The German Research Foundation (DFG) has extended the research group (FOR 2974) "Affective and Cognitive Mechanisms of Specific Internet-use Disorders" (ACSID). A further funding period of three years with a volume of around five million euros has been approved.

Prof. Matthias Brand is the spokesperson for the transregional research group, in which we have been investigating the psychological and neurobiological processes that underlie specific forms of addictive Internet use for the past three years. In addition to gaming disorder, which is already recognized as a mental disorder by the World Health Organization (WHO), excessive shopping, pornography consumption and the problematic use of social networks are also being addressed in ten different sub-projects. Researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen are working together with colleagues from the Universities of Bochum, Bamberg, Giessen, Mainz, Lübeck and Hannover Medical School.

Press article:

https://www.dfg.de/de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2024/pressemitteilung-nr-11  
https://www.uni-due.de/2024-03-25-dfg-foerdert-forschung-zu-internetsucht-weiter

Be it World of Warcraft or pornography: it's easy to get lost in the digital world. Dr Stephanie Antons is researching how problematic addictive behaviour can develop from media consumption. Her work leads the UDE psychologist to the 7 Tesla MRI of the Erwin L. Hahn Institute in Essen. Here she uses high-resolution brain scans to gain deeper insights into the activities of various brain areas and their connection to addictive behaviour.

The first Autumn School of FOR2974 was a great success. During the last week, we were able to create the perfect environment for scientific exchange and transfer around the topic of behavioral addictions. For this, we gathered input from various international guests throughout the week. 

Special thanks for your time and the valuable exchange go to our guest speakers Prof. Marc Potenza, Dr. Silvia Casale, Dr. Zslot Demetrovics, Dr. Susana Jimenez-Murcia and Prof. Fernando Fernandez-Aranda. 

In addition to the external input, there was also plenty of room for feedback and constructive critique on our current research findings, as well as impulses for new ways of thinking. In addition to the numerous talks and discussions, workshops were also offered. These provided the opportunity to further improve the soft skills of the PhD students in presenting, as well as creating a safe space to explore possible career paths for oneself.

We look back on a week full of programme and exchange, from which all participants will be able to benefit for a long time to come.

At the Addiction Congress 2023, FOR2974 was strongly represented and so we were able to share many presentations on our different research areas. 

We had a great time at the Addiction Congress in Berlin and hope to be back next year.

For this year's International Conference on Behavioral Addictions (ICBA), some members of FOR2974 went to Incheon in South Korea for a few days. In addition to the many cultural impressions, which were already gathered on the journey or even outside the conference venue, there was a great exchange on the research front at the conference. During diverse presentations and discussions, we were able to share insights of our knowledge gained so far during FOR2974, as well as to gain new input and impulses for reflection. In addition, there were some annual reunions with colleagues, as well as establishing new valuable contacts.

We are also pleased that Prof. Dr. Matthias Brand was awarded the "Great Achievement Award" by the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Addictions (ISSBA). In addition, the paper with the title "Treatments and interventions for compulsive sexual behavior disorder with a focus on problematic pornography use: A preregistered systematic review" (to the paper) by Dr. Stephanie Antons, Prof. Dr. Rudolf Stark and colleagues, which was written in the context of FOR2974, was awarded the "Best Paper Award" of the Journal of Behavioral Addictions.

Since the last workshop was a complete success, another one was planned directly in the first quarter of this year. Although there were some unscheduled departures due to illness, the days were no less successful. An internal ideas competition was held, with more than one winner, and the scientific employees were able to demonstrate their pitching skills.

A valuable exchange between all participants was not neglected this time either, and new goals and links for the intended second funding period were defined. The planning of this year's Autumn School was also concretized.

Our first joint workshop of FOR2974 has ended and we were all able to take a lot away from these intensive three days. There was an exciting exchange across all subprojects as well as helpful Q&A sessions on a wide variety of topics. We also had the pleasure to welcome guest speaker Prof. Constantin Rothkopf and had a lively discussion on machine learning in the context of big data collection.

We were also able to (re)discover some synergies for us and also gather first planning ideas for the Autumn School 2023. With these productive results we come back motivated from our wonderful stay at Schloss Reihnhartshausen.

