Comprehensive Psychiatry (Oct 2022)
Advances in problematic usage of the internet research – A narrative review by experts from the European network for problematic usage of the internet
- Naomi A. Fineberg,
- José M. Menchón,
- Natalie Hall,
- Bernardo Dell'Osso,
- Matthias Brand,
- Marc N. Potenza,
- Samuel R. Chamberlain,
- Giovanna Cirnigliaro,
- Christine Lochner,
- Joël Billieux,
- Zsolt Demetrovics,
- Hans Jürgen Rumpf,
- Astrid Müller,
- Jesús Castro-Calvo,
- Eric Hollander,
- Julius Burkauskas,
- Edna Grünblatt,
- Susanne Walitza,
- Ornella Corazza,
- Daniel L. King,
- Dan J. Stein,
- Jon E. Grant,
- Stefano Pallanti,
- Henrietta Bowden-Jones,
- Michael Van Ameringen,
- Konstantinos Ioannidis,
- Lior Carmi,
- Anna E. Goudriaan,
- Giovanni Martinotti,
- Célia M.D. Sales,
- Julia Jones,
- Biljiana Gjoneska,
- Orsolya Király,
- Beatrice Benatti,
- Matteo Vismara,
- Luca Pellegrini,
- Dario Conti,
- Ilaria Cataldo,
- Gianluigi M. Riva,
- Murat Yücel,
- Maèva Flayelle,
- Thomas Hall,
- Morgan Griffiths,
- Joseph Zohar
Affiliations
- Naomi A. Fineberg
- Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Hertfordshire, UK; School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK; School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Corresponding author at: Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Hertfordshire, UK.
- José M. Menchón
- Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, University of Barcelona, Cibersam, Barcelona, Spain
- Natalie Hall
- Centre for Health Services and Clinical Research, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
- Bernardo Dell'Osso
- Luigi Sacco University Hospital, Psychiatry 2 Unit, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; ''Aldo Ravelli'' Center for Nanotechnology and Neurostimulation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Centro per lo studio dei meccanismi molecolari alla base delle patologie neuro-psico-geriatriche'', University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Matthias Brand
- General Psychology: Cognition and Center for Behavioral Addiction Research (CeBAR), University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany
- Marc N. Potenza
- Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Child Study, Yale University School of Medicine, and Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, USA, New Haven, USA; Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, Wethersfield, USA; Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, USA
- Samuel R. Chamberlain
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, UK; Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK
- Giovanna Cirnigliaro
- Luigi Sacco University Hospital, Psychiatry 2 Unit, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Christine Lochner
- SAMRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
- Joël Billieux
- Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Zsolt Demetrovics
- Centre of Excellence in Responsible Gaming, University of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, Gibraltar; Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- Hans Jürgen Rumpf
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Translational Psychiatry Unit, Research Group S:TEP (Substance use and related disorders: Treatment, Epidemiology and Prevention) University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Astrid Müller
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany
- Jesús Castro-Calvo
- Department of Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatments, University of Valencia, Spain
- Eric Hollander
- Autism and Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Program, Psychiatric Research Institute at Montefiore-Einstein, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- Julius Burkauskas
- Laboratory of Behavioral Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Vyduno al. 4, 00135 Palanga, Lithuania
- Edna Grünblatt
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Susanne Walitza
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Ornella Corazza
- Department of Clinical Pharmacological and Biological Science, University of Hertfordshire
- Daniel L. King
- College of Education, Psychology, & Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
- Dan J. Stein
- SAMRC Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders, Dept of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town
- Jon E. Grant
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago
- Stefano Pallanti
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, New York, USA; INS Istituto di Neuroscienze, Florence, Italy
- Henrietta Bowden-Jones
- Cambridge University, UCL and NHS National Centre for gaming Disorders
- Michael Van Ameringen
- Deptartment of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
- Konstantinos Ioannidis
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK; Department of International Health, Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
- Lior Carmi
- Post-Trauma Center, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Israel; Reichman University, The Data Science Institution, Herzliya, Israel
- Anna E. Goudriaan
- Amsterdam UMC, Department of Psychiatry, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research & Arkin, the Netherlands
- Giovanni Martinotti
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, G. D'Annunzio University, Chieti, Italy
- Célia M.D. Sales
- Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Center for Psychology at University of Porto (CPUP), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Julia Jones
- School of Health and Social Work, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
- Biljiana Gjoneska
- Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje, MK, Macedonia
- Orsolya Király
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- Beatrice Benatti
- Luigi Sacco University Hospital, Psychiatry 2 Unit, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; ''Aldo Ravelli'' Center for Nanotechnology and Neurostimulation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Matteo Vismara
- Luigi Sacco University Hospital, Psychiatry 2 Unit, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; ''Aldo Ravelli'' Center for Nanotechnology and Neurostimulation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Luca Pellegrini
- Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Hertfordshire, UK; School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
- Dario Conti
- Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Hertfordshire, UK; Luigi Sacco University Hospital, Psychiatry 2 Unit, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Ilaria Cataldo
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
- Gianluigi M. Riva
- School of Information and Communication Studies, University College Dublin
- Murat Yücel
- Brain Park, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, and Monash Biomedical Imaging Facility, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Maèva Flayelle
- Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Thomas Hall
- Independent researchers
- Morgan Griffiths
- Independent researchers
- Joseph Zohar
- Post-Trauma Center, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Israel
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 118
p. 152346
Abstract
Global concern about problematic usage of the internet (PUI), and its public health and societal costs, continues to grow, sharpened in focus under the privations of the COVID-19 pandemic. This narrative review reports the expert opinions of members of the largest international network of researchers on PUI in the framework of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action (CA 16207), on the scientific progress made and the critical knowledge gaps remaining to be filled as the term of the Action reaches its conclusion.A key advance has been achieving consensus on the clinical definition of various forms of PUI. Based on the overarching public health principles of protecting individuals and the public from harm and promoting the highest attainable standard of health, the World Health Organisation has introduced several new structured diagnoses into the ICD-11, including gambling disorder, gaming disorder, compulsive sexual behaviour disorder, and other unspecified or specified disorders due to addictive behaviours, alongside naming online activity as a diagnostic specifier. These definitions provide for the first time a sound platform for developing systematic networked research into various forms of PUI at global scale. Progress has also been made in areas such as refining and simplifying some of the available assessment instruments, clarifying the underpinning brain-based and social determinants, and building more empirically based etiological models, as a basis for therapeutic intervention, alongside public engagement initiatives.However, important gaps in our knowledge remain to be tackled. Principal among these include a better understanding of the course and evolution of the PUI-related problems, across different age groups, genders and other specific vulnerable groups, reliable methods for early identification of individuals at risk (before PUI becomes disordered), efficacious preventative and therapeutic interventions and ethical health and social policy changes that adequately safeguard human digital rights. The paper concludes with recommendations for achievable research goals, based on longitudinal analysis of a large multinational cohort co-designed with public stakeholders.
