Comorbid symptoms of internet addiction among adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder: a comparative study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flowchart of the recruitment process.

ASD, autism spectrum disorder; ADHD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Table 1. Demographics and characteristics of participants.

	ASD, n = 35	Without ASD, n = 67	φ or R	P
Gender			−0.19	0.06
Boys	21 (60.0)	27 (40.6)
Girls	14 (40.0)	40 (59.4)
Grade			0.13	0.42
7^th	13 (37.1)	19 (27.5)
8^th	12 (34.3)	32 (47.8)
9^th	10 (28.6)	16 (24.6)
SRS-2	67.83 (29.11)	42.81 (18.87)	−0.40	<0.001***
ADHD-RS	12.11 (8.86)	7.77 (7.93)	−0.24	0.02*
IAT score	46.26 (19.79)	40.96 (14.65)	0.10	0.26
Internet addiction	14 (40.0)	26 (23.9)	0.17	0.09
Severity			0.19	0.17
IAT score; ≥ 70	5 (14.3)	3 (4.5)
IAT score; 40–69	15 (42.9)	27 (40.3)
QIDS-J score	7.57 (5.94)	8.78 (6.39)	0.09	0.37
Depression	7 (20.0)	26 (38.8)	−0.19	0.05
Electronic devices
Television	29 (82.9)	56 (83.6)	−0.07	0.46
Laptop	17 (48.6)	30 (44.8)	0.05	0.61
Tablet	16 (45.7)	27 (40.3)	0.04	0.71
Smartphone	21 (60.0)	45 (67.2)	−0.06	0.56
Video games	27 (77.1)	47 (70.1)	0.09	0.41

Values expressed as n (%) or mean ± standard deviation; internet addiction, IAT score ≥ 50; depression, QIDS-J score ≥ 11; *p-value < 0.05, **p-value < 0.01, ***p < 0.005

ASD, autism spectrum disorder; SRS-2, Social Responsiveness Scale-2; ADHD-RS, ADHD Rating Scale-IV; IAT, Internet Addiction Test; QIDS-J, Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self-Report Japanese version

Table 2. Possible contributing factors to IAT score in the ASD group.

	ASD
Model	B	95% CI	t	p	Tolerance	VIF
Boys	−2.24	−18.67–14.19	−0.28	0.78	0.81	1.23
Grade	−2.02	−11.05–7.00	−0.46	0.65	1.00	1.00
QIDS-J	−0.12	−1.57–1.33	−0.17	0.87	0.74	1.36
SRS-2	0.11	−0.27–0.49	0.60	0.56	0.45	2.23
ADHD-RS	−0.52	−1.74–0.70	−0.87	0.39	0.46	2.16

Multiple linear regression analysis coefficient table

IAT, Internet Addiction Test; ASD, autism spectrum disorder; CI: confidence interval; VIF, variance inflation factor; QIDS-J, Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self-Report Japanese version; SRS-2, Social Responsiveness Scale-2; ADHD-RS, ADHD Rating Scale-IV

Table 3. Possible contributing factors to IAT score in the non-ASD group.

	Without ASD
Model	B	95% CI	t	p	Tolerance	VIF
Boys	3.31	−3.79–10.40	0.93	0.36	0.83	1.21
Grade	2.31	−2.22–6.85	1.02	0.31	0.99	1.01
QIDS-J	0.94	0.41–1.47	3.54	0.001***	0.86	1.17
SRS-2	−0.13	−0.33–0.07	−1.28	0.21	0.70	1.43
ADHD-RS	0.74	0.26–1.22	3.09	0.003***	0.70	1.43

***p < 0.005. Multiple linear regression analysis coefficient table

IAT, Internet Addiction Test; ASD, autism spectrum disorder; CI, confidence interval; VIF, variance inflation factor; QIDS-J, Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self-Report Japanese version; SRS-2, Social Responsiveness Scale-2; ADHD-RS, ADHD Rating Scale-IV