Cecilie Schou Andreassen

University of Bergen | UiB · Department of Clinical Psychology

This study contributes to the validation of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS) in the Italian context, with a focus on measurement invariance across gender and managerial status. The BWAS is a consolidated measure of work addiction (WA) anchored in general addiction theory that comprises seven items representing the core addiction components. P...

Studies conducted on Social Networking Sites (SNSs) addiction have to a large extent focused on Facebook as a prototypical example of SNS. Nonetheless, the evolution of SNSs has spawn conceptual and methodological controversies in terms of the operationalization of SNS addiction. In order to bring more clarity to this field the present study aimed...

The current study aimed to investigate if general and alcohol-related social media use predicts symptoms of depression and anxiety. Students in Bergen, Norway, participated in a Web-based survey during fall 2015 (T1) and a follow-up survey during fall 2016 (T2). A total of 5217 participated in both surveys. Crude and adjusted linear regression anal...

The study investigates correlates (i.e. demographics, personality, alcohol use and alcohol-related harm, alcohol expectancies, and mental health) of different alcoholic beverage preferences (i.e. beer/alcopops/cider, wine, and liquor/spirits). Data were collected by an online survey during fall 2016. Participants were invited to the survey based on...

The current study aimed to identify demographic, personality and substance-use characteristics associated with forming romantic relationships. Data were collected by two online surveys among students in Bergen, Norway, during the autumn of 2015 (T1) and by a follow-up survey that was conducted 12 months later (T2). The current sample consists of th...

There is a paucity of studies investigating how sexual activity is perceived to influence sleep, despite conceptions about significant gender differences regarding this issue. In all, 4000 persons, aged between 18 and 55 years, were randomly drawn from the Norwegian Population Registry and invited to participate in a postal survey. The respondents...

The current study aimed to investigate associations between gaming and different patterns of problematic alcohol use, controlling for important demographics, personality and mental health covariates. Data was collected by an online survey during fall 2016 (N = 5217). Students who had participated in a survey among students in Bergen, Norway, one ye...

The present paper encompasses a response to the debate paper by Griffiths et al. about work addiction myths. Generally, we found weak empirical basis for the statement that there exist major myths and controversies regarding work addiction. Although we agree with Griffiths et al. on several issues, we argue that: (a) although work addiction is not...

The use of social network sites (SNSs) has grown dramatically. Numerous studies have shown that SNS users may suffer from excessive use, associated with addictive-like symptoms. With a focus on the popular SNS Facebook (FB), our aims in the current study were twofold: First, to explore the heterogeneity of FB usage and determine which kind of FB ac...

Facebook addiction has been suggested as a potential behavioral addiction emerging from the framework of the theory and research on social networking sites addiction and Internet addiction. Previous studies showed that Facebook addiction is related to specific personality traits and well-being. However, there is still a scarcity of studies showing...

Excessive smartphone use has been associated with a number of negative consequences for the individual and the environment. Some similarities can be observed between excessive smartphone usage and several behavioural addictions, and continual usage constitutes one of several characteristics included in addiction. In the extreme high end of the dist...

Background: "Freshman's week" (FW) is a Norwegian initiation ritual to higher education. Previous research has suggested that FW-participation is associated with better social adjustment to the student setting, as well as heavy alcohol use both during and after the event. In this study, we aimed to identify characteristics associated with particip...

The present study comprised 1,781 nurses who participated in an investigation about working conditions, sleep, and health. They answered a questionnaire about age, sex, marital status, children living at home, work hours per week, number of night shifts last year, and total sleep duration and that also included a validated instrument assessing work...

The view that problematic excessive sexual behavior (“sex addiction”) is a form of behavioral addiction has gained more credence in recent years, but there is still considerable controversy regarding operationalization of the concept. Furthermore, most previous studies have relied on small clinical samples. The present study presents a new method f...

Background: Research into problematic tanning (or 'tanning addiction') has markedly increased over the past few years. Although several excessive tanning instruments exist, most of these are psychometrically poor, not theoretically anchored, and have mainly been used on small samples. Objective: Against this background, a new tanning addiction s...

