Parenting styles, perceived social support and emotion regulation skills in adolescents with patological internet use

Pathological Internet Usage is a problem that is increasing in frequency and effects more and more people every day. In the researches carried out, the most common users of the internet are adolescents, causing the factors related to the pathological internet usage to be more important in this period. This study is a cross-sectional study comparing adolescents with and without pathological internet users (PIU) in terms of parental attitudes, perceived social support and emotional regulation skills. In both groups, internet usage features and associated psychopathologies were also evaluated. For this purpose, 176 adolescents aged between 12-17 years, who applied to the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine were included in the study and participants were asked to fill out The Sociodemographic and Clinical Information Form, which is prepared by the researchers, the Young Internet Addiction Test (YIAT), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Parenting Style Scale (PSS), Lum Emotional Availability of Parents (LEAP), Social Support Appraisels Scale for Children (SOCSS), Difficulties in Emotion Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-28) and The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). In all participants, the Young Internet Addiction Diagnostic Criteria were evaluated by clinical interview. 40 adolescents who were found to use the Internet at the pathological level according to the YIAT scores and who met the Young Internet Addiction Diagnosis Criteria constituted the research group. Again 40 adolescents, matched by the research group in terms of age, gender and socioeconomic level, among the adolescents who did not show symptoms according to YİBÖ scores and did not meet the Young Internet Addiction Diagnosis Criteria, constituted the control group. Clinical interviews were conducted with all adolescents and parents in the research and control group, using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School - Age Children - Present and Lifetime Version (K - SADS - PL) for the purpose of screening psychiatric disorders. As a result of these evaluations, 25 % of all participants were PIU, it was observed that the most significant difference between research and control group was the ratio of having a hobbie- occupation. In terms of internet usage habits; it is found that the most meaningful difference is between the average daily internet usage times, besides there are significant differences in different variables such as online and non-online game playing ratios and rates of hidden identity usage during internet usage. In addition, the adolescents in the PIK group perceive their parents' attitudes more negligently, they found their parents' emotional accessibility to be more limited, their social support and life satisfaction perceived by their friends is lower, they have difficulties in organizing emotions, the ability to distinguish / recognize and express emotions was found to be inadequate. It has also vi been shown that anxiety symptoms are higher, self-esteem is lower, more anxiety disorders and destructive behavior disorders are diagnosed. As the usage of the internet increases, the prevalence of pathological internet usage also increases. Findings from this study are thought to be important in the treatment of adolescents with PIU, and in preventing the pathological internet usage in adolescents.