S02-03 - Internet Addiction and Comorbidities

Abstract

Objectives

Several studies show, that there exist different diagnosed psychological concomitant diseases with internet addiction. In order to point out the different kinds and frequentness of comorbidities with Internet addiction the Anton Proksch Institut Vienna and the University Mainz - Ambulanz für Spielsucht started a combined, compareable research project, which should show the similarities and differences of comorbidities of the interned addicted patients of both institutions.

Methods

In order to become comparable results of both Institutes, the same inquiry methods were used. For the diagnostic of Internet addiction the Scale for the Assessment of Computergame-Addiction (ACA-S), developed by the university medical center of Mainz, is used. In order to be able to cover a broad spectrum on possibly arising concomitant diseases, standardised surveytools are used from different, relevant areas of application. Therefore the Adult Attachement Scale (AAS), the Cambridge Depersonalisation Scale (CDS-9), the d2 (Test of attention), the subscale “Social Insecurity” of EDI-2 (Eating Disorder Inventory-2), the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the NEO Five Factors Inventory (NEO-FFI), the Symptom Checklist 90R (SCL 90-R), the Sensation Seeking Scale V (SSS-V) and the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS-k) were used.

Results

First current results of the investigation of comorbidities with internet addiction show a frequent arise of social anxiety, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which are in both samples remarkably.

Conclusions

The study illustrates, that the patients, which suffer from internet addiction disorder, often show comorbidities, which should be considered in the therapeutic work with Internet-addicted patients.