Digital Addiction among Arab Families: Status, Contributing Factors, Responsibilities, and Solutions

DIGITAL ADDICTION (DA) refers to a problematic relationship with technology characterized by symptoms of behavioral addiction, including mood modification, salience, tolerance, conflict, withdrawal symptoms, and relapse. While addictive use of technology is not yet officially recognized as a clinical diagnosis, certain forms, such as Internet gaming disorder (IGD), have been classified as clinical conditions. Notably, IGD was included in the ICD-11 (International Classification of Diseases) by the World Health Organization in 2018.19 Despite that, public concerns about technology overuse and dependence continue to rise, though they vary in intensity across different regional and cultural contexts. In this article, we discuss DA in the Arab countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The figure summarizes the article’s key points, outlining DA status; key contributing factors; the roles of families, schools, and policymakers; and potential solutions and intervention strategies.