A systematic review and meta-analysis of risky decision-making in specific domains of problematic use of the internet: Evidence across different decision-making tasks

Silke M Müller; Stephanie Antons; Elisa Wegmann; Konstantinos Ioannidis; Daniel L King; Marc N Potenza; Samuel R Chamberlain; Matthias Brand

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105271

A systematic review and meta-analysis of risky decision-making in specific domains of problematic use of the internet: Evidence across different decision-making tasks

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2023 Sep:152:105271. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105271. Epub 2023 Jun 3.

Authors

Silke M Müller¹, Stephanie Antons², Elisa Wegmann³, Konstantinos Ioannidis⁴, Daniel L King⁵, Marc N Potenza⁶, Samuel R Chamberlain⁴, Matthias Brand²

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Psychology: Cognition and Center for Behavioral Addiction Research (CeBAR), University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany; Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany. Electronic address: silke.m.mueller@uni-due.de.
² Department of General Psychology: Cognition and Center for Behavioral Addiction Research (CeBAR), University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany; Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany.
³ Department of General Psychology: Cognition and Center for Behavioral Addiction Research (CeBAR), University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, UK; Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK.
⁵ College of Education, Psychology, & Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.
⁶ Departments of Psychiatry and Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, Wethersfield, CT, USA; Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, CT, USA; Departments of Neuroscience and the Wu Tsai Institute, New Haven, CT, USA.

PMID: 37277009
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105271

Abstract

This systematic review summarizes empirical evidence on risky decision-making (objective risk and ambiguity) in specific domains of problematic use of the internet (PUI) focusing on online addictive behaviors. We conducted a pre-registered (PROSPERO: CRD42020188452) PubMed search for PUI domains: gaming, social-network use, online buying-shopping, online pornography use, and unspecified PUI. We used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for quality assessment. Relevant studies were identified only for gaming (n = 19), social-network use (n = 8), unspecified PUI (n = 7), and online gambling (n = 1). The meta-analyses included 25 studies (2498 participants) comparing PUI and control groups regarding decision-making performance under objective risk and ambiguity. Across PUI domains, individuals with PUI compared to control participants showed more disadvantageous decision-making in measures of objective risk (g = -0.42 [-0.69, -0.16], p = .002) but not ambiguity (g = -0.22 [-0.47, -0.04], p = .096). PUI domain and gender were significant moderators. In the risk domain, effects were particularly present in gaming disorder, especially in exclusively male samples. Overall, the paucity of empirical studies in the considered area necessitates further research to identify probable gender- and disorder-specific cognitive relationships.

Keywords: Addictive behavior; Compulsive behavior; Decision-making; Gambling task; Gaming disorder; Impulsive behavior; Internet addiction; Social networks.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis
Systematic Review
Review

MeSH terms

Behavior, Addictive*
Gambling*
Humans
Internet
Male
Video Games*