Addiction
Are problem internet users impulsive in the same way as smokers?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Students with problematic internet use and students who smoke were both more impulsive than peers, sharing trouble with focusing attention but differing on which other impulsive traits stood out.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — Two independent freshman cohorts from one Chinese university (2014 and 2017) completed internet-addiction, nicotine-dependence and impulsivity measures (BIS-11, UPPS-P, delay discounting); groups were compared and logistic regressions contrasted pure problematic internet users and pure smokers with non-smoking normal users
- N
- N=2315 · 2315 students after exclusions, pooled from two samples of 1281 (2014) and 1034 (2017); most analyses were run in each sample separately and the four-subgroup comparison on the pooled data
- Population
- First-year university students aged 18-23 in Guiyang, China, excluding those reporting psychiatric, neurological or illicit-drug history
- Outcome
- Self-reported impulsivity facets (BIS-11 and UPPS-P subscales) and delay-discounting rate as correlates and predictors of problematic internet use (IAT) and smoking status (FTND)
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Key findings
Both problematic internet users and smokers scored higher than non-smoking normal users on most impulsivity questionnaire facets, with larger differences for internet users (for example d = 0.81 for attentional impulsiveness) and no direct difference between the two groups. In regression models, attentional impulsiveness predicted both problems, while motor impulsiveness, lack of perseverance, lack of premeditation and negative urgency predicted only problematic internet use, and sensation seeking predicted only smoking. Delay discounting did not distinguish either group from controls, and the pattern replicated in both cohorts.
Methodology
The researchers surveyed two separate groups of first-year students at one Chinese university, three years apart. Students were classed as problematic or normal internet users with the Internet Addiction Test and as smokers or non-smokers with a nicotine dependence questionnaire. Everyone completed a pair of multi-facet impulsivity questionnaires (BIS-11 and UPPS-P) and a delay-discounting choice task, and the authors compared students with only problematic internet use, only smoking, both, or neither.
Limitations
The design is cross-sectional, so it cannot tell whether impulsivity leads to problem use, results from it, or both. Group membership and impulsivity were based almost entirely on self-report questionnaires, including a cut-off score for problematic internet use rather than a clinical diagnosis, so shared method bias and social desirability are concerns. All students came from a single university in one Chinese city, and smokers were mostly male, which limits generalisation to other ages, cultures or clinical populations.
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