Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BioPsychoSocial Medicine
Published in: BioPsychoSocial Medicine 1/2020

01-12-2020 | Addiction | Research

The association of depression, loneliness and internet addiction levels in patients with acne vulgaris

Authors: Coşkun Öztekin, Aynure Öztekin

Published in: BioPsychoSocial Medicine | Issue 1/2020

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Acne vulgaris is a very common skin disorder that has negative effects on the mood, self image and social relations of the patients. We want to evaluate the effects of acne vulgaris and its severity on depression, loneliness, internet addiction levels, and the quality of life of young adult females.

Methods

Two hundred three female acne vulgaris patients and 202 healthy controls who admitted to the dermatology clinic of a university hospital formed the study sample. Global Acne Grading System (GAGS) was used to assess the severity of acne. The Young Internet Addiction Scale-Short Form (YIAS-SF), The Acne Quality of Life Scale (AQLS), The University of California Los Angeles-Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS), and The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used to collect information about the patients.

Results

The median BDI and the mean UCLA-LS and YIAS-SF scores were higher in the Acne group than those in the control group. The correlations between acne severity and the 3 scales were not significant but the correlations between AQLS and BDI, UCLA-LS, and YIAS-SF were highly significant. In multiple regression analysis, age and the BDI score predicted the YIAS-SF score significantly.

