MHM Magazine

Issue 6 | 2022 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 23 MHM the internet without untoward consequences, it’s increasingly recognised that a vulnerable subset of people may develop problematic online behaviours. When these behaviours develop into habits that are difficult to break, they are referred to as problematic usage of the internet (PUI) or generalised internet addiction. PUI is widely considered a behavioural addiction and is an umbrella term referring to excessive and/or maladaptive internet use associated with various psychological, social, academic, health, and/or professional problems. All of the diverse online activities listed above may become problematic. Moreover, internet use does not only become problematic when it’s time-consuming or interferes with work/task-completion, but can also become problematic when the nature of the activity causes distress or impairment, e.g., financial / relationship difficulties associated with uncontrollable gaming, gambling, buying/shopping, or cybersex/ pornography watching. PUI and youth People of all ages use the internet. One age group that possibly access the internet more regularly than any other are adolescents and young adults, and they’re often called “digital natives”. Individuals aged 18–24 years account for 18% and those aged from 25 to 34 for a third (32%) of global internet users. Online activities preferred by young people include social networking, entertainment, academic work, and online gaming. Various problems, such as physical ailments, sleep disorders, social withdrawal, and poor interpersonal relationships are associated with excessive engagement in such online activities. There is evidence to suggest that unhealthy family functioning (characterised by conflict, poor parent-child relationships, insecure attachment, childhood abuse, divorce, and parental substance abuse) may lead to PUI, or reinforce the behaviour when members excessively engage with the internet as a mechanism to cope with such adversity within the home. In turn, PUI may also result in unhealthy family functioning, marked by conflict, low levels of cohesion, and poor communication. Indeed, one of the most widely considered issues pertaining to internet use is its ability to rob families of their shared time. This is problematic in the sense that quantity of time spent together strengthens relationships, increases cohesion, and functions as a barrier against unhealthy family functioning. Internet use, PUI and South African youth To our knowledge, there has been relatively little research on PUI and family dynamics, and no publication on such data from South African youth. Our research group (the SAMRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders) recently conducted an investigation, supported by the National Research Foundation, on the relationship between PUI and family functioning in local youth between the ages of 18 and 30 cross-sectional survey data was collected from 814 individuals during 2020. Among the respondents, the prevalence rate of PUI was 15.5%, indicating that PUI may be a significant mental health issue locally. 126 (15.5%) 126= 75 (59.5%) F | 51 (40.5%) M Non-PUI PUI 688 (84.5%) 126 (15.5%) 688 (84.5%) As scores on the IAT-10 (assessing severity of internet use) increased, scores on the general functioning scale of the family assessment device (GF-FAD) increased linearly, indicating that increased internet use was associated with increased severity of unhealthy family functioning. Moreover, a significant difference in the GF-FAD scores of individuals with PUI and those without PUI, suggested that individuals with PUI experienced unhealthier family functioning than individuals without PUI Increased severity of social networking, online pornography, streaming media, and cyberbullying were also positively correlated with "increases in family dysfunction. Our findings suggest that PUI is common in South African youth, and shed light on the nature of the strong relationship between PUI and unhealthy family functioning among young South Africans. Assessment of online activity It’s important to objectively assess whether someone’s internet use is excessive or problematic. There are numerous unvalidated scales to assess the extent and the nature of individuals’ problematic online behaviours. Reliable and validated tools would allow better identification of the problematic behaviour however. One example of such a tool is the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS), (3-5 minutes to complete) which has good psychometric properties, including items typical of compulsive internet use: i.e., the inability to control internet use, mental and behavioural preoccupation with online activities, agitation associated with the inability to go online, mood change, and conflicts with significant others about internet use. Recently, another scale, namely the Internet Severity and Activities Questionnaire (ISAAQ), was developed, providing a useful, psychometrically robust