In everyday life, people are interacting with the Internet. The emergence of this phenomenon has been positively contributing to the rapid development of our society in the last decades. However, negative reports about excessive usage are coming to the surface and questions about potential negative consequences are being raised. Internet addiction (IA) has been suggestedas a new type of disorder. There is a new field of research emerging with the aim to investigate its nature. This review compiles the most relevant literature on neuroimaging techniques used to identify the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of IA. Based on identified comorbidity between IA and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a comparison between the neural correlates of IA and ADHD is attempted, in order to illustrate the importance of bringing more attention to IA. The findings present structural, functional and neurochemical alterations in brain regions associated with emotional processing, cognitive control and reward processing. Similarities between the two disorders interms of structural and functional alterations in regions associated with emotional processing and cognitive control are highlighted.Limitations regarding lack of consensus of the operational definition, narrow selection criteria of participants and a need for subcategories inside the term IA are pointed out. The thesis concludes that as of now the discovered alterations may be considered as biological markers underlying the disorder and IA is a field of research worthy of more attention.

Based on a sample of 1,012 late adolescents and young adults (ages 18-26), the current three interrelated studies tested a series of specific questions and hypotheses focused on understanding Internet Addiction. Study 1 sought to directly compare psychometric properties of four of the most widely used Internet addiction scales based on citation metrics (Internet Addiction Test, Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire, Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 and Chen Internet Addiction Scale), and to aggregate the best items across all scales into a new measure using bifactor IRT analyses. The resulting 10-item Aggregated Internet Addiction Scale (AIAS) consists of the best performing items from the original scales, representing each of Griffiths’ six conceptual criteria, and matches each original scale in performance (reliability, test information, relationship with covariates) with considerably lower item count. This offers an important alternative to scholars seeking a reliable and valid measure which is consistent with Griffiths’conceptual work. Study 2 tested a set of hypotheses based on a behavioral model of Internet addiction in which online activities are used and reinforced as a maladaptive coping strategy to manage stress. If Internet is used to disengage from stressors, it may become associated with the desirable outcome (reducing stress), while not actually solving it; rather, it would exacerbate the underlying problems and therefore create more stress. Stress was found to be positively associated with Internet addiction symptoms; in addition, this effect was mediated by reliance on problem disengagement coping strategies. Self-control was found to moderate the relationship of stress and coping strategies (with exception of problem disengagement); however, it did so in an unexpected direction. At lower levels of self-control the relationship of stress and reliance on engagement strategies becomes more positive, and conversely, more negative for emotional disengagement The moderation, however, had little impact on the indirect effect. Finally, the third study tested a series of hypotheses based on Uses and Gratifications theory (UGT) and the existing literature on predictors of Internet addiction. Specifically, it compared low self-esteem (LSE), perceived social self-efficacy (PSSE), and self-control (SC) as predictors of Internet addiction. Building on UGT, specific online behaviors were examined as mediators of the relationship between known predictors and Internet addiction. Social networking was hypothesized to mediate the pathway from LSE and PSSE to Internet addiction; and the use of internet for entertainment was hypothesized to mediate the path from SC to Internet addiction. Using structural equation model SC was found to be the strongest predictor of Internet addiction, both directly and indirectly through entertainment use. After controlling for SC and entertainment online use, social networking and the hypothesized underlying predictors (LSE and PSSE) had no remaining explanatory power for Internet addiction. There three predictors overlapped to some degree, where SC explained the largest amount of unique variance.

Abstract The thinking of subverting the Internet world is ubiquitous. In Taiwan, a wave of ¡§Happy Farm¡¨ made FACEBOOK popularity soar. Community management of this site includes dynamic sharing, online chat, Club management, Fan zone, and many other online games. It also lets the application designers enrich the site content in an open way. ¡§The Facebook¡¨ operated from February 2004 to the present. Now review the Facebook site, and it¡¦s not difficult to find the design term constantly updates connotation philosophy to match up the various types of users. The study of the social networking sites shows that the ages are on the downward trend. For now, from the 13-year-old junior high school students to the general public are included. In Taiwan, ther e are 12,107,600 population using the Facebook.(101.7.5 Ministry of the Interior statistics). Taiwan¡¦s population accounts for about 23,261,747. It means half of Taiwan¡¦s population using the Facebook. The proportion is quite popular, which is an important reference for the study of nation also of information technology in Taiwan. The research focused on the junior high school students¡¦habits of using the Facebook. We also cited the junior high school teachers¡¦ observation and interviewed development applications industry to construct the overall architecture which can be used to observ how the habits influence the students¡¦ lives and know the changes brought about by the community website. The conclusion is to give parents , teachers, and the community one note about the junior highschool students¡¦ use of the community network. The results of the following four conclusions. 1. FACEBOOK is the website of the ¡§Interpersonal Community¡¨. 2. FACEBOOK advantage is high interaction, free, and diverse functions. 3.Woman users¡¦rate of response on website message is high than men¡¦s. 4. Higher grade students who use FACEBOOK have better interpersonal relations.

