INTERNET ADDICTION AND GENDER DIFFERENCES ON MEXICAN STUDENTS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN CONTEXT: A CONFIRMATORY MODEL

The purpose of the study is to validate the structure that explains Internet addiction in students, as well as, identify if there are differences by gender. Through a non-probabilistic self-determination sample, 592 students were surveyed. The Internet Addiction Test-IAT was used, with 20 items integrated into six dimensions (salience, excessive use, job neglect, anticipation, lack of control, neglect of social life) with a response range: 1 a few times to 5 always. Through the SEM methodology, a four-factor model was obtained, which presented a good structural adjustment and parsimony in the indicators. Also, the ANOVA test show that the factors Salience, Excessive Use, Neglect of Work, Anticipation, Neglect of Social Life, did not present differences by gender, with the exception of the Lack of Control factor, which showed that there is a difference by gender between the groups. The most important contribution was the model obtained, which allows knowing the levels of Internet addiction in students. In this way, the academic authorities will be able to carry out the pertinent actions for the care and well-being of the students, and thus have a better use of this technology.

What colour are you? Smartphone addiction traffic lights and user profiles

PurposeThe key concern nowadays is smartphone addiction and user profiles. Following the risk and protective factors framework, the authors aim to characterize smartphone users according to two levels: (1) individual: referred to the use (i.e. boredom proneness, compulsive app downloading smartphone addiction) and (2) microsystem: referred to family and peers (i.e. family harmony and phubbing). Besides, the authors will derive useful managerial implications and strategies.Design/methodology/approachFirst, an extensive literature revision and in-depth interviews with experts were employed to identify the addiction-related variables at the individual and microsystem level. Second, information was collected from a sample of 275 Spanish smartphone users, and a K-means clustering algorithm was employed to classify smartphone users.FindingsThe proposed traffic lights schema identifies three users' profiles (red, yellow and green) regarding their smartphone addiction and considering individual and microsystem critical variables.Originality/valueThis study proposes a practical and pioneer traffic lights schema to classify smartphone users and facilitate each cluster's strategies development.

This Week in the Journal

Issue Highlights, April 02, 2020Timing of Endoscopy for Acute GI BleedingMDR Bacterial Infection in the U.S.Anorexia NervosaTuberculosis in 2020Stigma and the Toll of Addiction

Payments transaction data from online casino players and online sports bettors.

Raw datasets were sourced from a U.S. based provider of digital gambling payments systems, who has demanded to remain anonymous. The raw datasets cover a time period of 6-years (2015-2021), representing over 300,000 customers and approximately 90 million transaction records. One of these raw datasets is a transaction log file representing customer payment transaction data across a variety of gambling merchants (e.g., online casinos, sportsbooks, and lottery providers). With this article we describe the transaction log file and provide two filtered subsets of the data. The subsets contain 1-year of customer payments transaction records for two gambling merchants: (1) a casino-focused brand and (2) a sports-focused brand. These data will be particularly helpful to researchers in the fields of gambling studies and behavioral sciences, and more generally for data and computer scientists. With digital payments becoming increasingly prevalent across the gambling industry, these data can be used to explore how individuals' payment behavior can inform us about their gambling behavior. The granularity and timespan of the data provide an opportunity to apply a variety of data science and machine learning techniques.

Exploring digital natives' mobile addiction syndrome in Taiwan: psychological issues and beyond

