Online social networking sites (SNSs) have gained increasing popularity in the last decade, with individuals engaging in SNSs to connect with others who share similar interests. The perceived need to be online may result in compulsive use of SNSs, which in extreme cases may result in symptoms and consequences traditionally associated with substance-related addictions. In order to present new insights into online social networking and addiction, in this paper, 10 lessons learned concerning online social networking sites and addiction based on the insights derived from recent empirical research will be presented. These are: (i) social networking and social media use are not the same; (ii) social networking is eclectic; (iii) social networking is a way of being; (iv) individuals can become addicted to using social networking sites; (v) Facebook addiction is only one example of SNS addiction; (vi) fear of missing out (FOMO) may be part of SNS addiction; (vii) smartphone addiction may be part of SNS addiction; (viii) nomophobia may be part of SNS addiction; (ix) there are sociodemographic differences in SNS addiction; and (x) there are methodological problems with research to date. These are discussed in turn. Recommendations for research and clinical applications are provided.

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Social Networking Sites and Addiction: Ten Lessons Learned.

This study tests the hypothesis that seriously violent offenders pleading not guilty by reason of insanity or incompetent to stand trial are characterized by prefrontal dysfunction. This hypothesis was tested in a group of 22 subjects accused of murder and 22 age-matched and gender-matched controls by measuring local cerebral uptake of glucose using positron emission tomography during the continuous performance task. Murderers had significantly lower glucose metabolism in both lateral and medial prefrontal cortex relative to controls. No group differences were observed for posterior frontal, temporal, and parietal glucose metabolism, indicating regional specificity for the prefrontal deficit. Group differences were not found to be a function of raised levels of left-handedness, schizophrenia, ethnic minority status, head injury, or motivation deficits in the murder group. These preliminary results suggest that deficits localized to the prefrontal cortex may be related to violence in a selected group of offenders, although further studies are needed to establish the generalizability of these findings to violent offenders in the community.

selective Reductions in Prefrontal Glucose Metabolism in Murderers

Technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) refers to a range of behaviors where digital technologies are used to facilitate both virtual and face-to-face sexually based harms. Such behaviors include online sexual harassment, gender- and sexuality-based harassment, cyberstalking, image-based sexual exploitation, and the use of a carriage service to coerce a victim into an unwanted sexual act. This article reviews the current state of knowledge on these different dimensions, drawing on existing empirical studies. While there is a growing body of research into technology-facilitated harms perpetrated against children and adolescents, there is a dearth of qualitative and quantitative research on TFSV against adults. Moreover, few of the existing studies provide reliable data on the nature, scope, and impacts of TFSV. Preliminary studies, however, indicate that some harms, much like sexual violence more broadly, may be predominantly gender-, sexuality-, and age-based, with young women being overrepresented as victims in some categories. This review collects the empirical evidence to date regarding the prevalence and gender-based nature of TFSV against adults and discusses the implications for policy and programs, as well as suggestions for future research.

Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence: A Literature Review of Empirical Research.

Cyberbullying and its effects have been studied largely in middle and high school students, but less is known about cyberbullying in college students. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between involvement in cyberbullying and depression or problem alcohol use among college females. Two hundred and sixty-five female students from four colleges completed online surveys assessing involvement in cyberbullying behaviors. Participants also completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to assess depressive symptoms and the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) to assess problem drinking. Logistic regression tested associations between involvement in cyberbullying and either depression or problem drinking. Results indicated that 27% of participants had experienced cyberbullying in college; 17.4% of all participants met the criteria for depression (PHQ-9 score ≥10), and 37.5% met the criteria for problem drinking (AUDIT score ≥8). Participants with any involvement in cyberbullying had increased odds of depression. Those involved in cyberbullying as bullies had increased odds of both depression and problem alcohol use. Bully/victims had increased odds of depression. The four most common cyberbullying behaviors were also associated with increased odds for depression, with the highest odds among those who had experienced unwanted sexual advances online or via text message. Findings indicate that future longitudinal study of cyberbullying and its effects into late adolescence and young adulthood could contribute to the prevention of associated comorbidities in this population.

Cyberbullying, Depression, and Problem Alcohol Use in Female College Students: A Multisite Study

Social network security: Issues, challenges, threats, and solutions

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cyberstalking victimization, characteristics of victims and offenders, and the impact of cyberstalking on the victims' well-being and mental health An online survey of 6,379 participants was carried out, involving users of the German social network StudiVZ Subjective mental health status was assessed with the WHO-5 well-being index The prevalence of cyberstalking was estimated at 63% In various aspects, cyberstalking was comparable to offline stalking: cyberstalking occurred most often in the context of ex-partner relationships; most of the victims were female and the majority of the perpetrators were male Compared to non-victims, victims of cyberstalking scored significantly poorer on the WHO-5 well-being index The prevalence of cyberstalking is considerable However, if stringent definition criteria comparable to those of offline stalking are applied, it is not a mass phenomenon The negative impact of cyberstalking on the victims'

Cyberstalking in a large sample of social network users: prevalence, characteristics, and impact upon victims.

Ziel der Studie Zusammenhangsanalyse von wahrgenommenen Alltagsbelastungen wahrend der COVID-19-Krise und Personlichkeitsaspekten mit dem aktuellen psychischen Befinden in der Bevolkerung sowie Vergleich der psychischen Symptomatik mit einem Survey von 2018. Methodik Zufallsstichprobe aus der Bevolkerung (n = 721), die zu coronabezogenen Einschatzungen, Personlichkeitsaspekten und aktuellem psychischen Befinden (WHO-5, PHQ-D) schriftlich befragt wurde. Ergebnisse Angst um die Gesundheit Nahestehender, Belastungen durch Ausgangsbeschrankungen und vermehrter Substanzkonsum sowie psychische Risiko- und Resilienzfaktoren trugen im statistischen Modell unabhangig zur Vorhersage des psychischen Befindens bei. Auspragungen und Haufigkeiten psychischer Symptomatik unterschieden sich nicht zwischen 2018 und 2020. Schlussfolgerung Dies ist eine erste Studie in Deutschland, die Ergebnisse aus einer bevolkerungsbezogenen Zufallsstichprobe zu Determinanten psychischen Befindens wahrend der COVID-19-Krise und einen Vergleich der psychischen Symptomatik mit einer prapandemischen Referenzstichprobe vorlegt.

