Dataset Information

Bipolar disorder affects behavior and social skills on the Internet.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a significant cause of functional, cognitive, and social impairment. However, classic studies of functioning and social skills have not investigated how BD may impact behavior on the Internet. Given that the digital age has been changing the way people communicate, this study aims to investigate the pattern of Internet use in patients with BD.

Methods

This cross-sectional study assessed 30 patients with BD I or II and 30 matched controls. Patients were not in an acute mood episode, according to DSM-IV. A standard protocol examined sociodemographic variables and social behavior on the Internet, assessed by Facebook number of friends (FBN) and lifetime estimated number of offline contacts (social network number, SNN).

Results

SNN (p<0.001) and FBN (p?=?0.036) of patients with BD were significantly lower than those of controls. Also, variables related with Internet use were significantly lower in patients, e.g., close contacts on Facebook (p?=?0.021), Internet experience (p?=?0.020), and knowledge of terms associated with social networking sites (p?=?0.042). Also, patients showed lower rates of the expected pattern of Internet use (based on their age generation), including a poorer knowledge of SNS (p?=?0.018) and a lower frequency of Internet use (p?=?0.010).

Discussion

This study suggests that patients with BD show smaller social networks both in real-world settings and on the Internet. Also, patients tend to use the Internet and social networking sites less frequently and show a poorer knowledge of Internet and social media than healthy controls, below the expected for their generation. These significant differences between patients and controls suggest that the effects of BD on social relationships and functioning extend to electronic media.

SUBMITTER: Martini T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3823569 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Objective: The Internet can offer a seemingly safe haven for those being disappointed by relationships in the "offline world". Although the Internet can provide lonely people with opportunities to seek for help and support online, complete withdrawal from the offline world comes with costs. It is discussed if people can even become "addicted" to the Internet. Of note, meanwhile, many researchers prefer the term Internet use disorder (IUD) instead of using the term "Internet addiction". To illustrate the importance of one's own social network supporting a person in everyday life, we investigated, for the first time to our knowledge, how social resources in terms of quality and quantity might represent a buffer against the development of IUD. Furthermore, anxiety related coping styles are investigated as a further independent variable likely impacting on the development of an IUD. Method: In the present work, N = 567 participants (n = 164 males and n = 403 females; Mage = 23.236; SDage = 8.334) filled in a personality questionnaire assessing individual differences in cognitive avoidant and vigilant anxiety processing, ergo, traits describing individual differences in everyday coping styles/modes. Moreover, all participants provided information on individual differences in tendencies toward IUD, the perceived quality of social support received, and the size of their social network (hence a quantity measure). Results: Participants with larger social networks and higher scores in the received social support reported the lowest tendencies toward IUD in our data. A vigilant coping style was positively correlated with tendencies toward IUD, whereas no robust associations could be observed between a cognitive avoidant coping style and tendencies toward IUD. Hierarchical linear regression underlined an important predictive role of the interaction term of vigilance in ego-threat scenarios and perceived quality of social support. Conclusion: The current study not only yields support for the hypothesis that the size of one's own social network as well as the perceived quality of social support received in everyday life present putative resilience factors against developing IUD. It also supports the approach that special coping styles are needed to make use of the social support offered.