Conclusions

Our findings support the previous findings that acne vulgaris patients are prone to depression and loneliness, and expand these findings to the vulnerability against internet addiction. Loneliness and depression should be assessed and, if found, targeted by psychological means to prevent internet addiction in acne vulgaris patients.
Literature
1.
Zaenglein AL, Pathy AL, Schlosser BJ, Alikhan A, Baldwin HE, Berson DS, et al. Guidelines of care for the management of acne vulgaris. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2016;74(5):945–73 e33.PubMed
2.
Raza K, Talwar V, Setia A, Katare OP. Acne: an understanding of the disease and its impact on life. Int J Drug Dev & Res. 2012;4(2):14–20.
3.
Timms RM. Moderate acne as a potential barrier to social relationships: myth or reality? Psychol Health Med. 2013;18(3):310–20.PubMed
4.
Gallitano SM, Berson DS. How acne bumps cause the blues: the influence of acne vulgaris on self-esteem. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2018;4(1):12–7.PubMed
5.
Bondade S, Hosthota A, Basavaraju V. Stressful life events and psychiatric comorbidity in acne- a case control study. Asia Pac Psychiatry. 2019;11(1):e12340.PubMed
6.
Niemeier V, Kupfer J, Gieler U. Acne vulgaris- psychosomatic aspects. JDDG. 2006;4:1027–36.PubMed
7.
Martin-Ezquerra G, Man MQ, Hupe M, Rodriguez-Martin M, Youm JK, Trullas C, et al. Psychological stress regulates anti- microbial peptide expression by both glucocorticoid and β-adrenergic mechanisms. Eur J Dermatol. 2011;21(2):48–51.PubMed
8.
Lee WJ, Jung HD, Lee HJ, Kim BS, Lee SJ, Kim W. Influence of substance-P on cultured sebocytes. Arch Dermatol Res. 2008;300(6):311–16.
9.
Davern J, O'Donnell AT. Stigma predicts health-related quality of life impairment, psychological distress, and somatic symptoms in acne sufferers. PLoS One. 2018;13(9):e0205009.PubMedPubMedCentral
10.
Berg M, Lindberg M. Possible gender differences in the quality of life and choice of therapy in acne. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2011;25(8):969–72.PubMed
11.
Tasoula E, Gregoriou S, Chalikias J, Lazarou D, Danopoulou I, Katsambas A, et al. The impact of acne vulgaris on quality of life and psychic health in young adolescents in Greece. Results of a population survey. An Bras Dermatol. 2012;87(6):862–9.PubMedPubMedCentral
12.
Yazici K, Baz K, Yazici A, Köktürk A, Tot S, Demirseren D, et al. Disease-specific quality of life is associated with anxiety and depression in patients with acne. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2004;18(4):435–9.PubMed
13.
Suuberg A. Psychiatric and developmental effects of isotretinoin (retinoid) treatment for acne vulgaris. Curr Ther Res Clin Exp. 2019;90:27–31.PubMedPubMedCentral
14.
Kontaxakis VP, Skourides D, Ferentinos P, Havaki-Kontaxaki BJ, Papadimitriou GN. Isotretinoin and psychopathology: a review. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2009;8:2.PubMedPubMedCentral
15.
Boravaya A, Olisova O, Ruzicka T, Sardy M. Does isotretinoin therapy of acne cure or cause depression? Int J Dermatol. 2013;52(9):1040–52.
16.
Çivitci N, Çivitci A. Self-esteem as mediator and moderator of the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction in adolescents. Personal Individ Differ. 2009;47(8):954–8.
17.
Ozyay Eroglu F, Aktepe E, Erturan I. The evaluation of psychiatric comorbidity, self-injurious behavior, suicide probability, and other associated psychiatric factors (lonileness, self-esteem, life satisfaction) in adolescents with acne: a clinical pilot study. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2019;18(3):916–21.PubMed
18.
Niemz K, Griffiths M, Banyard P. Prevalence of pathological internet use among university students and correlations with self-esteem, the general health questionnaire (GHQ), and disinhibition. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2005;8(6):562–70.PubMed
19.
Tao R, Huang X, Wang J, Zhang H, Zhang Y, Li M. Proposed diagnostic criteria for internet addiction. Addiction. 2010;105(3):556–64.PubMed
20.
Durak Batigün A, Hasta D. Internet addiction: an evaluation in terms of loneliness and interpersonal relationship styles; 2010. p. 213–9.
21.
Doshi A, Zaheer A, Stiller MJ. A comparison of current acne grading systems and proposal of a novel system. Int J Dermatol. 1997;36(6):416–8.PubMed
22.
Pawlikowski M, Altstötter-Gleich C, Brand M. Validation and psychometric properties of a short version of Young’s internet addiction test. Comput Hum Behav. 2013;29(3):1212–23.
23.
Young KS. Internet addiction: the emergence of a new clinical disorder. Cyberpsychol Behav. 1998;1(3):237–44.
24.
Kutlu M, Savcı S, Demir Y, Aysan F. Turkish adaptation of Young’s internet addiction test-short form: a reliability and validity study on university students and adolescents. Anadolu Psikiyatri Derg. 2016;17(0):69.
25.
Gupta MA, Johnson AM, Gupta AK. The development of an acne quality of life scale: reliability, validity, and relation to subjective acne severity in mild to moderate acne vulgaris. Acta Derm Venereol. 1998;78(6):451–6.PubMed
26.
Demirçay Z, Şenol A, Seçkin D, Demir F. Reliability of Turkish version of acne quality of life scale in patients with acne vulgaris. TURKDERM. 2006;40(3):94–7.
27.
Russell D, Peplau LA, Ferguson ML. Developing a measure of loneliness. J Pers Assess. 1978;42(3):290–4.PubMed
28.
