While the Internet is a relatively new technology, that has impacted the world, and provided many benefits, it has also had negative ramifications. Individuals unable to control their use are jeopardizing school, employment and relationships. The concept of “Internet Addiction” is used to explain uncontrollable, damaging use of technology. It is characterized as an impulse control disorder, comparable to pathological gambling, because of overlapping diagnostic criteria and symptomatology. Based on these studies, the IAT was constructed to capture the problematic behavior associated with compulsive use of technology, including online porn, internet gambling and compulsive use of online games and social media. The Internet Addiction Test emerged as the first validated measure of Internet and technology addiction. The assessments can be administered in a variety of mental health settings, including private practice clinics, schools, hospitals and residential programs. They can be used when there is suspicion of Internet addiction, as part of a broad intake assessment, or for use in a wellness curriculum to help participants evaluate their own Internet behavior. The IAT can also be a valuable pre-employment screening device, to detect internet addiction among job candidates, to improve productivity and reduce corporate liability. Based on 20 self-report items, the IAT assesses for the presence of addiction to the Internet, electronic entertainment, social media, and general use of electronic devices, and also measures the severity of addiction, in terms of mild, moderate or severe. Furthermore, because Internet addiction may be driven by different reasons and manifest in different ways, requiring different types of treatment, the IAT produces scores related to the following areas: EscapeCompulsionNeglecting dutiesAnticipationLack of ControlSocial Avoidance

Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.

This is the first book to thoroughly examine how early and easy access to the Internet and digital technologies impacts children and adolescents. Experts in the field examine the research that shows the social, cognitive, developmental, and academic problems that can result when children spend excessive time in front of screens. As a whole. the book provides an invaluable resource for those who need to assess, treat, and prevent Internet addiction in children and adolescents. Internet Addiction in Children and Adolescents: Provides tools that help predict a child’s level of risk for media-related problems. Examines how to diagnose and differentiate Internet addiction from other psychiatric conditions. Explores evidenced-based treatment approaches and how to distinguish pathology from normal development. Shows how to create inpatient treatment programs and therapies to address media addiction. Highlights the psychological, social, and family conditions for those most at risk. Evaluates the effects of the excessive use of electronic games and the Internet on brain development. Explores the physical risks that result from excessive media use and strategies for combating the problem. Examines school-based initiatives that employ policies and procedures designed to increase awareness of excessive media use and help educators identify students who misuse technology, and strategies of intervention and communication with parents. Identifies signs of problem Internet behavior such as aggressive behavior, lying about screen use, and a preference for screen time over social interactions. Outlines the risk factors for developing internet addiction. Provides strategies for treatment and prevention in family, school, and community settings. Practitioners and researchers in psychology, social work, school counseling, child and family therapy, and nursing will appreciate this book's thorough review if internet addiction among children and adolescents. The book also serves as an engaging supplement in courses on media psychology, addiction counseling, abnormal psychology, school counseling, social issues, and more.

This Special Issue presents some of the main emerging research on technological topics of health and education approaches to Internet use-related problems, before and during the beginning of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The objective is to provide an overview to facilitate a comprehensive and practical approach to these new trends to promote research, interventions, education, and prevention. It contains 40 papers, four reviews and thirty-five empirical papers and an editorial introducing everything in a rapid review format. Overall, the empirical ones are of a relational type, associating specific behavioral addictive problems with individual factors, and a few with contextual factors, generally in adult populations. Many have adapted scales to measure these problems, and a few cover experiments and mixed methods studies. The reviews tend to be about the concepts and measures of these problems, intervention options, and prevention. In summary, it seems that these are a global culture trend impacting health and educational domains. Internet use-related addiction problems have emerged in almost all societies, and strategies to cope with them are under development to offer solutions to these contemporary challenges, especially during the pandemic situation that has highlighted the global health problems that we have, and how to holistically tackle them.

DSM-V broke new ground in May of 2013, designating a new disorder called "behavioral addiction." Clinicians immediately wanted to know: how is a behavioral addiction different from an impulse control disorder? What are the criteria for determining that some behaviors are addictions rather than impulses? What, if anything, does this mean in terms of effective treatment?Behavioral Addictions is the first and most authoritative text ever written on the subject of behavioral addictions. This comprehensive work explains the criteria used to determine addiction, the evidence for identifying assorted behaviors as addictions, and the evidence-based treatment for each.With contributions from preeminent experts covering an exhaustive list of behavioral addictions, this book is unique in its coverage of behavioral addictions, their criteria, and treatment. It is a valuable and timely resource for any clinician treating addictions. - A guide to understanding the new DSM-V designation of behavioral addiction - Defines the criteria for behavior to be considered an addiction designation - Discusses the evidence for behaviors meeting addiction criteria - Identifies what is now, likely will be, and is not a behavioral addiction per evidence - Discusses behaviors formerly considered impulse control disorders - Presents evidence-based treatment for each behavioral addiction

Cognition and Addiction: A Researcher's Guide from Mechanisms Towards Interventions provides researchers with a guide to recent cognitive neuroscience advances in addiction theory, phenotyping, treatments and new vistas, including both substance and behavioral addictions. This book focuses on "what to know and "how to apply information, prioritizing novel principles and delineating cutting-edge assessment, phenotyping and treatment tools. Written by world renowned researcher Antonio Verdejo-Garcia, this resource will become a go-to guide for researchers in the field of cognitive neuroscience and addiction. - Examines cognitive neuroscience advances in addiction theory, including both substance and behavioral addictions - Discusses primary principles of cutting-edge assessment, phenotyping and treatment tools - Includes detailed chapters on neuro-epidemiology and genetic imaging