Severity of behavioral addiction symptoms among young adults using non-prescribed sedatives/hypnotics

Péter, L., Paksi, B., Magi, A., Eisinger, A., Kotyuk, E., Czakó, A., Griffiths, M.D. ORCID: 0000-0001-8880-6524, Demetrovics, Z. and Andó, B., 2023. Severity of behavioral addiction symptoms among young adults using non-prescribed sedatives/hypnotics. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 17: 100485.

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Abstract

Introduction: Young adulthood is considered a critical period in terms of non-medical use of sedatives/hypnotics (NMUSH) as well as different types of behavioral addictions (BAs). However, the relationship between these behaviors has received scarce attention among young adult samples. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the association between NMUSH and symptoms of distinct BAs among young adults.

Materials and methods: Analyses were conducted based on the data of two large sample studies (including a representative sample) carried out with young adult samples. The following BAs were assessed: problematic internet use, problematic video gaming, problematic social media use, problem gambling, exercise addiction, eating disorders, compulsive buying behavior, problematic mobile phone use, work addiction, and hair pulling. Symptoms of distinct BAs were analyzed in three groups formed based on the NMUSH: non-users, lifetime users, and current users.

Results: The symptoms of problematic internet use, problematic social media use, problem gambling, exercise addiction, eating disorders, compulsive buying behavior and work addiction were significantly more severe among lifetime and/or current non-medical sedative and hypnotic users, compared to the non-user participants. The symptoms of problematic mobile phone use were the most severe in the non-user group.

Conclusions: The results suggest co-occurrence between NMUSH and distinct BAs among young adults. These findings draw attention to the need for preventive interventions for this high-risk population.

Item Type: Journal article
Publication Title: Addictive Behaviors Reports
Creators: Péter, L., Paksi, B., Magi, A., Eisinger, A., Kotyuk, E., Czakó, A., Griffiths, M.D., Demetrovics, Z. and Andó, B.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: June 2023
Volume: 17
Identifiers:
NumberType
10.1016/j.abrep.2023.100485DOI
S235285322300007XPublisher Item Identifier
1740394Other
Rights: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/).
Divisions: Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by: Linda Sullivan
Date Added: 14 Mar 2023 12:27
Last Modified: 14 Mar 2023 12:27
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/48507

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