In an ongoing discussion regarding use of the concept of Internet addiction, it does not seem reasonable to use the concept in studies which are conducted in nonclinical settings and describe negative situations experienced by the general population during Internet use. It may be more appropriate to discuss problematic Internet use. Dimensional rather than categorical measures would be more appropriate than Young's diagnostic criteria alone to specify whether Internet use is within a healthy range.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BeardK. W. (2002) Internet addiction: current status and implications for employees. Journal of Employment Counseling, 39, 2–11.
2.
BeardK. W., & WolfE. M. (2001) Modification in the proposed diagnostic criteria for Internet addiction. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 4, 377–383.
3.
CeyhanE.CeyhanA. A., & GürcanA. (2007) The validity and reliability of the problematic Internet scale usage. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 7, 387–416.
4.
ChouC.CondronL., & BellandJ. C. (2005) A review of the research on Internet addiction. Educational Psychology Review, 17, 363–388.
5.
DowlingN. A., & QuirkK. L. (2009) Screening for Internet dependence: do the proposed diagnostic criteria differentiate normal from dependent Internet use?CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12, 21–27.
6.
JohanssonA., & GötestamG. (2004) Internet addiction: characteristics of a questionnaire and prevalence in Norwegian youth (12-18 years). Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 45, 223–229.
7.
KesıcıŞ., & Şahınİ. (2009) A comparative study of uses of the Internet among college students with and without Internet addiction. Psychological Reports, 105, 1103–1112.
8.
YoungK. S. (1998) Internet addiction: the emergence of a new clinical disorder. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1, 237–244.