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Mental health status in the community during the COVID-19-pandemic

Stigmatization of people with mental illness is still a significant problem even in Western society. Media is an important vector for public messaging that may lead to stigma (and potentially counteract it). There is an ongoing debate about the impact of news with potentially stigmatizing content on people with depression. This experimental study aimed at investigating the direct effects media reporting could have on people with depression, namely, higher levels of stigma attitudes and negative affect, as well as lower levels of self-esteem and positive affect. Experimental study; target sample size n = 180 patients; eligibility criteria: clinical diagnosis of depressive episode or dysthymia, aged 18–70 years, sufficient cognitive abilities and German language skills; exclusion criteria: acute psychotic, manic or hypomanic episode, addiction symptoms, or suicidal ideation; parallel assignment to one of three arms (each n = 60): watching a short film about a negative event relating to depression (experimental group), about a negative event without relation to depression (control group 1), or about a neutral event relating to depression (control group 2); primary outcomes: degrees of stigma attitudes (stereotype awareness, stereotype agreement, self-concurrence, and self-stigmatization); secondary outcomes: degrees of self-esteem, positive and negative affect; statistical analyses: general linear models with repeated-measures; one-way ANOVAs of the change in scores, followed by Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons; IBM SPSS Statistics 24.0. Significant group × time interactions in stereotype agreement (medium effect: η = 0.10) and negative affect (large effect: η = 0.26); the level of stereotype agreement increased significantly more in the experimental group than in control groups 1 and 2. The level of negative affect increased significantly more in the experimental group and in control group 1 than in control group 2. All other interaction effects were non-significant. The present study allows statements about the direct effects of potentially stigmatizing media reporting on carriers of the stigmatized attribute, i.e., depression: Even single film presentations of familiar events that contain potentially stigmatizing content have an impact on stereotype agreement and negative affect. The impact of long-term exposure and change in other stigma-measures require a deeper understanding of stigma-processes. Potential explanations and implications for practice and future research are discussed. Deutsche Register Klinischer Studien, Trial registration: DRKS00011855
 . Registered 23 June 2017, retrospectively registered; for details see Additional file 1.

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Effects of stigmatizing media coverage on stigma measures, self-esteem, and affectivity in persons with depression - an experimental controlled trial

Background In 2003, we carried out the first epidemiological study on the frequency and effects of stalking in Germany that was based on a random population sample. We repeated the study with the same design in 2018 in order to assess any potential alterations over time in the frequency of stalking and of psychological problems in the affected persons. As far as we know, this is the first replication study of this kind to be carried out anywhere. Methods 1000 women and 1000 men were randomly chosen from the residents' registration data of Mannheim, Germany. Each one of them received, by mail, a comprehensive questionnaire about stalking, as well as the WHO-5 Well-Being Index and the German version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-D). Results In the Mannheim population samples (2003: N = 675; 2018: N = 444), the lifetime prevalence of being stalked was 11.6% in 2003 (95% confidence interval, [9.2; 14.4]) and 10.8% in 2018 [8.1; 13.7]. In both 2003 and 2018, persons who had been stalked had significantly worse mental well-being than unaffected persons (WHO-5 summated score 2003: 11.2 [9.7; 12.6] vs. 15.5 [15.1; 16.0], WHO-5 summated score 2018: 11.8 [10.1; 13.6] vs. 14.5 [13.9; 15.0]). A markedly higher percentage of persons who had been stalked also fulfilled the syndrome criteria for at least one mental disorder (PHQ-D 2003: 50.0% vs. 22.5%; odds ratio [OR]: 3.5 [2.1; 5.6], PHQ-D 2018: 46.5% vs. 24.4%; OR: 2.7 [1.4; 5.1]). In 2018, as in 2003, persons who had been stalked were dissatisfied with, or unaware of, the opportu - nities that they had to get help from the police and the judicial system. Conclusion Stalking remains a major problem that must be taken seriously. Physicians and psychologists should be well informed about it in order to help affected persons who turn to them for medical and psychological assistance.

The Prevalence and Effects of Stalking

Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, den sexuellen Missbrauch innerhalb der katholischen Kirche so transparent wie moglich aufzuarbeiten. Hierzu wird ein interdisziplinarer Forschungsansatz gewahlt, der kriminologische, psychologische, soziologische und forensisch-psychiatrische Expertise umfasst. Neben einer Langschnitterhebung der in den kirchlichen Personalakten dokumentierten Falle werden Strafakten ausgewertet, um kirchenexterne Datenquellen zu nutzen. Die vielfaltigen Facetten der Thematik werden daruber hinaus durch semistrukturierte Interviews mit Opfern, Tatern und Kirchenverantwortlichen aufgearbeitet.

Harald Dreßing

Papers

Cyberstalking in a large sample of social network users: prevalence, characteristics, and impact upon victims.

Mental health status in the community during the COVID-19-pandemic

Effects of stigmatizing media coverage on stigma measures, self-esteem, and affectivity in persons with depression - an experimental controlled trial

The Prevalence and Effects of Stalking

Sexueller Missbrauch an Minderjährigen durch katholische Priester, Diakone und männliche Ordensangehörige im Bereich der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz