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Background: To examine the impact of peer victimization on digital media consumption in children and adolescents Methods: After informed consent, psychosocial measurements and variables related to digital media use were collected from 186 children and adolescents recruited from three university hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area. The participants were stratified by peer victimization status and group comparisons were performed. The group that experienced peer bullying was significantly more likely to be depressed and use online pornography. However, other digital media consumption did not demonstrate significant differences between the two groups. Discussion: Peer victimization was associated with online pornography use in children and adolescents. They may use such explicit content as a means to modify their depressed mood status, resulted from bullying. Exposure to age-inappropriate or harmful content may further exert a negative impact on mental health such as shame or guilt. More attention will be required to monitor the use of digital media among children experiencing social exclusion and bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the purchase of loot-boxes and smartphone and gaming usage among adolescents. This study analyses by using a sample of 1,682 adolescents from the 2022 Nowon-gu Youth Digital Media Survey include Internet-usage times (IUT), IGUESS (Internet gaming disorder) and S-Scale (Problematic smartphone use), Y-PSC-17 (Pediatric symptom checklist), CAGI-GPSS (gambling disorder). The results showed 32.0% of the respondents had made in-game purchases and 17.7% had purchased loot-boxes. Adolescents made in-game purchases had significantly higher weekday and weekend 'IUT', 'IGD', 'PSU' scores than those not purchase group. Those who had purchased loot-boxes also had higher 'IUT', 'IGD', 'PSU' scores than those had not purchased loot-boxes. Additionally, adolescents who reported tolerance to loot-boxes had significantly higher weekday 'IUT', 'IGD', 'PSU', 'PSC', 'GD' scores than those not report group. Adolescents who reported failure to control their loot-box purchasing had significantly higher 'IGD' and 'PSU' scores than those not report group. Adolescents who reported withdrawal of their loot-box purchasing had significantly higher weekday 'IUT', 'IGD', 'PSU', 'PSC', 'GD' scores than those not report group. Adolescents who reported compulsive use had significantly higher weekday and weekend 'IUT', 'IGD', 'PSU', 'PSC', 'GD' scores than those not report group. In summary, it was found that adolescents who experienced purchasing loot-boxes showed significant differences in IUT, IGD, and PSU scores. Additionally, the element of addiction to loot-box showed consistently higher scores in the 'IGD' and 'PSU' scale. Therefore, appropriate guidelines and literacy education regarding loot-box purchasing among adolescents are needed, as well as prospective research and policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify risk factors that contribute to the prevalence and symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) among children aged 7-10 years. Participants were recruited from the Kids Cohort for Understanding of Internet Addiction Risk Factors in Early Childhood (K-CURE) Study in Korea. The baseline assessment, Wave 1, was conducted between December 2015 and June 2016, and follow-up assessments, Waves 2 to 8, were conducted annually for the subsequent years. Time of media use, frequency of media use, and ownership of media devices were investigated. At Wave 8, participants aged 7-10 years (mean 8.69, SD = 0.890) were assessed using a semi-structured questionnaire based on the DSM-5 criteria for IGD diagnosis. Participants who reported subthreshold symptoms or above on item 1 accounted for 13.5%, item 2 for 4.9%, item 3 for 10.3%, item 4 for 9.7%, item 5 for 5.9%, item 6 for 9%, item 7 for 9.7%, item 8 for 2.7%, item 9 for 2.7%, and item 10 for 18.4%. The prevalence of children who met the strict diagnostic criteria for IGD, namely persistent and recurrent use of the internet to engage in games, often with other players, that leads to clinically significant impairment or distress as indicated by at least five symptoms, was 5.4%. It is noteworthy that even among children aged 7-10 years, 5.4% were identified as meeting the diagnostic criteria for IGD. Identifying risk factors for IGD is crucial for early intervention and policy development to prevent the negative impact of IGD on children's health and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the survey on smartphone overdependence in 2020 in South Korea by 'Ministry of Science and ICT(MSIT)', the high-risk group was 3.7% and the potential risk group was 18.4% in 2020 for smartphone addiction in women. Since there has been little literature on female behavioral addiction in the past, the secondary data of the Nowon-gu Addiction Center project were analyzed. The survey was conducted in 2017 and included 3,937 students. Of the total 3,593, 62 (1.7%) women showed high risk for the Internet gaming disorder. The symptoms of depression, anxiety, and withdrawal of female were significantly higher than that of male. Further identification of the factors that cause a higher burden in women with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in Korea will provide a basis for establishing policies appropriate for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problematic Internet use is a major community mental health problem because it can pose a major challenge to the mental health of children and adolescents. It is not enough to simply treat problems after they occur, and the most effective management is achieved when primary