It is currently unknown if unfavorable working conditions, reflected by the demand-control-support model and the effort-reward imbalance model, directly influence health or if the effects may be mediated by work-related attitudes and behaviors such as workaholism. In the present study, 988 employees (55.6% males, mean age 36.09, SD = 9.23) from a l...

Research into “workaholism” has substantially increased over the last decade, but little effort has been put into assessing work-related correlates. In the present study, 1,608 employees (Mage = 45.2 years, range = 21–60) participated in a nationally representative cross-sectional survey in Norway examining whether job demands, job control, role am...

This study focuses on individual differences and the demand-support-control model in relation to workaholism. We hypothesized that unfavorable working conditions (high job demands, low job control/decision latitude, and low social support at work) and individual differences concerning sleep/wake-related variables (high flexibility, high morningness...

Background: Research on cannabis has focused on lifetime use or regular/heavy use (i.e., daily or almost daily). Regular, albeit not necessarily daily, cannabis use has received less scientific attention. Objectives: This study aims to identify demographic and personality factors associated with recurrent cannabis use (i.e., cannabis usage 5 to...

This article aims to investigate whether alcohol-related disclosure and exposure on social media can predict later alcohol use, and to identify covariates in these relationships. Data were collected by online surveys (two waves) among students in Bergen, Norway. The first survey was administered in fall 2015. The follow-up took place during fall 20...

Aim: To examine students' exposure to user-generated alcohol content on social media, and identify characteristics (i.e. demographics, personality traits, alcohol use, alcohol-related cognitions, and social media factors) associated with monthly or more frequent exposure. Method: College/university students (N=11,236) in Bergen, Norway, complete...

To our knowledge, no previous large-scale study has examined the prevalences and correlates of having only easily concealed tattoos, or readily visible tattoos. We conducted an exploratory online survey in Norway asking 15654 (6151 females) persons aged 16–91 (M = 33.65 ± 12.27) about various demographic, sports, substance use, mental health, perso...

Background Work addiction has been recognized as a potential behavioral addiction, and studies have consistently shown its negative relationship with psychosocial functioning. However, in many countries, such as Poland, very few work addiction studies are based on measures developed using an addiction framework. Against this backdrop, the Bergen W...

Objective: The present study aimed to explore students' reports of their sharing of alcohol-related content on different social networking sites (i.e., frequency of sharing and connotations of alcohol-related posts), and to identify indicators of such posting. Method: Students at the four largest institutions for higher education in Bergen, Norw...

Aims: This study investigates demographic, personality, and psychological health correlates of different drinking patterns. Design: Students at the four largest institutions of higher education in Bergen municipality were invited via email to complete an internet-based questionnaire. The final sample size was 11,236 (39.4%), mean age 24.9 years (S...

Previous studies on the personality of bullies and targets have exclusively been based on self-report. Against this backdrop we conducted a between group experimental vignette study with three conditions, describing a bully, a target and a control, respectively. Students (n = 242) were recruited as participants and rated the target on the observer...

This article aims to investigate drinking patterns among business students, and dispositional (e.g., demographics) and social factors (e.g., norms of alcohol use) that may explain differences in alcohol consumption between business and non-business students. Students in Bergen, Norway, were invited to participate in a survey. The sample consisted o...

Selfies, or self-portraits, are often taken and shared on social media for online self-presentation reasons, which are considered essential for the psychosocial development and well-being of people in today’s culture. Despite the growing popularity and widespread sharing of selfies in the online space, little is known about how privacy concerns mod...

Despite social media use being one of the most popular activities among adolescents, prevalence estimates among teenage samples of social media (problematic) use are lacking in the field. The present study surveyed a nationally representative Hungarian sample comprising 5,961 adolescents as part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and...

Some people seem to be driven to work excessively and compulsively. These are often denoted as workaholics. Research into workaholism has expanded over the last 20 years. Although not formally recognized as a diagnosis, workaholism symptoms have many similarities with those of other addictions, including tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, salience, r...

Previous research on Social Networking Sites (SNSs) addiction have suggest the need to improve assessment of this behavioral addiction. The present study aimed at validating a Portuguese version of the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS), a widely used instrument to assess addiction to Facebook. A study was conducted in a sample of 509 Portugues...

