Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy
Open Access

Research Article

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is a Better Predictor for Problematic Internet use than Depression: Evidence from Germany

¹Department of Psychology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany

²Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

³Center for Economics & Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Corresponding Author:

Rayna Sariyska
University of Ulm
Department of Psychology
Helmholtzstrae, 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Tel: 49-0731/50 26558
E-mail: rayna.sariyska@uni-ulm.de

Received date: January 18, 2015; Accepted date: February 22, 2015; Published date: February 27, 2015

Citation: Sariyska R, Reuter M, Lachmann B, Montag C (2015) Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder is a Better Predictor for Problematic Internet use than Depression: Evidence from Germany. J Addict Res Ther 6: 209 doi:10.4172/2155-6105.1000209

Copyright: © 2015 Sariyska R, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Objective: This study aims to address possible associations between excessive use of the Internet and ADHD and Depression. As most of the studies on this topic were conducted in Asia, the aim of this investigation is to review the literature on this subject from Germany and examine problematic Internet use for potential associations with the propensity for Depression and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in a new, distinct German sample.

Methods: A review of the literature was conducted. Subsequently, a total of N = 895 healthy participants from Germany (413 males, 482 females) took part in a new study. Participants filled in questionnaires on their Internet usage, propensity for depression and ADHD.

Results: The review of the literature revealed predominantly positive associations between problematic Internet use and depression, whereas only one study on the relationship between problematic Internet use and ADHD from Germany was found. The results from the current study showed that male participants had significantly higher scores on the Internet Addiction Test (IA-T) than female participants. Finally, the IA-T scores of the participants were linked to both the propensity for depression (r = .247, p < .01) and ADHD (r = .335, p < .01). This association was stronger for ADHD and in particular for the subscale “attention deficit”, as revealed by a post-hoc analysis.

Conclusion: The results of this study are consistent with most of the research on this topic in other cultural circles and highlight the role of ADHD and depression when it comes to problematic Internet use. This study provides a basis for consideration about the clinical implications and treatment of comorbid problematic Internet use.

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