prevention, secondary prevention, and tertiary prevention are applied equally to the community. Therefore, based on this public health model, we would like to introduce literacy promotion and prevention education for problematic Internet use, universal screening and short-term intervention for problem groups, and individual case management models accordingly. Currently, Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) and DAGIM Plus case management programs are being implemented at Nowon Community addiction management center in Seoul. Information on this process will be provided along with the data. This will provide participants with ideas for applying good practices of community engagement to other countries and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to identify the latent subtypes through Mental Health Literacy (MHL) for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in adolescents and confirm the differences between the subtypes in demographics, Internet usage time, the number of prevention education for IGD or problematic smartphone usage, mental health, and addiction level. Methods: For this study, secondary data was used from the 2019 smart digital media survey for youth, conducted in a district in Seoul, by the Nowon Community Addiction Center. Altogether, 1,936 middle and high school students (14-18 years old) were analyzed. Thirteen items of the MHL questionnaire were used as classification criteria for latent profile analysis (LPA). Thereafter, the difference in characteristics between the classified subtypes was confirmed by One-way ANOVA and Chi-square Test through variables such as mental health and addiction level. Results: Three latent subtypes of MHL for IGD in adolescents were identified as: "low perception-prefer traditional resources" type (12.4%), "moderate perception-prefer family resources" type (49.3%), and "high perception-prefer professional resources" type (38.3%). In addition, it was confirmed that there were differences between subtypes in terms of gender, age, Family Affluence Scale, e-learning time in weeks, mental health problems, smartphone addiction risk scores, and IGD scores. Conclusion: Based on the results, practical interventions are required including customized prevention considering the differences in characteristics among three types of adolescent MHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender approach is getting more and more relevant to gain a better understanding of femalespecific aspects of behavioural addictions and to be more responsive to women's health needs. Literature on Women Behavioural Addiction in specific female population is still scarce and often inferred from mostly male samples, and this bring us to question about how diagnostic criteria really fit to describe Behavioural Addiction's harms in female population; more women are affected by pathological gambling and other non-substance related addictions, even if they rarely ask for help: so, with little specific data, it is not easy to have dedicated research and understanding of peculiarities of this invisible population, and different reach out strategies are strongly needed to fill the gap. One key point, beyond the shame issue, is that women often experience great difficulty in finding appropriate treatment services, since most health clinics rarely offer female-specific treatment approaches or harm reduction and prevention strategies. That is why it is so important to learn from our experiences as researchers and clinicians, sharing data from all over the world to enrich our understanding of these issues. That's WHY a ROUND TABLE is the best place to discuss, compare experiences and improve research and treatment for the women on whose behalf we are working on; and the aim of our new book "Behavioural Addiction in Women: An International Female Perspective on Treatment and Research" (F. Prever, G. Blicker & L. Brandt). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Potential concerns are increasing that smartphone and Internet addictions may have deleterious effects on the mental health. Despite the recognition of the important role that implicit associations may have over explicit processes in addiction, such implicit associations have not been comprehensively investigated with respect to Internet addiction. Therefore, we modified the Implicit Association Test (IAT) for smartphone and Internet addictions and investigated its validity in children and adolescents. Methods: In this experimental study, 78 at-risk children and adolescents ranging in age from 7 to 17 years completed an IAT modified with pictures captured from the most popular Internet games among youth. Furthermore, measures of Internet and smartphone addictions, mental health and problem behaviors, impulsive tendencies, self-esteem, daily stress, and quality of life were assessed simultaneously. Results: Significant correlations were found between IAT D2SD scores and standardized scales for Internet (r = .28, p < .05) and smartphone (r = .33, p < .01) addictions. There were no significant correlations between IAT parameters and other scales measuring the constructs that are less relevant to the features of addiction, such as daily stress levels, impulsivity, and quality of life. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the IAT D2SD was independently and positively associated with smartphone addiction (p = .03) after controlling for other clinical correlates. Conclusions: This study demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity of this IAT as a novel measurement relating to Internet and smartphone addictions. Further longitudinal and prospective studies are needed to evaluate its potential utility in clinical and community settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]