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Background: The diagnosis of a childhood malignancy and the following period are very stressful for the little patient and the whole family. Depression, anxiety, and poor quality of life (QoL) are some of the negative effects of pediatric cancer to the children and their parents. Family therapeutic interventions aim to improve mental health and QoL of these children. Methods: A systematic search of the electronic database PubMed was conducted for articles that studied the effect of family therapeutic interventions on mental health and QoL of children with cancer. Results: A total of 634 articles were evaluated, of which 10 articles met the inclusion criteria. A percentage of 70% of the studies, representing seven different types of interventions, seemed to be beneficial for the participant’s mental health and QoL. The remaining three studies did not significantly improve mental health and QoL. Conclusion: The results of our review indicate that family psychosocial interventions are beneficial for children with cancer. These children and their families are a growing population requiring more patient-centered, time flexible interventions which may enhance family bonding and patients’ positive emotions.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the predictive value of personality factors, character defenses and psychopathology indexes in discerning between a clinical sample of Internet-addicted college students and a random sample of non-addicted college students. A discriminant analysis identified the variables which enabled discerning Internet addicts from non-addicts in 78% of all subjects. Internet-addicted students presented with higher frequency of connecting to the Internet, more time spent online, higher impulsivity, higher help-rejecting complaining and lower sublimation. Indexes of overt symptomatology did not assist in discerning clinical cases from controls. In conclusion, employing a test battery which includes not only measures of Internet addiction but also measures of inheritable personality factors and character defenses can be of assistance both in clinical work and in epidemiological research.

This paper presents a cross-sectional study of a large, high-school Greek student sample (N=1971) with the aim to examine adolescent motives for participating in social networking (SN) for a possible link with parenting style and cognitions related to Internet addiction disorder (IAD). Exploratory statistics demonstrate a shift from the prominence of online gaming to social networking for this age group. A regression model provides with the best linear combination of independent variables useful in predicting participation in SN. Results also include a validated model of negative correlation between optimal parenting on the one hand and motives for SN participation and IAD on the other. Examining cognitions linked to SN may assist in a better understanding of underlying adolescent wishes and problems. Future research may focus in the patterns unveiled among those adolescents turning to SN for the gratification of basic unmet psychological needs. The debate on the exact nature of IAD would benefit from the inclusion of SN as a possible online activity where addictive phenomena may occur.

In this paper we present the results of a cross-sectional survey designed to ascertain Internet and personal computer (PC) addiction in the Republic of Cyprus. This is a follow-up to a pilot study conducted one year earlier. Data were collected from a representative sample of the adolescent student population of the first and fourth grades of high school. Total sample was 2684 students, 48.5% of them male and 51.5% female. Research material included extended demographics and an Internet security questionnaire, the Young's Diagnostic questionnaire (YDQ), the Adolescent Computer Addiction Test (ACAT). Results indicated that the Cypriot population had comparable addiction statistics with other Greek-speaking populations in Greece; 15.3% of the students were classified as Internet addicted by their YDQ scores and 16.3% as PC addicted by their ACAT scores. Those results are among the highest in Europe. Our results were alarming and have led to the creation of an Internet and PC addiction prevention program which will focus on high-school professor training and the creation of appropriate prevention material for all high-schools, starting immediately after the conclusion of the pan-Cypriot survey, focusing especially on those areas where the frequency of addictive behaviors will be highest.

In this study, we attempt to identify motives pivotal in choices made regarding online and offline game genres and assess whether they are meaningful predictors of Internet addiction. A separate goal was to determine how an assessment of Internet-related cognitions compares to criteria-based research instruments on Internet addiction, and demonstrate its clinical usefulness. We are using data from a cross-sectional study of the entire adolescent student population aged 12-18 of the island of Kos. Results indicate that specific game genres and motives for choosing a game are important predictors of Internet addiction, even after accounting for sociodemographic and Internet-use-related variables. Gender differences are not statistically important when we account for genre choices and motives for choosing them. Boys' thought content tends to revolve more around their Internet use compared to girls. Several patterns of motives to play specific genres were identified with the help of a canonical correlation analysis, demonstrating the fact that the simple observation of overt behavior is not enough to deduce the meaning of these actions for the individual. Using multiple measures of online addiction, examining genre preferences and underlying motives for choosing a game can be helpful in reaching a better understanding of the individual game player.

This research aimed to assess the prevalence of Internet addiction among Greek adolescent students, ages 12 to 18. The sample of 2,200 students was recruited from 120 classes among 85 schools in Thessaly, Greece. The sample included 10% of all classes in schools of Thessaly. The method of randomized stratified selection in every school was used for its constitution. Participants were asked to complete the Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction (YDQ), based on eight criteria, as well as an inventory that included sociodemographic factors and questions about the use of Internet, their social life, and their habits. In Greece, 70.8% of adolescents had access to the Internet. The consistency of the YDQ was tested with Cronbach's alpha (0.719), with standardized item alpha (0.728). Proportions are also calculated only on the frequent Internet users, which results in 11% fulfilling five YDQ criteria. The most frequent type of Internet use is online games, representing 50.9% of Internet users, and information services, representing 46.8%. The prevalence of Internet addiction among Internet users of Central Greece is 8.2%, and it concerns mainly the male students who play online games and visit Internet cafés.

Materials and methods The sample consists of 339 adolescents (mean age: 15.41 years, SD:1.59, min/max:13/18 ), habitants of the city of Karditsa, Greece. The sample was selected using the method of randomized stratified selection by schools. The Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction (YDQ1), based on 8 criteria, was used as a tool to categorize the internet users. Four groups were formatted: no-users, minimal users, moderate users, excessive users. The Symptoms Checklist questionnaire (SCL-90-R2) was used to investigate the psychiatric symptoms. The sample completed also an inventory concerning socio-demographic factors.