Methods of internet addiction screening for teens and young adults in Primary Care

Introduction: Considering the generalized Internet access as well as the electronic communication, teens and young adults are at risk for a new type of dependency, the Internet addiction, with a high impact on the personal and professional life, as well as on the school performance. Objective: The c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBulletin of Integrative Psychiatry Vol. 27; no. 1; p. 41
Main Authors Slanina, Ana-Maria, Petroaie, Antoneta Dacia, Nasaudean, Claudia, Bacusca, Agnes Iacinta, Ungureanu, Monica, Boanca, Mihaela, Popa, Elena, Coman, Adorata-Elena
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Institute of Psychiatry Socola, Iasi 01.03.2021
Subjects
Analysis
Family medicine
Medical screening
Methods
Pathological Internet Use
Psychiatrists
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Summary:Introduction: Considering the generalized Internet access as well as the electronic communication, teens and young adults are at risk for a new type of dependency, the Internet addiction, with a high impact on the personal and professional life, as well as on the school performance. Objective: The current paper aims to introduce in the clinical practice a validated diagnosis tool for this new condition, allowing the proper identification of the problem cases for counselling and specific approach by the Family Physician and the Child Psychiatrist. Method: The IAT (Internet Addiction Test), created by Kimberly Young, was selected and applied on two small groups of patients from a Family Medicine practice (Group A) and a Child Psychiatry practice (Group B) from an urban setting, city of Iasi. Results: Accordingly to the test standard interpretation, the patients have been divided in: average user (20-49p)--28 cases (70%), occasional or frequent problem-presenting user (50-79p)--11 cases (27,5%), significant problem-presenting user (80-100p)--1 case (2,5%). The group of patients presenting to the Child Psychiatry practice for other issues had a higher incidence of Internet addiction problems. Conclusions: The Family Physician must screen for Internet-associated problems to discover early stage excessive users. The validated screening tools are useful in the current practice and the specialty counselling is extremely important for this specific population. KEYWORDS: Internet, screening test, teenagers, young adults.
ISSN:1453-7257