HomeDigital HabitsDigital SafetyQuizCoursesNewsReadWatchScienceAbout
CONTACT

Screen Sense

Digital guidance and Support
ContactAboutQuizCoachingArticlesTypesHome
Close
HomeDigital HabitsDigital SafetyDigital InsightsQuizCoursesAboutContact
Back to Articles
November 1, 2020
Science

Systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiology of internet addiction

T

he field of internet addiction has experienced significant debates on conflicting epidemiology. This meta-analysis investigated the prevalence rates of generalized internet addiction (GIA) and internet gaming disorder (IGD).

Methods

We included 113 epidemiologic studies covering 693,306 subjects published from 1996 to 2018 (for 31 nations) that reported prevalence rates for GIA or IGD. We examined pooled prevalence of GIA and IGD and the hypothesized moderators including year, geographic regions, types of scales, and sample representativeness.

Results

All 133 effect sizes included 53,184 subjects with GIA or IGD. Weighted average prevalence for GIA and IGD were 7.02 % (95 % CI, 6.09 %–8.08 %) and 2.47 % (95 % CI, 1.46 %–4.16 %) respectively. For GIA, prevalence was increased over time and prevalence rates variated among different scales. IGD prevalence was neither moderated by year, regions, nor sample representativeness.

Conclusions

The prevalence of GIA was higher than the prevalence of IGD. The GIA prevalence was increasing over time and variated with different assessments. Our results reveal that GIA may reflect a pattern of increasing human-machine interaction.

‍
Read the full article on Science Direct.

You might Also Like

Science

Problematic digital gaming behavior and its relation to the psychological, social and physical health of Finnish adolescents and young adults

The aim of this study was to identify problematic gaming behavior among Finnish adolescents and young adults, and evaluate its connection to a variety of psychological, social, and physical health symptoms. This research emphasized that problematic gaming behavior had a strong negative correlation to a variety of subjective health outcomes.

Read More
News

European Union says video app TikTok must change ‘addictive’ design

Authorities in the European Union said that the video-sharing platform TikTok is in breach of online content regulations, warning the company to change “addictive” features in order to protect minors from compulsive use.

Read More
Watch

Won't stop, can't stop: Fortnite: Addicted to online gaming | 60 Minutes Australia

Video games have become so good, and provide such a sensory smorgasbord of action and colour, that children are becoming dangerously addicted. They’re playing for days on end, to the exclusion of everything else in their lives, including school, friends and family.

Read More
We value your opinion

Feedback Survey

We greatly appreciate your feedback on this website and would like to know what information you found useful and what services you would like to see next. Please take a couple of minutes to let us know.

survey
About us

Screen Sense supports adults and young people (aged 16+) by providing resources that empower them to explore healthy digital habits and develop self-regulation safely, respectfully and with autonomy.

Navigation
HomeDigital HabitsDigital SafetyDigital InsightsQuizCoursesAbout
Contacts
Based in New Zealand
hello@screensense.net
+64 27 707 1467
message us
Send Message
Copyright Screen Sense 2026
Powered by Screen Sense