Tagged With "affected others"
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Internet and gaming addiction – New research
The link below provides a brief summary and overview of some of the latest research on internet gaming disorder and other internet-related addiction problems as well as links to the publications. It poses the question: " Should we be worried about the fact that most of us are constantly connected? " How we work, meet friends, shop, buy groceries, pay bills and even how we seek medical help can be done from the comfort of our couch. What do you think, are you worried about this? Internet and...
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CBC News Article: Tech companies encourage us to be smart about phones
This newly released CBC News article discusses new Smartphone management tools that enable users to get daily and weekly activity reports about the total time they spend in each app, their usage and notifications as well as the ability for parents to put controls on usage. Featured in the article, @Registered Member points out that this may be one avenue to help reduce or minimize Smartphone use but that there are also other options such as turning off notifications and scheduling...
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"An age-by-age guide to kids and smartphones"
This is an interesting article that outlines some of the recommended guidelines for children and smartphone use: https://www.todaysparent.com/family/parenting/an-age-by-age-guide-to-kids-and-smartphones/ Dr. Michael Cheng, who spoke earlier this week at the Ontario Problem Gambling and Behavioural Addictions Provincial Forum, is quoted throughout the article. What do you think about some of these tips and guidelines? Are they realistic and reasonable? What other recommendations might you ...
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"Loot Boxes" - gambling or not?
We have seen a rise in gaming/skill-based elements in gambling, and an increase in gambling-related elements in online gaming over the years. There are growing concerns surrounding the blurred lines between gambling and gaming, which is likely to become more widespread given the rise and reliance of technology (King et al., 2015). One such technological development is the emergence of "loot boxes" in various video games, which is a type of micro-transaction that players can purchase (with...
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Research on Parent-Child "Technoference"
A recent research article published in the journal Pediatric Research looks at the effects of "technoference" (defined as digital/mobile technology use that interrupts interpersonal relationships) in a parent-child relationship. Here are some interesting findings from the study that looked at technoference in 183 couples & their children over a 6-month period: 55.5% of mothers and 43.0% of fathers reported having two or more technology devices that interrupt activities with their child...
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Do you use the Mental Status Examination in your practice?
Do you use the Mental Status Examination (MSE) in your practice? If so, you'll want to head to our newly released evidence-informed practice web section on the MSE . There, you will find refreshers on what the MSE entails, the latest research on its use and how to apply it to your work with people with gambling problems. You can also find our other evidence-informed practice web sections at https://learn.problemgambling.ca/eip . We also recently offered a webinar on Concurrent Disorders and...
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Students advocate for more mental health support
As post secondary students are gearing up to return to school next Tuesday, this article highlights some ways that different post secondary institutions are dealing with their students mental health concerns. The article states that a recent study found that "in 2016, about 44,000 Canadian students across 41 post-secondary schools responded to a survey that found about a fifth were dealing with immense anxiety, depression, and other mental-health illnesses, according to the National College...
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Webinar: Mental Health and Well-Being Among Ontario Students
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) recently released it's 2017 survey results. The report describes physical health indicators, mental health indicators, bullying, gambling and related problems, video gaming and related problems, and other risk behaviours among Ontario students in 2017 and changes since 1991, where available. A few survey highlights on gambling, gaming and technology use: About 7% of secondary school students...
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Fortnite cited in 200 divorce cases in 2018 in the UK
Fortnite implicated in divorce proceedings I must admit, that when I first saw that headline in various places on social media, I thought it might have been a satire piece from the Onion or something similar. When I dug a bit deeper, it was revealed that is in, in fact, true. A couple of things struck me with this headline: 1) I'm so curious about other jurisdictions now and how many other couples would cite gaming as a factor in their relationship breakup. 2) It also calls attention to the...
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RCMP Youth Trends Report Fall 2018
This was forwarded to me, via email, and i am passing it along. There is a lot of great information to help us understand our youth and technology better.
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Teens and Social Media, suprising results?
Common Sense Media did a survey about teens and social media. The results indicated that teens felt social media made them feel better about themselves. Interestingly, they also noted that for youth who were already having a difficulty time, social media made them feel worse. Check out the infographic for information about teens and distracted driving and other aspects of their social media use.
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Screen time, social media and tech use among Ontario high school students: Webinar this Thursday!