PurposeThis study seeks to explore digital natives' mobile usage behaviors and, in turn, develop an analytic framework that helps articulate the underlying components of mobile addiction syndrome (MAS), its severity levels and mobile usage purposes.Design/methodology/approachThe investigation adopts a survey method and a case study. The results of the former are based on 411 random classroom observations and 205 questionnaire responses, and the insights of the latter are derived from 24 interviews and daily observations.FindingsThe findings validate five distinctive signs that constitute MAS and their significant correlations with each of the Big Five personality traits. Classroom observations confirm the prevalence of addiction tendency among digital natives in the research context. Seven levels of MAS and six different mobile usage purposes further manifest themselves from case analysis. There appears to be a sharp contrast between the addicted and non-addicted groups in their mobile purposes and behavioral patterns. Additionally, family relationships seem influential in shaping non-addictive mobile usage behaviors.Research limitations/implicationsPsychological perspectives on MAS may be important but insufficient. Empirical investigation on a global scale, especially with distinctive cross-cultural comparisons, will be highly encouraged. How MAS evolves over time should also serve as future research interests.Practical implicationsTeaching pedagogy of college education might need certain adjustments to intrigue digital natives' learning interests. Future managers might also need to adopt better performance measurements for digital natives who barely separate work from personal matters in their mobile devices.Social implicationsParents and healthcare institutions may need to develop response mechanism to tackle this global issue at home and in society. The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on MAS might also deserve global attention.Originality/valueThe analytic framework developed provides an original mechanism that can be valuable in identifying MAS severity and associated behavioral patterns.

Payer Strategies to Ensure Access to Care for Individuals With Opioid Use Disorder During COVID-19

[...]increase access to care by reimbursing virtual visits. [...]leverage data to identify and intervene when patients are at risk for recurrence or overdose. In practice, expanded access to buprenorphine reduces diversion and misuse because they occur commonly among individuals seeking relief from withdrawal.2 Compared with buprenorphine monotherapy, buprenorphine-naloxone is associated with lower rates of misuse.2 Mark et al demonstrate that among Medicare beneficiaries, removal of prior authorization for buprenorphine-naloxone doubled treatment rates and significantly reduced emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations.4 Ultimately, the lifesaving benefits of expanded access to buprenorphine far outweigh the associated risks. In a time of social distancing, limited personal protective equipment, and transportation barriers, payment and delivery of telehealth is imperative to ensuring access to care. Because many patients do not have reliable access to broadband connection or smartphones, audio-only visits must be reimbursed as well.

INTOLERANCE OF UNCERTAINTY, ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION IN THE CONTEXT OF COVID-19 IN INDONESIA

This Covid-19 pandemic brings uncertainty and may lead to mental problems. Yet, in this context, no study has examined the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and either anxiety or depression during pandemic among Indonesians. This study investigated the pathway between IU, anxiety and depression serially mediated by cognitive appraisals (perceived severity, controllability, and knowledge) and emotional and behavioural responses to COVID-19. Online psychological measures were administered to 406 participants, including the IUS-12, the DASS-21, cognitive appraisal scales, and emotional and behavioural response scale. An indirect pathway was found between IU and depression, and the effect was serially mediated by perceived of severity and emotional and behavioural responses to COVID-19. Perceived knowledge and perceived controllability of COVID-19 did not significantly contribute to the model. A similar pathway was found for IU predicting anxiety. As conclusion, IU represents a risk factor for heightened emotional and behavioural difficulties that eventually, could lead to either anxiety or depression during COVID-19.

Rhode Island Young Adult Survey Reveals Mental Health Crisis

The article reveals the mental health crisis among young adults, according to the Rhode Island Young Adult Survey. Topics discussed include vulnerability of young adults as they face social and emotional challenges, COVID-19 pandemic as an added stressor of young adulthood, increase in anti-Asian sentiment, xenophobia and racial discrimination exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic that lead to traumatic stress and psychopathology, and harm caused by technology to mental health.

A PRESCRIPTION FOR CALAMITY: WHY THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FALLS SHORT AS A SINGULAR SOLUTION TO THE U.S. OPIOID CRISIS