Manchiraju et al. (International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1–15, 2016) published the Compulsive Online Shopping Scale (COSS) in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (IJMHA). To develop their measure of compulsive online shopping, Manchiraju and colleagues adapted items from the seven-item Bergen Shopping Addiction...

Aims Recent empirical studies investigating “study addiction” have conceptualized it as a behavioral addiction, defined within the framework of work addiction. This study is the first attempt to examine the longitudinal relationship between study addiction and work addiction. Methods The Bergen Study Addiction Scale (BStAS), the Bergen Work Addict...

Work addiction (‘workaholism’) has become an increasingly studied topic in the behavioral addictions literature and had led to the development of a number of instruments to assess it. One such instrument is the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS - Andreassen et al. 2012 Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 53, 265-272). However, the BWAS has never be...

Over the last decade, research into "addictive technological behaviors" has substantially increased. Research has also demonstrated strong associations between addictive use of technology and comorbid psychiatric disorders. In the present study, 23,533 adults (mean age 35.8 years, ranging from 16 to 88 years) participated in an online cross-section...

Despite the many number of studies examining workaholism, large-scale studies have been lacking. The present study utilized an open web-based cross-sectional survey assessing symptoms of psychiatric disorders and workaholism among 16,426 workers (Mage = 37.3 years, SD = 11.4, range = 16–75 years). Participants were administered the Adult ADHD Self-...

The file contains all relevant data underlying the findings described in this study. (SAV)

Background and aims “Study addiction” has recently been conceptualized as a behavioral addiction and defined within the framework of work addiction. Using a newly developed measure to assess this construct, the Bergen Study Addiction Scale (BStAS), the present study examined the 1-year stability of study addiction and factors related to changes in...

Neuropathology of Drug Addictions and Substance Misuse, Volume 3: General Processes and Mechanisms, Prescription Medications, Caffeine and Areca, Polydrug Misuse, Emerging Addictions and Non-Drug Addictions is the third of three volumes in this informative series and offers a comprehensive examination of the adverse consequences of the most common...

Although excessive and compulsive shopping has been increasingly placed within the behavioral addiction paradigm in recent years, items in existing screens arguably do not assess the core criteria and components of addiction. To date, assessment screens for shopping disorders have primarily been rooted within the impulse-control or obsessive-compul...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible mediating role of need fulfilment in the relationship between transformational leadership and employee job attitudes (job satisfaction and dedication). Design/methodology/approach – The two samples include both cross-sectional and diary data. The cross-sectional sample (sample 1) consi...

I forskningsmiljøene har det vært diskutert hvorvidt dataspillavhengighet (overdreven og tvangspreget dataspilling) er et nyttig begrep, hvordan det skal defineres og hva slags forklaringsmodeller som er mest passende. Per dags dato finnes det ingen standardisert mål for dataspillavhengighet, noe som har ført til at estimater for utbredelse av prob...

Research into online social network site (SNS) addiction (i.e., excessive and compulsive online social networking) has expanded over the last years. This paper aims to give a review of this research. Although not formally recognized as a diagnosis, SNS addiction shares many similarities with those of other addictions, including tolerance, withdrawa...

Video game addiction (Internet Gaming Disorder) has recently been included as a tentative diagnosis in official diagnostic systems, has a substantial prevalence, and may cause and exacerbate other psychosocial problems and disorders. Thus, there is reason to evaluate the treatment options available. A systematic literature search regarding treatmen...

Aims: Recent research has suggested that for some individuals, educational studying may become compulsive and excessive and lead to 'study addiction'. The present study conceptualized and assessed study addiction within the framework of workaholism, defining it as compulsive over-involvement in studying that interferes with functioning in other do...

AIMS – To investigate the lifetime prevalence and moderators of non-medical AAS use in the five Nordic countries. METHODS – We conducted a meta-analysis and meta-regression using studies gathered from searches in PsycINFO, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar, and reference checks. Included were 32 studies that provided original data on 48 l...

Background As far as we are aware, no previous systematic review and synthesis of the qualitative/descriptive literature on polypharmacy in anabolic-androgenic steroid(s) (AAS) users has been published. Method We systematically reviewed and synthesized qualitative/descriptive literature gathered from searches in electronic databases and by inspect...

