Problematic Internet use or Internet addiction?
Section snippets
Definition and prevalence
The concept of addiction, though traditionally used to describe a physical dependence on a substance (Holden, 2001), has been applied to excessive use of the Internet. A variety of terms have been used to describe this behavior, including “Internet addiction” (Bai et al., 2001, Mitchell, 2000, Shapira et al., 2000, Young, 1998), “pathological Internet use” (Davis, 2001), and “problematic Internet use” (Davis, Flett, & Besser, 2002). Researchers have described a syndrome of intense preoccupation
Etiology
Research in this area is generally of poor quality, with few studies using control groups, randomization, or well-validated measures. A number of psychosocial disorders are thought to be related to excessive Internet use. The presence of certain comorbid diagnoses, including mood disorders, bipolar disorders, and social anxiety disorder, are highly represented among groups of excessive Internet users (Shapira et al., 2000). A large proportion of individuals who overuse the Internet also meet or
Treatment
Excessive Internet use certainly has substantial social effects. Several studies have demonstrated that those individuals who spend too much time online tend to lose sleep (Anderson, 2001, Nalwa and Anand, 2003), decrease social communication (Kraut et al., 1998), have problems in their interpersonal relationships (Lin and Tsai, 2002, Young, 1998), and use the Internet as their primary means of alleviating stress and depression (Chou, 2001). Those who have asserted that Internet addiction is
Workplace implications
In Young’s original study of Internet addiction, approximately half of Internet-dependent individuals reported that they had suffered severe work- or school-related problems because they spent so much time online (Young, 1998). It has been shown that in the workplace, like at home, more interactive online applications are associated with more problems with Internet use (Davis et al., 2002). Young and Case (2004) demonstrated that the most common applications associated with problematic Internet
Conclusions
The Internet is a extremely important social and communications tool, and is changing our daily lives at home and at work. It is entirely predictable that any major new technology, or way of doing business, should be associated with a variety of human responses, some good, and some not so good. Research about the effects of the Internet is still in its infancy, and needs to be qualitatively and quantitatively improved. There is no doubt that some Internet users develop problematic behavior.
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