The purpose of this Note is to create a holistic solution for the U.S. Department of Labor to apply amidst the United States ongoing opioid crisis, which will serve to both prevent addiction before it can develop and treat existing cases of addiction. To this aim, this Note examines and analyzes the connections between the opioid crisis and another co-existing public health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the procurement procedures taken to resolve them. The argument is developed throughout three sections. First, this Note provides background information demonstrating the detrimental impact of opioid misuse and addiction, as well as the impact that COVID-19 in particular has had on rates of misuse and addiction in the United States. ally, this section introduces efforts taken to resolve the crisis, including the Department of Labors Pharmacy Benefit Management program, which is the subject of this Note. Second, this Note examines the Department of Labors Pharmacy Benefit Program, addressing the singularly preventative nature of the program, which fails to support a holistic solution. Additionally, this Note addresses concerns relating to the use of pharmacy benefit management services in general, particularly the cost-increasing nature of such mechanisms. In the final section, following an examination of the procurement procedure used to acquire COVID-19 vaccines, this Note proposes the application of a similar pharmaceutical procurement approach to combatting the opioid crisis. To conclude, this Note argues that by contracting with pharmaceutical companies to develop a safer and less addictive treatment plan, the Department of Labor would be able to prevent, as well as treat, opioid addiction.

Academic Directors Facing Internet Addictions, Learning and Health Promotion

The result that is presented is expressed from a bibliographic review of works published during the last two years 2020-2022 and, through which it was possible to verify the relationships that are established between the work of the Academic Directors, before the latent challenge and visible that is the crossroads of Internet addictions, by university students, increased in the stage already overcome of social isolation imposed by Covid 19 but, with emphasis on the achievement of learning at this high educational level, its risks and consequent decreases in the attacks that occur as a result of procrastination. All associated with the addictive phenomenon, in a projection of health promotion that the current, humanistic, modern and developing university should not give up in any way, being precisely in this direction an unavoidable pillar of social development, which lies precisely in the high professional qualification. of the new generations committed to a prosperous and sustainable social change. © 2023 Varela et al.

Workaholism: Personality factors and conditions of professional work

Question: The need for excessive work, also known as "workaholism", is a serious health problem in our society. In this study, we examined the impact of work characteristics (low boundaries between work and home) and personality traits (Big Five) on workaholism. Method: Data were collected from a sample of 111 employees aged 19 to 66. Participants completed the Big Five Inventory-SOEP (BFI-S), a questionnaire to determine central characteristics of work (Fragebogen zur Erfassung der zentralen Merkmale der Arbeit 4.0) and a scale to measure workaholism (Skala zur Erfassung von Arbeitssucht) online. Statistical analyses (correlation analyses, moderated regression analyses) were conducted using "R" and "PSPP". Results: Workaholism scores were found to be significantly correlated with low boundaries between work and home (r = .208), with neuroticism (r = .356) and with participants' age (r = -.321). The proportion of variance explained by all three predictors was 29 %. No moderating effect of the variable 'boundaries between work and home' on the relationship between neuroticism (UV) and workaholism (AV) could be found. Conclusions: In addition to the Big Five personality factor neuroticism and the age of participants, low boundaries between work and home play a relevant role in workaholism. These results are important in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as employees more often work from home, which makes the separation between work and personal time more difficult. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) Abstract (German) Fragestellung: Suchtartiges Arbeiten stellt ein ernst zu nehmendes Problem in unserer Gesellschaft dar. In dieser Studie wird der Frage nachgegangen, welche Rolle berufliche Rahmenbedingungen (Entgrenzung der Arbeit) und Personlichkeitsfaktoren (Big Five) bei suchtartigem Arbeiten spielen. Methode: 111 Erwerbstatige im Alter von 19 bis 66 Jahren beantworteten online den Personlichkeitstest Big Five Inventory-SOEP, den Fragebogen zur Erfassung zentraler Merkmale der Arbeit 4.0 und die Skala zur Erfassung von Arbeitssucht. Die statistischen Auswertungen (Korrelationsanalysen, moderierte Regressionsanalyse) erfolgten mittels R" und PSPP". Ergebnisse: Suchtartiges Arbeiten korreliert signifikant mit Entgrenzung (r = .208), Neurotizismus (r = .356) und dem Alter der Probanden (r = -.321). Alle drei Pradiktoren zusammen erklaren insgesamt 29 Prozent der Varianz von suchtartigem Arbeiten. Es konnte kein moderierender Effekt der Variablen Entgrenzung der Arbeit auf den Zusammenhang zwischen Neurotizismus und suchtartigem Arbeiten gefunden werden. Schlussfolgerungen: Neben dem Personlichkeitsfaktor Neurotizismus und dem Alter spielen bei der Vorhersage suchtartigen Arbeitens auch das Ausmas der Entgrenzung der Arbeit eine relevante Rolle. Die Ergebnisse sind vor dem Hintergrund der Covid-19-Pandemie relevant, da bei Mitarbeitern im Homeoffice die Grenzen von Arbeit und Privatleben besonders stark verwischen. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Problematic consumption of online pornography during the COVID-19 pandemic: Clinical recommendations

