New Research Highlights Perils Of Internet Addiction In Teenagers

Is your child addicted to the internet? Here's how it has been harming their brain...

Globally, many parents struggle to establish healthy patterns and lifestyle habits in their teenagers and keep them away from social media as much as possible by making some ground rules and limiting screen-time, among other such things. The perils of social media are many, especially for impressionable children, who may get influenced by various dangerous and toxic trends on apps. Highlighting the dangers of internet addiction in teenagers, a recent study found that teenage kids who spend a considerable time on social media, complain of problems including that of inability to pay attention to 'more important things' in life, like homework, or even spending time with friends and loved ones.

Objective Of The Study

According to a CNN report, the research findings are from a review published Tuesday in the journal 'PLOS Mental Health'. It comprised '12 neuroimaging studies' of 'a few hundred adolescents' between the ages of 10 and 19 years, between 2013 and 2022. The objective of the study was to understand what happens in the minds of teenagers who are diagnosed with internet addiction. Researchers have found the signalling capacity between brain regions that are crucial for attention, memory, etc., is disrupted.

"The behavioural addiction brought on by excessive internet use has become a rising source of concern since the last decade," the authors purportedly wrote in the study, as mentioned in the CNN report.

Criteria For Clinical Diagnosis

Per the report, the researchers looked at the criteria for clinical diagnosis of internet addiction, which included:

• 'One's persistent preoccupation with the internet';
• 'Withdrawal symptoms when away from the internet';
• 'Sacrificing relationships' in order to spend time on the internet.

Max Chang, first author of the study, was quoted as telling CNN: "The pattern of behaviour results in significant impairment or distress in the individual's life."

Teenage Mind

It is all the more important to pay attention to a teenager's state of mind and their daily activities, because their brains are growing and evolving every day, unlike an adult's mind that can discern between rights and wrongs.

Internet Addiction

During the study, when the children who were clinically-diagnosed with internet addiction engaged in activities centred around the 'brain's executive function network' -- like 'behaviours requiring attention, planning, decision-making and impulse control' -- those brain areas displayed 'substantial disruption in their ability to work together'. This was in contradiction to the teenagers who do not have internet addiction.