Eskin M. Adolescent loneliness, coping methods and the relationship of loneliness to suicidal behavior; 2001. p. 5–11.
29.
Beck AT, Ward CH, Mendelson M, Mock J, Erbaugh J. An inventory for measuring depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1961;4:561–71.PubMed
30.
Hisli N. Beck Depresyon Envanterinin Üniversite Öğrencileri Için Geçerliği. Güvenirliği Türk Psikoloji Dergisi. 1988;6(26):3–13.
31.
Duman H, Topal IO, Kocaturk E, Duman MA. Evaluation of anxiety, depression, and quality of life in patients with acne vulgaris, and quality of life in their families. Dermatol Sin. 2016;34(1):6–9.
32.
Lynn DD, Umari T, Dunnick CA, Dellavalle RP. The epidemiology of acne vulgaris in late adolescence. Adolesc Health Med Ther. 2016;7:13–25.PubMedPubMedCentral
33.
Hassan J, Grogan S, Clark-Carter D, Richards H, Yates VM. The individual health burden of acne: appearance-related distress in male and female adolescents and adults with back, chest and facial acne. J Health Psychol. 2009;14(8):1105–18.PubMed
34.
Lasek RJ, Chren MM. Acne vulgaris and the quality of life of adult dermatology patients. Arch Dermatol. 1998;134(4):454–8.PubMed
35.
Gupta MA, Gupta AK. Depression and suicidal ideation in dermatology patients with acne, alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. Br J Dermatol. 1998;139(5):846–50.PubMed
36.
Uhlenhake E, Yentzer BA, Feldman SR. Acne vulgaris and depression: a retrospective examination. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2010;9(1):59–63.PubMed
37.
Golchai J, Khani SH, Heidarzadeh A, Eshkevari SS, Alizade N, Eftekhari H. Comparison of anxiety and depression in patients with acne vulgaris and healthy individuals. Indian J Dermatol. 2010;55(4):352–4.PubMedPubMedCentral
38.
Yolac Yarpuz A, Demirci Saadet E, Erdi Sanli H, Devrimci OH. Social anxiety level in acne vulgaris patients and its relationship to clinical variables. Turk Psikiyatri Derg. 2008;19(1):29–37.PubMed
39.
Mosam A, Vawda NB, Gordhan AH, Nkwanyana N, Aboobaker J. Quality of life issues for south Africans with acne vulgaris. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2005;30(1):6–9.PubMed
40.
Li C, Chen J, Wang W, Ai M, Zhang Q, Kuang L. Use of isotretinoin and risk of depression in patients with acne: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open. 2019;9(1):e021549.PubMedPubMedCentral
41.
Vallerand IA, Lewinson RT, Farris MS, Sibley CD, Ramien ML, Bulloch AGM, et al. Efficacy and adverse events of oral isotretinoin for acne: a systematic review. Br J Dermatol. 2018;178(1):76–85.PubMed
42.
Unal D, Emiroglu N, Cengiz FP. Evaluation of social anxiety, self-esteem, life quality in adolescents with acne vulgaris. Int J Adolesc Med Health. 2016;30(2).
43.
Ismail KH, Mohammed-Ali KB. Quality of life in patients with acne in Erbil city. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2012;10:60.PubMedPubMedCentral
44.
Bez Y, Yesilova Y, Kaya MC, Sir A. High social phobia frequency and related disability in patients with acne vulgaris. Eur J Dermatol. 2011;21(5):756–60.PubMed
45.
Roosta N, Black DS, Peng D, Riley LW. Skin disease and stigma in emerging adulthood: impact on healthy development. J Cutan Med Surg. 2010;14(6):285–90.PubMed
46.
Young KS. Internet addiction: a new clinical phenomenon and its consequences. Am Behav Sci. 2004;48(4):402–15.
47.
Işık A. Evaluation of the relationship between acne severity and problematic internet usage and psychiatric variables in adolescents with acne: a case control study: Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey; 2016. Thesis number: 414915.
48.
49.
Muller KW, Beutel ME, Wolfling K. A contribution to the clinical characterization of internet addiction in a sample of treatment seekers: validity of assessment, severity of psychopathology and type of co-morbidity. Compr Psychiatry. 2014;55(4):770–7.PubMed
50.
Tasoula E, Gregoriou S, Chalikias J, Lazarou D, Danopoulou I, Katsambas A, et al. The impact of acne vulgaris on quality of life and psychic health in young adolescents in Greece. Results of a population study. An Bras Dermatol. 2012;87:862–9.PubMedPubMedCentral
51.
Ozdemir Y, Kuzucu Y, Ak S. Depression, loneliness and internet addiction: how important is low self-control? Comput Hum Behav. 2014;34:284–90.
Metadata
Title
The association of depression, loneliness and internet addiction levels in patients with acne vulgaris
Authors
Coşkun Öztekin
Aynure Öztekin
Publication date
01-12-2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BioPsychoSocial Medicine / Issue 1/2020
Electronic ISSN: 1751-0759
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13030-020-00190-y

Other articles of this Issue 1/2020

BioPsychoSocial Medicine 1/2020 Go to the issue

Correction

Correction to: Very long chain fatty acids are an important marker of nutritional status in patients with anorexia nervosa: a case control study

Research

Educational supportive group therapy and the quality of life of hemodialysis patients

Commentary

Alexithymia 3.0: reimagining alexithymia from a medical perspective

Research

Higher galectin-3 levels are independently associated with lower anxiety in patients with risk factors for heart failure

Review

Shitsu-taikan-sho (alexisomia): a historical review and its clinical importance

Research

Effects of interoceptive training on decision making, anxiety, and somatic symptoms