Background Internet addiction, along with the development of internet and internet accessing tools, is affecting more and more people. It can give impact on various aspects of people’s life, including physical and mental health, family relationship, peer relationship, academic performance and job performance. Internet addiction has been raised up to public health issue in some countries, such as China and Korea. Teenagers, as the high risk group of internet addiction, a lot of studies have been done on the prevalence and characteristic among this group of population. However, internet addiction studies in Macau are rather limited, and are not up-to-date. Objective The objectives of this study are: 1) To evaluate the trend of internet addiction disorder among Macau teenagers. 2) Characterizing the internet addiction by internet usage pattern. 3) To investigate the risk factors and impact of Internet Addiction. 4) Provider information of Young’s internet diagnostic questionnaire (YDQ) and Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) in measuring internet addiction disorder. 5) To estimate the prediction rate of self-evaluation of internet addiction. Method Cross-sectional study was used in the study. Cluster sampling was applied in the participated schools. One class was selected from each grade, and all students in that class would be included in the study. Invitation letter was sent to all the regular education secondary schools in Macau. All the data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire. Result Totally, 511 valid data from 6 schools was included in the analysis. By using YDQ and CIAS to measure internet addiction, 10.6% and 24.7% of the respondent were classified as internet addicts respectively. Some significant association was found between internet addiction and internet usage pattern, as well as the relationship between demographic information and internet usage. Grade, go online in cybercaf?, online hours (both weekday and weekend) and playing online game were found to be risk factors of internet addiction. Self-evaluation of IAD together with the awareness of internet addiction, was found to be significant predictor of internet addiction. Conclusion Internet addiction is suggested to have increasing trend in Macau among teenagers. Relationships between demographic information, internet usage pattern, internet addiction, together with the risk factor of IAD were discussed. Teachers, social workers and parents should pay attention to teenagers’ internet usage pattern, especially for the risk factor. Help the teenager to recognize the problem of internet addiction. Education and promotion of internet addiction disorder should be provided to teenagers to prevent problematic internet usage. / published_or_final_version / Medicine / Master / Master of Public Health

The purposes of this research are to explore the relationship between Internet addiction and cyber behaviors and to explore whether youths who are more addicted to Internet are easier to experience negative cyber behaviors. / <p>Examinier was late. We postponed our seminar. </p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Iowa, 2005. / Supervisor: Nicholas Colangelo. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-155).

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOG’s) are a specific form of online computer games that allow for millions of people to simultaneously play online at any time. This form of online gaming has become a huge phenomenon worldwide both as a popular past time and a business endeavour for many individuals. There are more than 16 million people worldwide who subscribe to fantasy role-playing online games. Although such games can provide entertainment for many people, they can also lead to problematic Internet use (PIU). PIU has also been referred to as Internet addiction, and can cause significant problems in an individual’s functioning. The study aimed to enhance a greater understanding of the phenomenon of male adults’ experiences PIU with MMOG’s. More specifically the study aims to identify if PIU with MMOG’s can be considered a form of Internet addiction within South Africa. Furthermore, assisting in the further development of online addiction diagnosis and treatment strategies. The study utilised an interpretive phenomenological approach (IPA) and participants were purposively sampled. The data was collected using semi-structured individual interviews. Furthermore, Braun and Clarks thematic analysis was used during data analysis while incorporating the four major processes in phenomenological research, namely 1) epoche, 2) phenomenological reduction, 3) imaginative variation and, 4) synthesis. Themes that emerged from the analysis of the participants’ experiences included, initial description of use, motives for continued use of MMOG’s, consequences of PIU with MMOG’s, perceptions of PIU with MMOG’s, and treatment considerations. This study provided a thick description of South African and international literature and combines the literature with the themes that emerged from the participants experiences in order to produce discussions based on the findings of this qualitative study. Conclusions, recommendations, and limitations of this study informed future research on cyber citizenship by providing a detailed understanding of the context of South African male adults’ experiences of PIU with MMOG’s.

