“5 Shocking Ways Your Child’s Internet Habits Are Rewiring Their Brain”

A recent review in the PLOS Mental Health Journal has shed light on internet addiction, providing insights that parents should be aware of.

According to the review authors, “Excessive internet use has led to a behavioral addiction that has become increasingly concerning over the past decade.”

The study, which analyzed neuroimaging data from several hundred children and adolescents aged 10 to 19 diagnosed with internet addiction, found disruptions in working memory and impaired communication between brain regions responsible for attention control.

Max Chang, the study’s lead author and outreach case manager at Peninsula Family Service in San Francisco, defined internet addiction criteria as “persistent preoccupation with the internet, withdrawal symptoms when offline, and sacrificing relationships for extended internet use over a period of at least 12 months.” He added that this behavior pattern “significantly impairs or distresses the individual’s life.”

The review revealed that participants diagnosed with internet addiction showed substantial disruption in brain regions associated with executive functions like attention, planning, decision-making, and impulse control when compared to their peers without addiction.

However, Dr. David Ellis, a behavioral scientist at the University of Bath, pointed out some limitations of the study. He noted that cause and effect relationships cannot be definitively established from these studies and questioned the conceptualization and measurement of internet “addiction.”

While China has declared internet addiction a public health crisis, the United States does not currently list it in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, internet gaming disorder is recognized.

Dr. Caglar Yildirim, an associate teaching professor at Northeastern University, noted that adolescents’ addiction patterns mirror those of substance addictions.

Chang emphasized that internet addiction rewires the brain, making it harder to resist internet-related stimuli. However, he acknowledged the challenge of balancing the internet’s usefulness with its potential dangers in adolescent development.

The American Psychiatric Association has included technology addictions as a topic in its 2023-2024 presidential initiative, highlighting the growing prevalence of this issue.

Dr. David Anderson, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute, suggests that excessive online time may be a symptom of underlying issues such as social anxiety, depression, or learning disorders.

An Iranian study of 250 college students found that excessive internet use may lead to various physical and mental health problems, including depression, OCD, poor family relationships, and anxiety.

Familyguide recently reported that parents are more concerned about their children’s screen addiction than substance abuse, according to a study published on JAMA Network Open.

The study revealed that while most parents felt their children could use the internet responsibly, over 50% worried about technology addiction, compared to about 40% concerned with substance addiction.

Study author Michael Milham, M.D., Ph.D., emphasized the importance of considering both positive and negative impacts of internet technologies on youth, acknowledging that experiences may differ among families.