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the greatest contemporary challenges. Feelings of fear and uncertainty triggered by this pandemic have had noxious effects on people's mental health. This seems to have increased during quarantine and there is evidence of an intensification of reward- directed behavior. Nevertheless, there are few studies dealing with pornography consumption during this period. The aim of this manuscript is to contextualize this phenomenon during the pandemic and suggest some clinical recommendations on the matter. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Addiction to medical websites post COVID-19 pandemic: a predictor of illness anxiety disorder among Arabian youth

BackgroundThe coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted every region of the world. During these unprecedented times, college students have been experiencing severe mental health issues concerning excessive internet usage. On average, 42.9% of students in Egypt utilized the internet (Anwar et al. in J Public Health 30:1753–1762, 2022). Arabs quickly diagnose themselves online using medical websites. The issue is exacerbated by drugs bought without a prescription (Alghadeer et al. in Saudi Pharm J 26:719–724, 2018).MethodsThis study examined he relationship between addiction to medical websites and behaviors related to Illness Anxiety Disorder among a population of Arabic university students. A sample consisting of N = 368 youths was examined.ResultsBivariate linear regression, Z score, R2, t-test, ANOVA, mean, and standard deviation were used for statistical analysis. The findings of the study revealed a linear equation that predicts illness anxiety in adolescents. The correlation between medical website addiction and hypochondria was found to be 0.69. Furthermore, male participants were more addicted to medical websites than female participants.ConclusionsFindings supported the notion that addiction to medical websites significantly predicts hypochondria.

The effect of Internet addiction on mind wandering: Resilience and academic burnout as mediators among Chinese adolescents

Attention, particularly mind wandering, has garnered research interest because of the development of technologies that empower a person to focus on several tasks simultaneously. This study investigated the mediating roles of resilience and academic burnout in the relationship between the Internet addiction and mind wandering of Chinese adolescents. Participants were 2,335 adolescents who anonymously completed questionnaires on Internet addiction, resiliency, academic burnout, and mind wandering. We used descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling for data analysis. The results showed that Internet addiction was positively and directly associated with mind wandering, and that there was also an indirect effect via resilience, academic burnout, and a sequential mediating effect of resilience and academic burnout. These results highlight the importance of resiliency as a construct in explaining mind wandering and have implications as regards the necessary steps to prevent mind wandering in adolescents.

(Special Issue) Perceived Helicopter Parenting Related to Vocational Senior High School Students' Academic Achievement and Smartphone Addiction

