Special Resource Material Developed by the Center
Title: Is Internet Use Interfering with Youngsters’ Well-being? (Information Resource)
Description: Most people appreciate the benefits of devices such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. At the same time, there is widespread discussion, concern, and controversy about abuses and the negative effects of excessive use. Considerable concern focuses on what frequently is labeled “internet addiction” (often referred to as “PIU” – problematic/pathological internet use),
especially with respect to game playing, texting, and sexual preoccupations.
Research on “internet addiction” remains plagued by definitional, conceptual and methological problems. For example, a major conceptual confound is that the internet serves as a medium formany compulsive pursuits (e.g., gaming, online shopping, gambling, pornography and cybersex).
In such instances, the specific pursuits rather than the internet per se, are the “addictions.”
Core methodological problems are that instruments used to gather data lack rigorous validation, and so do the criteria and standards used to interpret findings as indicating abuse and addiction. Access at: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/internet.pdf
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