Teens Who Can't Log Off At Risk for Depression

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By Lauren Barack August 17, 2010

Young people who use the Internet obsessively show a marked increase in depression over counterparts who know when to walk away--or pull the plug.

So says a new study published in this month's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, which followed 1,618 students in China between the ages of 13 and 18 and found that even those who seemed "free of mental health problems but use the Internet pathologically could develop depression as a consequence," writes researchers Lawrence T. Lam and Zi-Wen Peng.

Lam and Peng used the Internet Addiction Test, created by Kimberly Young, a psychologist and expert on Internet addiction and online behavior, who discovered that teens who were having trouble logging off computers or smart phones had more than double a chance of experiencing depression nine months later.

However, researchers also noted that students who were already at risk for depression and anxiety could be more prone to obsessively connecting online than those students more even-keeled.

"These results suggest that depression and anxiety may be important factors in the causal pathway of the pathological use of the Internet among adolescents," says the study.

Adults are certainly not immune to addictive online behavior. But of concern to parents and educators could be branded online games marketed to children at younger ages from those found on Web sites, including Disney's and Hasbro's, and social networking worlds such as Moshi Monsters, which is geared toward young children with its rainbow pets and gardens that grow magic beans.

While occasional use of the Internet doesn't seem to be an issue, according to the study, teens who don't log-off can fall into a risk-area. Plus certain activities appear to be more problematic than others, especially playing games on entertainment sites, rather than getting online for educational reasons.

"According to our data, young people who are involved in online gaming, particularly multiple players online games, are the most at risk group," says Lam by email. "This was followed by social networking."

Lam would like to discover if pathological use of the Internet alone can lead to depression and anxiety-or if young people who end up fixated with online social worlds and games may have some mental health issues to start, and he's optimistic he'll expand the study to a broader group of young people.

"I would hope so and am looking for collaborators and funding," he says.

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