Background and Purpose of Research Adolescents use their smartphones for various purposes, for example, following distance/online learning, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, staying in touch with friends, having fun using social media tools. According to the social ecological model, risk behaviors, like substance consumption, are regarded as behavior problems. Relatively, etiology is derived of youths' embeddedness surrounded by their social networks, mainly throughout sensitive development periods (Bishop et al., 2020). Given the prevalence of smartphone addiction among young students, previous studies have explored the relationships between smartphone addiction and students' learning and indicated there is negative outcomes of smartphone resulting from overuse of mobile phones, including poor sleep quality. However, there some antecedents of smartphone addiction which has not extendedly studied, for example, parenting style, thus, the present study aimed to explore the correlates between parenting styles, academic achievement and smartphone addiction. Parenting that reflects a combination of support and behavioral control has been linked to numerous indices of academic well-being and live functioning from early childhood through adolescence. In regarding the term helicopter parenting indicated that parents involve hovering behaviors and are potentially over-involved in the lives of their child or in their academic work (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). But empirical research has not adequately used these two construct from other controlling parenting practices to predict children's smartphone addiction, thus, the present study applied two types of helicopter parenting: live hovering and academic hovering of parenting for of emerging adults, to explain the prediction of children's smartphone addiction. According to Bronfenbrenner (1979) micro ecological system that discusses the association between person-process-content (PPC), who described "person-process-context model” (PPCM) that occurs variability in development procedure as considered in this paper as a functional context (mobile phone usage), person (parenting styles) and process (academic achievement). Not only has cultural ecology be likely to pursue its complications in issues originating from social and cultural topics, but intricate schools of understanding of culture-nature relationship have developed for certain risk behavior. For example, helicopter parenting is more obvious in Chinese families than Western ones, even though the parents want their children to grow up to be independent and think for themselves. Particularly, Chinese parents are more concerned about their children's schoolwork when they are teenagers, which leads to increased helicopter parenting problems, exacerbating issues such as lack of independence, lack of control, and not knowing how to self-manage smartphone use, which can in turn lead to smartphone addiction. If parents are in constant hovering of their children's lives or schoolwork, children develop dependent behaviors. Some studies have indicated that a child's dependent behaviors result in lower motivation to learn and reduced academic achievement. In line with this, drawn on PPCM to understanding the role of academic hovering and live hovering affect participants' smartphone addiction mediated by academic achievement, hypotheses are proposed as follows. Hypotheses (1) Live hovering has a negative effect on academic achievement. (2) Academic hovering has a negative effect on academic achievement. (3) Academic achievement has a negative effect on smartphone addiction. (4) Live hovering has a positive effect on smartphone addiction. (5) Academic hovering has a positive effect on smartphone addiction. Methodology Questionnaire was designed by adapting and translated from previous researched and gave to domain experts to ensure the content validity. Afterward, a purposive sampling was adapted in this study, a total of 400 questionnaires were distributed to 4 vocational senior high schools located in Taipei City. 354 of which were collected, resulting in a questionnaire collection rate of 88.5%. After 64 invalid questionnaires were excluded, 290 valid questionnaires remained, resulting in a valid questionnaire collection rate of 81.92%. Factor analysis was conducted on the valid questionnaires. Results First, helicopter parenting, live and academic hovering had a negative association with academic achievement, with an explanatory power of 20.8%. Second, academic achievement had a negative association with smartphone addiction, with an explanatory power of 38.6%. Third, helicopter parenting had a negative association with smartphone addiction. Fourth, academic hovering had a negative association with smartphone addiction mediated by academic achievement, with an explanatory power of 20.8%. The results of the study thus indicate that young people who are not independent in life or schoolwork tend to rely on their parents, are less able to control their smartphone use, and are more likely to develop smartphone addiction. By contrast, young people who are independent in life and schoolwork and do not need to rely on their parents have control over their smartphone use and are less likely to develop smartphone addiction. Conclusions and Recommendations The results of this study demonstrate that if vocational senior high school students are overly dependent on their parents in life or schoolwork, they may have lower academic achievement and therefore, they are not motivated to achieve strong academic results and will not restrain their desire to spend time on using smartphone, resulting in a tendency toward smartphone addiction. However, when vocational senior high school students do not have to rely on their parents to a great extent in life or schoolwork, they are able to act independently, attain high academic achievement, determine what they want to achieve, and arrange how they will accomplish their goals. Therefore, they have the ability to control the time they spend using their phones and will not develop smartphone addiction. This study suggests that parents should let their children learn to be independent and autonomous, which should help to effectively reduce the problem of smartphone addiction. Finally, conducting this study highlighted possibilities for future research. Some studies suggest that fathers and mothers do not necessarily share the same parenting style, and hence, it is suggested that in a questionnaire survey, the hovering styles of fathers and mothers could be differentiated and then analyzed through a differential analysis. In addition, some smartphone use can be designed with time of use to control using time (e.g., Chinese government limited the hours for children to use smartphone). However, how is the effect of the regulation to students' smartphone addiction should be further studied.Alternate : 隨著行動網路普及，人與人之間的通訊變得更加便利，也造成人們高度依賴手機。然而，手機使用失去控制已對健康造成嚴重危害，如成癮等。孩子的行為控制經常依賴於父母教養方式，尤其是華人父母在教養孩子方面與歐美國家的父母相比，會更加關注地自己的子女。這代表華人父母更關注於孩子的學業和生活，並形成更多按照父母親意志且欠缺獨立思考的媽寶，這將可能激起或停止孩子的手機成癮問題。本研究針對技術型高中學生進行問卷調查，有效問卷共290份，並對數據進行結構方程模式的驗證性因素分析。本研究採用生態系統理論，由AMOS 20建模，並從數據分析的結果進行分析。本研究發現：一、生活媽寶覺知與課業媽寶覺知對學業成就動機呈現負向影響；二、學業成就動機對手機成癮呈現負向影響；三、生活媽寶覺知與課業媽寶覺知對手機成癮呈現正向影響；四、生活媽寶覺知與課業媽寶覺知經由學業成就動機對手機成癮有正向的間接影響。研究結果證明，過分依賴父母的技術型高中學生有較低的學業成就動機，並無法控制手機的使用，因此造成手機成癮。換言之，父母應避免過多的日常生活與學業控制，以減少孩子手機使用的需求性。

