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03/12/2009
Teen Internet Misuse 'Doubles Self Harm'
Addiction to the internet seems to double the risk of self harm among teens.
That's according to new research from China - just published in the journal, Injury Prevention.
The researchers base their findings on a representative survey of 1,618 schoolchildren between the ages of 13 and 18 living in Guangzhou in Guandong Province, China.
For the purposes of this study, self harm referred to hair pulling and hitting, deliberate burning and pinching.
The teens were assessed for internet addiction using a validated measure (Internet Addiction Test) and they then filled in questionnaires designed to reveal whether they were self harming.
After taking account of factors likely to influence the results, such as underlying health problems, lifestyle sleep quotas, and stressful life events, those teens who were moderately and severely addicted to the internet were found to be twice as likely to have self harmed as those who were not addicted.
The study revealed that just over 16% (263 teens) had self harmed in some way over the previous six months, with 4.5% reporting self harm on at least half a dozen occasions.
Around one in 10 (157) said they had self harmed between one and five times during the previous six months.
Almost 90% of the participants were classified as normal users of the internet, but around one in 10 were judged to be moderately addicted, and 0.6% (10) were judged to be severely addicted.
Internet addiction has been classed as a mental health problem with symptoms similar to other addictions since the mid 1990s.
Addiction to the internet is interpreted, among other things, as feelings of depression/nervousness/moodiness when offline, which only go away when online activities are resumed, or fantasising about being online.
(LB/BMcC)
That's according to new research from China - just published in the journal, Injury Prevention.
The researchers base their findings on a representative survey of 1,618 schoolchildren between the ages of 13 and 18 living in Guangzhou in Guandong Province, China.
For the purposes of this study, self harm referred to hair pulling and hitting, deliberate burning and pinching.
The teens were assessed for internet addiction using a validated measure (Internet Addiction Test) and they then filled in questionnaires designed to reveal whether they were self harming.
After taking account of factors likely to influence the results, such as underlying health problems, lifestyle sleep quotas, and stressful life events, those teens who were moderately and severely addicted to the internet were found to be twice as likely to have self harmed as those who were not addicted.
The study revealed that just over 16% (263 teens) had self harmed in some way over the previous six months, with 4.5% reporting self harm on at least half a dozen occasions.
Around one in 10 (157) said they had self harmed between one and five times during the previous six months.
Almost 90% of the participants were classified as normal users of the internet, but around one in 10 were judged to be moderately addicted, and 0.6% (10) were judged to be severely addicted.
Internet addiction has been classed as a mental health problem with symptoms similar to other addictions since the mid 1990s.
Addiction to the internet is interpreted, among other things, as feelings of depression/nervousness/moodiness when offline, which only go away when online activities are resumed, or fantasising about being online.
(LB/BMcC)
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