Characteristics and treatment response of self-identified problematic Internet users in a behavioral addiction outpatient clinic

Gabriel Thorens; Sophia Achab; Joël Billieux; Yasser Khazaal; Riaz Khan; Edward Pivin; Vishal Gupta; Daniel Zullino

doi:10.1556/jba.3.2014.008

Journal of Behavioral Addictions

Volume/Issue:: Volume 3: Issue 1

Characteristics and treatment response of self-identified problematic Internet users in a behavioral addiction outpatient clinic

Authors:

Dr Gabriel Thorens

Dr Gabriel Thorens CAAP, University Hospital of Geneva, 70C rue Grand-Pré, 1202, Genève, Switzerland

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Sophia Achab

Sophia Achab CAAP, University Hospital of Geneva, 70C rue Grand-Pré, 1202, Genève, Switzerland

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Joël Billieux

Joël Billieux Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Science Research Institute, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

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Yasser Khazaal

Yasser Khazaal CAAP, University Hospital of Geneva, 70C rue Grand-Pré, 1202, Genève, Switzerland

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Riaz Khan

Riaz Khan CAAP, University Hospital of Geneva, 70C rue Grand-Pré, 1202, Genève, Switzerland

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Edward Pivin

Edward Pivin Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

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Vishal Gupta

Vishal Gupta Department of Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, New York, USA

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, and

Daniel Zullino

Daniel Zullino CAAP, University Hospital of Geneva, 70C rue Grand-Pré, 1202, Genève, Switzerland

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Pages:: 78–81

Online Publication Date:: 03 Feb 2014

Publication Date:: 01 Mar 2014

Article Category:: Research Article

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1556/jba.3.2014.008

Keywords:: Internet; problematic; usage; addiction; gaming

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Abstract

Aims

Controversies remain about the validity of the diagnosis of problematic Internet use. This might be due in part to the lack of longitudinal naturalistic studies that have followed a cohort of patients who self-identify as having Internet-related problems.

Methods

This retrospective study included 57 patients who consulted the Geneva Addiction Outpatient Clinic from January 1, 2007, to January 1, 2010. Patients underwent an initial clinical psychiatric evaluation that included collection of data on socio-demographics, method of referral, specific Internet usage, psychiatric diagnosis, and Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) scores. Treatment consisted of individual psychotherapeutic sessions.

Results

Of these patients, 98% were male and 37% were 18 years or younger. Most patients were online gamers (46% playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games). The mean IAT score was 52.9 (range 20–90). Sixty-eight percent of patients had a co-morbid psychiatric diagnosis, with social phobia being the most prevalent (17.8%). Patients who remained in treatment (dropout rate 24%) showed an overall improvement of symptoms: 38.6% showed significant or average improvement on their CGI score, 26.3% showed minimal improvement, and 14% showed no change.

Conclusions

Our results support the hypothesis that there are specific types of Internet use, with online gaming mainly affecting young male patients. As Internet addiction is not yet an official diagnosis, better instruments are needed to screen patients and to avoid false-negative and false-positive diagnoses. Successful care should integrate the treatment of co-morbid symptoms and involve families and relatives in the therapeutic process.

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Journal of Behavioral Addictions

Print ISSN:: 2062-5871

Online ISSN:: 2063-5303

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Dr. Zsolt Demetrovics
Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University
Address: Izabella u. 46. H-1064 Budapest, Hungary
Phone: +36-1-461-2681
E-mail: jba@ppk.elte.hu

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2023
Web of Science
Journal Impact Factor	6.6
Rank by Impact Factor	Q1 (Psychiatry)
Journal Citation Indicator	1.59
Scopus
CiteScore	12.3
CiteScore rank	Q1 (Clinical Psychology)
SNIP	1.604
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SJR index	2.188
SJR Q rank	Q1

Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Publication Model	Gold Open Access
Submission Fee	none
Article Processing Charge	990 EUR/article for articles submitted after 30 April 2023 (850 EUR for articles submitted prior to this date)
Regional discounts on country of the funding agency	World Bank Lower-middle-income economies: 50% World Bank Low-income economies: 100%
Further Discounts	Corresponding authors, affiliated to an EISZ member institution subscribing to the journal package of Akadémiai Kiadó: 100%.
Subscription Information	Gold Open Access

Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Language	English
Size	A4
Year of Foundation	2011
Volumes per Year	1
Issues per Year	4
Founder	Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem
Founder's Address	H-1053 Budapest, Hungary Egyetem tér 1-3.
Publisher	Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible Publisher	Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN	2062-5871 (Print)
ISSN	2063-5303 (Online)

Senior editors

Editor(s)-in-Chief: Zsolt DEMETROVICS

Assistant Editor(s): Csilla ÁGOSTON

Associate Editors

Stephanie ANTONS (Universitat Duisburg-Essen, Germany)
Joel BILLIEUX (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
Beáta BŐTHE (University of Montreal, Canada)
Matthias BRAND (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany)
Ruth J. van HOLST (Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands)
Daniel KING (Flinders University, Australia)
Gyöngyi KÖKÖNYEI (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Ludwig KRAUS (IFT Institute for Therapy Research, Germany)
Marc N. POTENZA (Yale University, USA)
Hans-Jurgen RUMPF (University of Lübeck, Germany)

Editorial Board

Sophia ACHAB (Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland)
Alex BALDACCHINO (St Andrews University, United Kingdom)
Judit BALÁZS (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Maria BELLRINGER (Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand)
Henrietta BOWDEN-JONES (Imperial College, United Kingdom)
Damien BREVERS (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
Wim VAN DEN BRINK (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Julius BURKAUSKAS (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania)
Gerhard BÜHRINGER (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany)
Silvia CASALE (University of Florence, Florence, Italy)
Luke CLARK (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada)
Jeffrey L. DEREVENSKY (McGill University, Canada)
Geert DOM (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
Nicki DOWLING (Deakin University, Geelong, Australia)
Hamed EKHTIARI (University of Minnesota, United States)
Jon ELHAI (University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA)
Ana ESTEVEZ (University of Deusto, Spain)
Fernando FERNANDEZ-ARANDA (Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)
Naomi FINEBERG (University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom)
Sally GAINSBURY (The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia)
Belle GAVRIEL-FRIED (The Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Israel)
Biljana GJONESKA (Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Republic of North Macedonia)
Marie GRALL-BRONNEC (University Hospital of Nantes, France)
Jon E. GRANT (University of Minnesota, USA)
Mark GRIFFITHS (Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom)
Joshua GRUBBS (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA)
Anneke GOUDRIAAN (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Susumu HIGUCHI (National Hospital Organization Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center, Japan)
David HODGINS (University of Calgary, Canada)
Eric HOLLANDER (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA)
Zsolt HORVÁTH (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Susana JIMÉNEZ-MURCIA (Clinical Psychology Unit, Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)
Yasser KHAZAAL (Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland)
Orsolya KIRÁLY (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Chih-Hung KO (Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan)
Shane KRAUS (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA)
Hae Kook LEE (The Catholic University of Korea, Republic of Korea)
Bernadette KUN (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Katerina LUKAVSKA (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
Giovanni MARTINOTTI (‘Gabriele d’Annunzio’ University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy)
Gemma MESTRE-BACH (Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, La Rioja, Spain)
Astrid MÜLLER (Hannover Medical School, Germany)
Daniel Thor OLASON (University of Iceland, Iceland)
Ståle PALLESEN (University of Bergen, Norway)
Afarin RAHIMI-MOVAGHAR (Teheran University of Medical Sciences, Iran)
József RÁCZ (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary)
Michael SCHAUB (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Marcantanio M. SPADA (London South Bank University, United Kingdom)
Daniel SPRITZER (Study Group on Technological Addictions, Brazil)
Dan J. STEIN (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Sherry H. STEWART (Dalhousie University, Canada)
Attila SZABÓ (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Hermano TAVARES (Instituto de Psiquiatria do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil)
Alexander E. VOISKOUNSKY (Moscow State University, Russia)
Aviv M. WEINSTEIN (Ariel University, Israel)
Anise WU (University of Macau, Macao, China)