[Behavioral (non-chemical) addictions and COVID-19]. / Povedencheskie (nekhimicheskie) zavisimosti i COVID-19.

The review examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence, manifestation, as well as the possibility of preventing and treating behavioral (non-chemical) addictions. Particular attention is paid to various manifestations of Internet addiction (IA): gaming, gambling, cybersexual and food addiction (FA). During the pandemic, Internet use increased significantly, leading to an increase in IA, mainly due to gaming, which correlated with the level of psychosocial problems. The increase in gambling occurred mainly in individuals with addiction or risk groups, while in the population the frequency of gambling decreased or did not change. Immediately after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of requests to porn sites increased dramatically, suggesting an increase in cybersex addiction. However, longitudinal studies in adolescents show a slight decrease in the interest in pornography in boys, and an increase from an initially low level in girls. The proportion of eating disorders and FA significantly increased. An increase in FA was associated with depression, anxiety, and also in obese individuals. In the era of COVID-19 prevention practices and general remedial activity should take into account the needs of the general population, emphasizing the importance of self-regulating and balanced lifestyles with moderate and sensible Internet use during the pandemic.

Impulsivity as a Risk Factor for Addictive Disorder Severity during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Results from a Mixed Quantitative and Qualitative Study.

Interindividual differences in personality traits, especially impulsivity traits, are robust risk factors for addictive disorders. However, their impact on addictive disorders during the COVID-19 lockdown remains unknown. This study assessed patients being followed for addictive disorders before the lockdown. We aimed to determine whether impulsivity traits (i.e., negative- and positive urgency) were associated with addictive disorders severity during the lockdowns. We also explored the patients' subjective experiences, focusing on high versus low impulsivity. The quantitative study assessed 44 outpatients consulting for addictive disorders, for impulsivity, emotion regulation, anxiety/depression, and their addictive disorder characteristics, using self-administered questionnaires. In the qualitative study, six patients from the quantitative study were assessed using guided interviews. We observed that higher negative and positive urgencies were associated with addictive disorder severity. The subjective experiences of patients during the lockdowns differed according to their emotion-related impulsivity: high versus low. Low impulsive patients used online technologies more effectively to maintain follow-up, with more positive reappraisal. In contrast, highly impulsive patients reverted more frequently to self-medication with substances and/or behaviors, more social isolation, and found coping with negative emotions more challenging. Overall, the patient's ability to cope with stressful events, like the COVID-19 lockdown, depended on their emotion-related impulsivity.