Why are 20% of Ontario high school students spending 5 hours or more everyday on electronic devices in their spare time? To hear more about screen time, social media use and other findings from the 2017 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) register for this webinar this Thursday September 27 th from 1-2:30pm (EDT). Target audience: Public health, teachers, policy-makers , mental health leads, counsellors, and service providers. REGISTER HERE: https://OSDUHS-2017.eventbrite.com
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Older Adults & Problem Gambling: Journal of Gambling Issues - Special Issue 39
There is a distinct scarcity of research on problem gambling in the older population (+ 55 years of age) despite a steady increase in prevalence rates (see Matheson et al., JGI , 39 , 43-61). In this special issue of the Journal of Gambling Issues ( JGI ), released in September 2018, a work group funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Gambling Research Exchange Ontario, summarize recent work in this field and identify paths for future study. Contributions include...
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Cashing in on Mental Health?
Interesting article from the CBC yesterday on problem gambling in BC. It's sobering to hear about the pitfalls other provinces face with respect to problem gambling prevention, protection and supports. The former Problem Gambling Institute of Ontario is referenced in here along with other Canadian sources, around the evidence supporting problem gambling. Take a read if you have a chance.
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Canucks players put in video game ban on the road
I heard this on the news while driving into work this morning. The news article states that the Vancouver Canucks have decided that: “ No more Fortnite. No more bringing video games on the road. It’s strictly team meals, team dinners and hanging out with the guys. So we put an end to that. ” Canucks players put in video game ban on the road I liked that the article specifically talks about the importance of spending face to face time together. Working in this field, we constantly see the...
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How mental illness is discussed on the internet
armchair diagnosing is dangerous In the article linked above, they discuss one social media influencer who has created an 8 part documentary series examing the perceived mental health issues of another social media influencer. One of the concerns that gets examined is the idea that they lump bad behaviour in with mental health issues. This can have the impact of increasing stigma for those who deal with mental health issues. Another concern noted is that the one influencer is talking about...
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CAMH Monitor e-Report 2017 - Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use Rates in Ontario Adults
The CAMH Monitor e-Report 2017 was just released, providing new gambling, gaming and technology use prevalence rates for Ontario adults. Below are some highlights. Gambling: The most common gambling activity was buying lottery tickets. 23.4% of adults reported betting on slots or table games at a casino in the past year, while 3.7% bet money online. 1.2% of Ontario adults had a moderate to high risk of gambling problems in the past year. Gaming & Technology Use: 5.6% of Ontario adults...
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Data show no evidence that teens' social media use predicts depression over time
Longitudinal data from adolescents and young adults show no evidence that social media use predicts later depressive symptoms. However, the findings do show that relatively higher depressive symptoms predicted later social media use among adolescent girls. This research stands in contrast with recent claims that adolescents' use of social media may lead to depression, claims based primarily on studies that examined associations between average social media use and average well-being measured...
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Gambling, Gaming and Technology Use Community of Interest Survey
We invite you to complete a short survey about our Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use Community of Interest, which you can access here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GGTU-CoI . The purpose of this survey is to understand the extent to which our community of interest has increased your knowledge about gambling, gaming and technology use as well as your connections with other stakeholders. It will also help to inform the development of future online communities through EENet Connect. This...
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Have you seen our evidence-informed practice content on Learn.ProblemGambling.ca?
Have you been to Learn.ProblemGambling.ca/eip lately? We have updated and added new evidence-informed practice content for mental health & addiction service providers on a variety of problem gambling topics, including: Screening & Assessment Mental Status Examination Stages of Change Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy Relapse Prevention Inventory of Gambling Situations Concurrent Disorders Trauma-Informed Care We have also updated and added evidence-informed content on other behavioural...
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Too much screen time for the kids? Grandparents may also be complicit
Grandparents have long been associated with letting their grandchildren do things their parents would never permit. Candy. Extended bedtime. Too much television. Carefree fun. They like to spoil their grandchildren. A new study by Rutgers and other researchers finds that today's grandparents are still true to their traditional fun-loving image -- allowing their grandchildren, while under their supervision, to spend about half of their time on a mobile phone, tablet, computer or TV. The study...
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Social media, but not video games, linked to depression in teens, according to Montreal study
Screen time — and social media in particular — is linked to an increase in depressive symptoms in teenagers, according to a new study by researchers at Montreal's Sainte-Justine Hospital. Conrod and her colleague, Elroy Boers, found that the increased symptoms of depression are linked to being active on platforms such as Instagram, where teens are more likely to compare their lives to glitzy images in their feeds. The most surprising finding for Boers was that time spent playing video games...
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Fall 2019 Newsletter
Just in case you missed it, our Fall 2019 newsletter was released today. Our newsletter recently merged with the EENet newsletter to streamline how you stay informed about trainings, webinars, research, and other news related to mental health and addictions in Ontario. You can find the full Fall 2019 newsletter here . If you haven't done so already, please sign up here to keep up-to-date with the latest gambling, gaming and technology use news.
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Panicking About Your Kids Phones? New Research Says Don’t
A growing number of academics are challenging assumptions about the negative effects of social media and smartphones on children. SAN FRANCISCO — It has become common wisdom that too much time spent on smartphones and social media is responsible for a recent spike in anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, especially among teenagers. But a growing number of academic researchers have produced studies that suggest the common wisdom is wrong. The latest research, published on...
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Re: Teens in Urban Regions Are More Likely To Experience Problem Video Gaming
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, @Registered Member. This is based on the results of one article, so it may be possible that other studies looking at the differences in problem video gaming between teens in urban and rurals regions could yield different results depending on the region, access to technology and offline activities available, among many factors. And thanks @Registered Member, I agree that it would be vital to educate students (and parents/guardians) about gambling, video...
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Re: How mental illness is discussed on the internet
There are so many horrible things and misinformation on the internet regarding mental health and addictions. In a sea of confusion, it's hard to find the truth. I think it's critical for those of us working in this field to stop using jargon and psychobabble to reach the general population. People are looking for credible information that they can understand and share on social media. I saw a "problem solving" cartoon the other day that showed someone who hung himself and the other person...
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Re: Cashing in on Mental Health?
This is a good article! Thanks Howie. CAMH has also advocated for closing hours and to not allow casinos to stay open for 24 hours. We have some other policy statements available here: https://learn.problemgambling.ca/policy
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Re: Just Released! Journal of Gambling Issues - Special Issue (38)
Thx for the link to JGI's latest issue! The first journal title caught my eye right away - What Characterizes Excessive Online Trading? I particularly liked how they explored the mutual similarities between gambling behaviours and trading behaviours. In my opinion, I think the sample size was much to low to really encapsulate the scope of trading. For example, I think stricter measures on participants may have helped to pull apart problem trading versus regular trading - novel traders,...
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Re: Gaming and gambling
Interesting research! The Australian Government is currently conducting a commission into loot-boxes (microtransactions for chance based items). You can read a number of interesting submissions (including my own ) on the topic. The Australian Government has also reached out to the Netherlands to clarify why they regulated lootboxes in games. Their response states: The Senate report is actually due today, but I haven't seen it yet. I've done quite a bit of work in this space. To those...
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Re: The first long-term study on how screen time affects children's brains
It will be interesting to see if they control for things like income and other social determinants of health. I have a sense that it might be more likely for parents with fewer resources to use the phone/TV as a coping strategy, especially if they don't have as much support as other more affluent parents.
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Re: The first long-term study on how screen time affects children's brains
Hi Nimira, You make an excellent point. Another thing to consider, on the opposite spectrum, is that many middle class to upper class schools now utilize tablets and laptops as part of the school curriculum. Does the content matter? Or is it just screen time. I wonder if the added family resources outside of school, that may support vacations, hobbies and sports (events away from screen time) and resources that support enhanced learning, is large enough to combat the effects of increased...
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Re: The first long-term study on how screen time affects children's brains
I was just about to say that Aaron! Content matters! This has been an ongoing debate and I'm afraid I'm on the pro-screen time. I find these studies skewed... "If you give a child an app where they play with virtual Legos, virtual blocks, and stack them, and then put real blocks in front of them, they start all over," Why would you test block-building capacity and say this skill isn't transferable when using real blocks? Seems pretty obvious. I'm sure if you tested for non gross motor skills...
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Re: "An age-by-age guide to kids and smartphones"
Thanks for your responses, Tiffany and Rebecca! I totally agree that it is important to also consider what the screens are being used for and for parents to set an example. I don't have experience working with children with problem technology use (PTU), but I do have some experience working with youth and emerging adults with PTU. Some additional strategies that I have seen to be effective in clinical practice with this population include: -using apps that block access to certain sites (such...
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Re: "An age-by-age guide to kids and smartphones"
I agree Elaine that it is so important to share our stories, so we can learn from each other. When you read a guideline or suggestion around screen time, sometimes it doesn't sink in, especially when you are dealing with toddler tantrums or pre-teen drama. But when you hear someone's story, of how dangerous and life-changing technology use and screen time can be, it really hits home.
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Re: "An age-by-age guide to kids and smartphones"
I too agree with your thoughts, Elaine. Thanks for sharing. The stories of parents and children with lived experience can provide some of the most valuable and insightful information on how we can effectively raise awareness about this issue and think about strategies towards recovery. This makes me think about the idea of family peer support groups , in which families with lived experience come together and support each other and exchange tips/strategies. Thanks again for being such an...
