common in AS and may be associated with internalizing problems, while parental control may protect against it.