Problematic Use of the Internet in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Substance Use Disorders

• Registration Number: NCT04723498
• Lead Sponsor: Susanne Walitza

Brief Summary

Pathological internet use is a blanket term for problematic behavior types (e.g. uncontrolled gaming, cyber pornography, cyber mobbing and excessive use of social media): all perpetrated through the internet. There is little documentation or research on interdependencies/interplay between problematic internet and/or media use and child-adolescent disturbances. Very few clinical examples of syndromes like attention deficiency/hyperactivity (ADHS), anxiety disorder or affective disturbances associated with pathological media/internet use, or gaming, are found in literature.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2020-12-01
• Study First Submitted: 2021-01-21
• Study First Submitted QC: 2021-01-21
• Study First Posted: 2021-01-25
• Status Verified: 2025-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-05-12
• Last Update Posted: 2025-05-13
• Primary Completion: 2026-03-01
• Study Completion: 2026-03-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 300

Inclusion Criteria

• male and female patients ages from 8 - 18 years
• All study participants or their legal representative have given written permission for their experiences to be documented in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

• Inability to understand explanations and the questionnaire, whether linguistic or cognitative

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Symptoms severity of problematic internet and media use	3 months	The clinician screening questionnaire (PUI) contains 9 items designed to assess severity of problematic internet and media use of obsessive and compulsive in children and adolescents.The test uses a 4-point scale to rate severity of problematic internet and media use. Higher score means a worse outcome.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Psychiatric University Clinics, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; 🇨🇭 Zurich, ZH, Switzerland