Ratings of the perceived personality (Five-Factor Model) of an anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) user, an erythropoietin (EPO) user, a protein powder user, and a nonuser of these ergogenic aids were investigated. The sample of 328 (236 females) non-substance use participants providing the ratings were students aged 18 to 52 years. They were drawn f...

The present study investigated the relationship between adult children’s level of workaholism and their parents’ levels of workaholism and work engagement. A hundred and forty-six families (mother, father, and one adult child, all of whom were working) took part in the study (N = 438) through parallel forms of a structured questionnaire. Two hypoth...

Background: Anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use has been identified as a serious public health problem. Objectives: This study investigates the prevalence and correlates of AAS use among Norwegian adolescents. Methods: In 2012, a nationally representative sample of 2,055 17-year-old adolescents (963 males and 1,088 females) participated in a surv...

Workaholism has become an increasingly popular area for empirical study. However, most studies examining the prevalence of workaholism have used non-representative samples and measures with poorly defined cut-off scores. To overcome these methodological limitations, a nationally representative survey among employees in Norway (N = 1,124) was conduc...

Background To our knowledge, there has never been a systematic review and synthesis of the qualitative literature on the trajectory and aetiology of nonmedical anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use. Methods We systematically reviewed and synthesized qualitative literature gathered from searches in PsycINFO, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Google Schol...

Purpose: To estimate the global lifetime prevalence rate of anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use and investigate moderators of the prevalence rate. Methods: A meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis was performed using studies gathered from searches in PsycINFO, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar among others. Included were 187 s...

A total of 11,018 employees participated in a survey investigating whether demographic, personality, and work-related variables could explain variance in attitudes towards and actual use of social network sites for personal purposes during working hours. Age was negatively related to both dependent variables. Male gender, single status, and educati...

Aims To investigate the lifetime prevalence and moderators of non-medical AAS use in the five Nordic countries. Methods We conducted a meta-analysis and meta-regression using studies gathered from searches in PsycINFO, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar, and reference checks. Included were 32 studies that provided original data on 48 lifet...

Aims: This article addresses the stable tendency of excessive and compulsive working (i.e., workaholism). The main aim is to provide an updated oversight of the research area related to definition, prevalence, assessment, causes, outcomes, intervention as well as proposed future research directions. The target-population is both researchers and cl...

Purpose – Although the concept of workaholism has existed in the academic literature for decades, exploration of its measurements seems to lag behind. The purpose of this study is to present an investigation of the three most commonly used workaholism measures; the Workaholism Battery (WorkBAT), the Work Addiction Risk Test (WART) and the Dutch Wor...

Our recent paper about a new Facebook addiction scale has stimulated an interesting and very welcome debate among researchers concerning the assessment of excessive use of social networking sites. The critique put forward by Griffiths (2012) is mainly built on the conception of "Facebook" as too narrow of a concept, and that assessment of addiction...

Research into frequent, excessive, and compulsive social network activity has increased the last years, in which terms such as "social network site addiction" and "Facebook addiction" have been used interchangeably. The aim of this review is to offer more knowledge and better understanding of social network site addiction (SNS-addiction) among rese...

Aims: Although relationships between addiction and personality have previously been explored, no study has ever simultaneously investigated the interrelationships between several behavioral addictions, and related these to the main dimensions of the five-factor model of personality. Methods: In this study, 218 university students completed question...

Distinguishing high engagement with games from gaming addiction has been a challenge for researchers. We present evidence that an established self-report instrument can be used to distinguish addicted gamers from highly engaged gamers. The study used data from the World Health Organization’s survey, Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children. A natio...

Objective: the aim of this study was to examine coping correlates of workaholism components (Work Involvement, Drive, Enjoyment of Work). Method: a sample of 661 Norwegian cross-occupational employees from six different companies completed a web-based survey measuring workaholism and coping styles (Active Problem Solving, Passive Avoidance, Depress...

We examined scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI; Raskin & Terry, 1988) in relation to drive to work, enjoyment of and engagement in work, and professional position. A sample of 235 Norwegian bank employees completed a cross-sectional survey. We found that managers scored higher than subordinates on all measures. NPI scores correla...