Huang, Hanyun. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 224-242). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendix in Chinese.

Lau, Chun Hong. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 224-256). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / Some appendixes in Chinese.

随着经济的快速发展与社会的重大转型，青少年网瘾问题成为中国大陆困扰家庭的社会问题。对于这种新兴的青少年越轨行为，已有研究往往关注青少年自身的心理因素及同伴影响，从社会学角度对青少年问题网络行为及其背后的家庭因素进行系统分析的研究相对缺乏。因此，本研究重新聚焦家庭，整合社会资本理论与一般压力理论，深入地探究家庭对于青少年问题网络行为的影响，并进一步比较家庭和同伴对于青少年上网行为的作用。 / 研究数据来自于2008年的"北京青少年上网行为调查"项目，该项目在海淀区14所中学中抽取697名初中二年级的学生，最终获得有效问卷668份。结合数据，我们将样本划分为安全群体、危险群体及网瘾群体，三个群体占样本总数的比例分别为37.6%、46.4%及16.0%。通过回归分析发现，产生于家庭内部的一般性社会资本（比如孩子对父母的依恋）会对青少年问题网络行为产生显著的负向效应，而功能性家庭社会资本（比如父母与孩子共同上网的行为等）与青少年问题网络行为之间并未出现显著的相关关系。同时，来自于父母的家庭压力（比如孩子遭受父母虐待等）以及越轨同伴都对青少年问题网络行为有显著的正向影响。另外，本研究进一步探究了家庭和同伴的互动关系，并发现因上网而越轨的同伴作为中介变量，跟孩子与父母的负面关系（包括孩子遭受父母虐待及孩子与父母之间的冲突）共同对青少年问题网络行为产生影响作用。本研究还结合了定性分析，对青少年从"正常"到"成瘾"过程中家庭因素的影响做了更深入和全面的分析。不仅从理论层面填补了社会学领域以家庭为焦点解释青少年问题网络行为的空白，而且也为实证领域对青少年网瘾进行有效的预防和疏导提供了重要参考。 / With the rapid economic development and great social change in Mainland China, Internet Addiction among adolescents has become a serious social problem disturbing families. Concerning this rising adolescent deviant behavior, previous studies mainly emphasized the individual psychological factors and some peer influences, but few studies have systematically explained the familial influences behind the adolescent problematic Internet use from sociological perspective. Therefore, this study has returned back to family, combining Social Capital Theory and General Strain Theory in a sociological framework, to explore the interactive mechanism between familial factors and adolescent problematic Internet use. Furthermore, we compare the influences of family and of peers on such deviant behavior. / This study used the data collected by the project of Internet Use among Beijing Adolescents in 2008, which sampled 697 students in Junior 2 from 14 middle schools of Haidian District and finally got 668 valid questionnaires for analysis. We divided the sample into three groups according to the risk degree of their Internet use, i.e., safe group, risk group and addicted group, and the percentages of the three groups to the whole sample are 37.6%, 46.4% and 16.0%. With the regression analysis, we found that the general internal-family social capital (e,g., attachment to parents) was significantly negatively related to the adolescent problematic Internet use, while the functional family social capital (e.g., aligned Internet use between parents and children) had no significant effect on adolescent problematic Internet use. And, both family strain (e.g., experience of parental maltreatment) and deviant peers had significant positive influence on adolescent problematic Internet use. Furthermore, we explored the interactive relationships among family strain, deviant peers and adolescent problematic Internet use, and found deviant peers, as a mediating factor, together exerted influences on adolescent problematic Internet use. / This study also combined the qualitative analysis to explain the deeper familial reasons in the process of adolescent becoming "addicted". It not only filled out the gap in sociological research area with focusing on family to systematically explore the social influences on adolescent problematic Internet use, but also provided important references to the practical prevention and treatment of adolescent Internet Addiction. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 孟宏. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-137). / Abstracts also in English. / Meng Hong.