TY - JOUR
T1 - "Diagnostic inflation" will not resolve taxonomical problems in the study of addictive online behaviours
T2 - Commentary on: How to overcome taxonomical problems in the study of Internet use disorders and what to do with "smartphone addiction"? (Montag et al., 2020)
AU - Starcevic, Vladan
AU - King, Daniel L.
AU - Delfabbro, Paul H.
AU - Schimmenti, Adriano
AU - Castro-Calvo, Jesús
AU - Giardina, Alessandro
AU - Billieux, Joël
PY - 2021/1/15
Y1 - 2021/1/15
N2 - This article suggests that the type of Internet-enabled device should not be prioritised when conceptualizing diagnostic categories of addictive online behaviours. The diagnostic distinction between "predominantly mobile"and "predominantly non-mobile"forms of Internet use disorders (IUD) is not empirically based, may not be clinically useful and may lead to "diagnostic inflation."Problems with the concepts of smartphone use disorder and IUD on which the proposed distinction is largely based call for their re-examination. Future proposals for the taxonomy of addictive behaviours may not need to be based on online/offline and mobile/non-mobile dichotomies.
AB - This article suggests that the type of Internet-enabled device should not be prioritised when conceptualizing diagnostic categories of addictive online behaviours. The diagnostic distinction between "predominantly mobile"and "predominantly non-mobile"forms of Internet use disorders (IUD) is not empirically based, may not be clinically useful and may lead to "diagnostic inflation."Problems with the concepts of smartphone use disorder and IUD on which the proposed distinction is largely based call for their re-examination. Future proposals for the taxonomy of addictive behaviours may not need to be based on online/offline and mobile/non-mobile dichotomies.
KW - Addictive behaviours
KW - Internet use disorder
KW - Problematic Internet use
KW - Problematic smartphone use
KW - Smartphone use disorder
KW - Taxonomy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102178238&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/ARC/DE170101198
U2 - 10.1556/2006.2020.00083
DO - 10.1556/2006.2020.00083
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 33289693
AN - SCOPUS:85102178238
SN - 2062-5871
VL - 9
SP - 915
EP - 919
JO - Journal of Behavioral Addictions
JF - Journal of Behavioral Addictions
IS - 4
ER -