INTERNET ADDICTION IN PATIENTS WITH SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER

Objective: The aim of this study was to further investigate the relationship between internet addiction and substance use disorder by exploring the prevalence of internet addiction among patients in a substance use disorder treatment clinic and to investigate the frequency with which internet addiction co-occurs with other psychiatric disorders in this population. Method: A survey, containing questions based on the nine criteria for internet gaming disorder proposed in the research appendix to DSM-5, was administered at 24 outpatient clinics for substance use disorders within the Stockholm Centre for Dependency Disorders. Data concerning additional psychiatric diagnoses was collected from patient medical records. A total of 569 patients participated, after excluding those with missing data as well as participants who primarily gambled online, the final sample size was N=462. Results: In total, 4.1% of the surveyed patients with substance use disorder met at least five out of nine internet addiction criteria at a level of “Fairly true” or higher, and reported at least “Some suffering” as a consequence of their internet use. An independent-samples t-test comparing the mean of the total internet addiction score between groups of patients with additional psychiatric diagnoses and the rest of the sample showed that participants with any one additional non-substance related psychiatric diagnose as well as those with an anxiety diagnose had significantly higher internet addiction scores than the rest of the sample. There were no significant differences in mean internet addiction scores between participants with ADHD or depression and the remaining sample. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence to suggest that internet addiction does not constitute a major clinical issue for patients in treatment for substance use disorder, lending little support to the suggestion that internet-related problem behaviours share pathophysiology with substance use disorders. Although patients with an anxiety disorder reported elevated internet addiction scores compared to the remaining sample this finding should be replicated in a population of patients who report with anxiety disorder as their primary problem. The presence of clinically relevant co-occurrence between internet addiction and substance use disorder needs to be further investigated in larger study populations, using clinical interviews to assess both diagnoses