From 07 - 09 September 2022 the German Addiction Congress took place in Munich. Our FOR2974 team was again represented in large numbers. Through our presentations, as well as inspiring contributions from other scientists, many stimulating discussions arose.

The photos show insights into the presentations of Annica Keßling and Lukas Mallon and the poster contribution of Maike Ramrath.

Other participants: Matthias Brand, Hans-Jürgen Rumpf, Nanne Dominick, Klaus Wölfling, Stephanie Antons, Sabine Steins-Loeber, Astrid Müller, Tobias Thomas, Annika Brandtner, Anna Schmid, Kjell Büsche, Andreas Oelker, Lasse Schmidt

From June 20-22, 2022, the 7th International Conference on Behavioral Addictions (ICBA) took place in Nottingham, where FOR scientists were also represented. The participants look back on an eventful week with exciting presentations and discussions. The photo shows the participants from the University of Duisburg-Essen, representing all FOR members who were at the ICBA.

With the ACSID-11 (Assessment of Criteria for Specific Internet-use Disorders), we have currently developed a questionnaire for the symptom assessment of Internet-use disorders based on the ICD-11 (and with 11 items) - the manuscript has just been published in the Journal of Behavioural Addictions! What a great collaboration with Silke Müller, Elisa Wegmann, Andreas Oelker, Rudolf Stark, Astrid Müller, Christian Montag, Klaus Wölfling, Hans-Jürgen Rumpf und Matthias Brand!

Link: https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2022.00013

We look back on a successful year 2021, in which FOR 2974 started its work in May. Despite difficult conditions and without being able to physically meet once as a whole group, we have so far been able to achieve the milestones we set and in particular to meet the start of data collection with only minor delays. What has happened in FOR 2974 since May 2021? A lot!!!

We have already published several articles in relevant peer-reviewed journals addressing theoretical aspects, systematic and narrative overviews of the topic and presenting the work of the FOR (Go to publications).

The launch event took place virtually in September, but with a beach atmosphere and gustatory and content highlights.

Also in September, FOR 2974 was represented at the German Addiction Congress with numerous contributions and its own FOR symposium.

Shortly afterwards, the programming of the core battery for the examinations of the test persons across the individual sub-projects was completed and the staff could be intensively trained.

After all preparations had been made, recruitment could begin and the first test persons found their way into our laboratories in November.

Shortly before Christmas, the meeting with the Advisory Board took place. The members are Prof. Dr. Marc N. Potenza (Yale University, USA), Prof. Dr. Naomi Fineberg (University of Hertfordshire, University of Cambridge, UK), Prof. Dr. Susana Jiménez-Murcia (University Hospital of Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain) Prof. Dr. Zsolt Demetrovics (University of Gibraltar) and Prof. Dr. Daniel King (Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia).

We are looking forward to an exciting year 2022 with interesting events, workshops, congress participations, first analyses and hopefully numerous publications on the exciting topic of FOR 2974.

Moderated by Christine Altstötter-Gleich, a panel discussion on the film "Picture a Scientist" took place on 24.01.2022 as part of the research group's work. The panel, which was made up of the great people Prof. Dr. Barbara Buchenau, Prof. Dr. Ulrike Bingel, Prof. Dr. Katja Fiehler and Prof. Dr. Elke Kalbe, lively discussed the contents of the film and entered into an inspiring exchange with the members of the research group. Everyone had the opportunity to watch the film beforehand. A successful event on an extremely important topic.

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The research group (FOR 2974) started its work on May 1, 2021. In seven sub-projects, the psychological and neurobiological processes of the development and maintenance of specific Internet use disorders are to be researched.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved the research group (FOR 2974) "Affective and cognitive mechanisms of specific Internet-use disorders" (ACSID). The spokesperson for the research group is Prof. Dr. Matthias Brand. Colleagues from the UDE work together with colleagues from the Universities of Bamberg, Bochum, Gießen, Mainz, Lübeck, Siegen, Ulm and the Hannover Medical School. The aim of the research group is to better understand the psychological and neurobiological processes involved in the development and maintenance of specific Internet use disorders in order to make a contribution to improve prevention and therapy.

Press article:

https://www.dfg.de/en/service/press/press_releases/2020/press_release_no_39/index.html

https://www.uni-due.de/2020-09-25-dfg-bewilligt-transregionale-forschungsgruppe-brand