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Re: Blog: Vocational Goals & Recovery
Thanks Sylvia! Yes, I look forward to speaking on the topic of meaningful activities during the webinar that I will be facilitating in March! I should also mention that the vocational supports discussed in the blog I wrote focus on treatment for clients with problem gambling, but many of these strategies can also be applied to clients with other types of problematic behaviours, such as problem technology use.
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Re: ADHD study links teens' symptoms with digital media use
Great article, Howie. And thanks for shedding light on your personal experiences, Elaine. It's interesting because most of the theories I've heard concerning the link between ADHD and digital media use focus on how the symptoms of ADHD (e.g., inattentiveness, impulsivity, etc.) put a person at risk for developing problematic technology use as an unhealthy way of coping with/expressing these symptoms. However, in your son's case, it appears that his video gaming preceded his ADHD symptoms.
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Re: Increases in technology use among Ontario students
Thanks for everyone's comments! Rebecca, I also found these results quite alarming. I found it interesting that only 23% of students met the recommended daily physical activity guideline, while 64% of students spend 3+ hours of recreational screen time per day. I wonder about links between screen use and lack of physical activity (as well as other impacts of course). I too worry about the long-term effects of excessive screen use.
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Re: Gambling, Gaming, and Technology Use Knowledge Exchange
Thank you for posting this article, Elaine! I think it is relevant food for thought for both parents and professionals. I especially like that she talks about the importance of ruling out and addressing electronics in mental health assessments. In the article, Dr. Dunkerley also says, “ Time and again, I’ve realized that regardless of whether there exists any “true” underlying diagnoses, successfully treating a child with mood dysregulation today requires methodically eliminating all...
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Re: Gambling, Gaming, and Technology Use Knowledge Exchange
I agree, Lisa. I took my son for a full medical assessment at the same time I detoxed him from video gaming. I also monitored his moods very closely, with the concern of his anxiety and depression increasing, and fear of suicidal thoughts. I have also heard from one of my holistic clients her concerns after the psychologist who sees her son, for severe depression, suggesting his client should "do what he loves", however the only thing he loves is gaming, and mom feels it's making the...
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Re: Study on free to play gambling apps and in-venue gambling from Australia
Great question Tiffany! As a clinician, I would be very cautious and would want to explore how and why someone might be using theses games in a harm reduction way. Many years ago, I had a client who decided to abstain from drinking beer and drink "near beer" or dealcolized beer instead. Upon reflection after a few weeks of doing this, she found that she was drinking the "near beer" in the same amount, for the same reasons and in the same pattern that she had previously been drinking beer. In...
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Re: Screen time and ADHD
Thanks Lisa highlighting this topic and Elaine for sharing your personal experience and journey. Such an interesting topic, and the article had this to say: "But maybe the most interesting finding is that not all screen activities had equal effects. For example: Playing video games with family had no significant association with the development of ADHD symptoms, while playing video games alone (even if playing with other people online) had a strong association with subsequent ADHD symptoms".
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Re: Can anyone suggest an gambling clinical practice guide, that incorporates "cultural competency" on the idea of "lucky?"
Hello Bill, Please find the attached document, "A Guide for Counsellors Working with Problem Gambling Clients from Ethno-cultural Communities." On page 16 there is content related to your question. Best, Lisa
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Re: Gambling, Gaming, and Technology Use Knowledge Exchange
Thank you so much for sharing the article, Elaine. It was very thought provoking. I had some initial responses to his article (in italics). My Responses to “Why Is There a ‘Gaming Disorder’ But NO ‘Smartphone Disorder’ article in The Atlantic by Ian Bogost on June 28, 2018. The ICD has not "decided" that if you play video games a lot, you might suffer from a mental health issue: Gaming disorder.” They have determined based on research and consultations with experts that those that are...
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Re: Blog on WHO's decision to include gaming disorder in the ICD-11
I completely agree Lisa. My eldest son plays video games a lot and still has a full life outside of gaming. My youngest's son's gaming habits were do severe he stopped thriving. As a result, one son can still enjoy a lifestyle that includes gaming, while the other now chooses to abstain. There is an enormous difference, and we have to be really clear in stating just what those differences are. Although our family has to deal with a son with Gaming Disorder, we have not jumped on the...
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Re: Problem Tech Use - Resource for parents
We also have a one page tip sheet: Video Gaming: How to make Healthy Choices . It is a good resource to use with young people who are gaming. It identifies strategies to help keep gaming fun and balanced with other activities. It is also a good information source for parents who are monitoring their children's video gaming activities.