Problematic use of the internet and social networking sites: a psycho-physiological perspective

In the framework of the theoretical debate on whether it is appropriate to consider Problematic Internet Use (PIU) and problematic Social Networking sites use as addictive behaviors, the main aim of this work was to build on and extend previous findings about the psycho-physiological mechanisms underlying these problematic behaviors. In the first study, self-report instruments in a cross-sectional design highlighted a pattern of symptoms related to anxiety/mood disorders and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in PIU. Interestingly, only hoarding and obsessing symptoms predicted the condition of problematic vs. non-problematic Internet use, suggesting an altered mechanism shared by OCD and PIU that may lie at the basis of PIU development. In the second study, the relationship between autonomic reactivity during a stressful task and craving was investigated in PIU. We found lower resting heart rate variability (HRV) before the stressful task in individuals with PIU vs. non-PIU. Moreover, after the stressful task, lower HRV in PIU was related to higher craving for Internet use, suggesting that, in PIU, reduced autonomic flexibility is a stable condition that is related to reduced capacity for self-regulating craving. In the third study, inhibitory processes and their relationship with HRV were assessed in PIU by an emotional Go/Nogo task. Lower performance accuracy among problematic- than non-problematic users was found. Moreover, only among problematic Internet users lower HRV predicted less efficient task performance upon the presentation of unpleasant stimuli, suggesting reduced HRV to be a potential indicator of defective inhibitory control in PIU. As for the fourth study, the cognitive-behavioral model of generalized PIU in the context of Problematic Facebook Use (PFU) was tested. The main result showed that using Facebook for mood regulation has a greater impact than preference for online social interaction on negative outcomes of PFU, suggesting that using Facebook to regulate mood is a core component of PFU. Cue-reactivity and response inhibition in the presence of Facebook-related and affective stimuli in individuals with vs. without PFU were also investigated. In the fifth study, the Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the passive viewing of Facebook-related, pleasant, unpleasant and neutral pictures. The results did not provide evidence for cue-reactivity to Facebook-related cues in problematic users. Rather, Facebook-related cues elicited larger ERP positivity than neutral, and comparable to unpleasant stimuli, in all Facebook users. Interestingly though, only in problematic users the ERP positivity elicited by Facebook-related cues was inversely related to subjective arousal, suggesting that negative reinforcement processes might characterize PFU as a behavioral addiction. Moreover, similarly to drug addiction, in which enhanced and sustained reward reactivity would increase the likelihood of risky behavior, we found long-lasting larger ERP positivity to pleasant than unpleasant pictures only in problematic Facebook users. In the sixth study, we investigated whether individuals with vs. without PFU show greater difficulties in inhibiting motor responses during an emotional Go/Nogo task. Overall, our findings suggest that problematic users are characterized by under-engagement of response inhibition processes in the context of natural reward- and Facebook-related stimuli, as indexed by reduced overall accuracy and Nogo-P3 amplitude to Facebook-related, pleasant and neutral stimuli than to unpleasant stimuli. Overall, the findings of these studies seem to suggest that PIU and PFU share similar affective and cognitive processes with addictive behaviors. In order to overcome some methodological problems, identifying core symptomatology and reliable diagnostic criteria of PIU has become a priority.