Internet addiction (IA) is reported to cause significant negative psychosocial consequences. The gender specificity of psychological characteristics that are potentially significant for the formation of IA remains understudied.

To identify gender-related differences in the psychological characteristics of people with IA.

100 subjects aged 16-34 years who scored 65 points or more on the Chinese Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) were identified and divided into 2 groups by gender: group 1 (54 men) and group 2 (46 women). The individual psychological characteristics were assessed with: the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS); the Bass-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ); the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ); the Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ); a short version of the Five-factor Personality Questionnaire (TIPI-RU) and the Cloninger Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-125).

Women were significantly more likely to experience fear of situations of interpersonal contact and action in public places (p=0.027). They experienced significantly more sexual violence in childhood (p=0.032) and were more likely to have personality traits such as “reward dependence” (p=0.002), “persistence” (p = 0.046), and “self-transcendence” (p=0.002). Men demonstrated physical aggression (p=0.009), suppressed emotions (p=0.019) significantly more often than women and characterized themselves as emotionally stable (p=0.048).

The gender differences identified in the cohort of individuals with IA can potentially be considered specific for this contingent, although such gender relationships can be observed in other forms of addiction and in the general population. The specificity of gender differences may reflect individual psychological markers of increased vulnerability to developing IA.

The study was financially supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research within the framework of scientific project No 18-29-22079.

Obesity is characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation that may lead to emotional distress and behavioural symptoms. This study assessed the relationship between adiposity, low-grade inflammation, eating behaviour and emotional status in obese women awaiting gastric surgery and investigated the effects of surgery-induced weight loss on this relationship.

A total of 101 women with severe or morbid obesity awaiting gastric surgery were recruited. Assessments were performed before and at 1 year post-surgery and included the measurement of neuroticism and extraversion using the revised Neuroticism–Extraversion–Openness personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and eating behaviour using the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ). Blood samples were collected for the measurement of serum inflammatory markers [interleukin-6 (IL-6), high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP)] and adipokines (leptin, adiponectin).

At baseline, body mass index (BMI) was positively correlated with inflammatory markers and adipokines. Regression analyses adjusting for age and diabetes revealed that baseline concentrations of IL-6 and hsCRP were associated with the depression and anxiety facets of neuroticism, with higher inflammation predicting higher anxiety and depression. This association remained significant after adjusting for BMI. Gastric surgery induced significant weight loss, which correlated with reduced inflammation. After controlling for BMI variations, decreases in inflammatory markers, notably hsCRP, were associated with reduced anxiety and TFEQ-cognitive restraint scores.

These findings indicate strong associations between adiposity, inflammation and affectivity in obese subjects and show that surgery-induced weight loss is associated concomitantly with reduced inflammation and adipokines and with significant improvement in emotional status and eating behaviour. Inflammatory status appears to represent an important mediator of emotional distress and psychological characteristics of obese individuals.