Prevalence of internet addiction and comparison of internet addicts and non-addicts in Iranian high schools.

In this study, 1968 high-school students were selected randomly through clustering, who responded to the Persian version of four measures: the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), UCLA Loneliness Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Matson Evaluation of Social Skills. Of the sample, 977 students were Internet users, who were classified into 37 Internet addicts, 304 possible Internet addicts, and 636 moderate users. Since possible addicts, moderate users, and nonusers can all be considered nonaddicts, to make a comprehensive and controlled comparison between addicts and nonaddicts, 37 possible addicts, 37 moderate users and 37 nonusers were matched with the Internet addicts. Results suggest that Internet addicts are lonelier and have lower self-esteem and poorer social skills than moderate users, but not necessarily than possible addicts or nonusers.

Specificity of episodic and semantic aspects of autobiographical memory in relation to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Two studies examined the relationship between the ability to access specific autobiographical material in memory and presence/symptoms of posttraumatic stress. In Study 1, a sample of refugees with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) in which they had to generate specific episodic autobiographical memories in response to emotion-related cue words. Results showed that reduced specificity of memories on the AMT was associated with an increased frequency of trauma-related flashbacks but with reduced use of effortful avoidance to deal with trauma-related intrusions in the day-to-day. Study 2 examined retrieval of semantic autobiographical information from previous lifetime periods in groups of cancer survivors with posttraumatic stress and healthy controls. The cancer survivors were able to generate fewer specific semantic details about the personal past compared to the controls. The more symptomatic survivors showed the greatest memory impairment. The data from both studies are discussed in terms of compromised access to specific autobiographical material in distressed trauma survivors reflecting a process of affect regulation.