Original articleCompulsive Internet Use: The Role of Online Gaming and Other Internet Applications
Section snippets
Procedure
The Dutch “Monitor Study Internet and Youth” provided data for the current study [16]. This ongoing longitudinal study uses stratified sampling to select schools for participation based on region, urbanization, and education level. Participating classes are included on a school-wide basis, and repeated yearly participation in the study is encouraged.
Every year, participating adolescents fill out a 1-hour questionnaire in the classroom, supervised by a teacher. Written instructions are provided
Results
Table 1 shows the number of days per week adolescents spend on various Internet applications, and the percentage of adolescents using the application. Almost all adolescents use both MSN and surfing, while a smaller group uses online games. The percentage of adolescents using social networking shows a 20% increase between T1 and T2.
Table 2 presents exploratory correlations between days spent on Internet activities at T1 and T2. Neither online games nor browser games have a strong positive
Discussion
This study shows that various Internet applications are associated with CIU. In our adolescent sample downloading, social networking, MSN use, Habbo Hotel, chatting, blogging, online games, and casual games are all associated with CIU. However, at both T1 and T2 the regression model shows “online gaming” to be most strongly associated with CIU, confirming our first hypothesis. No relationship was found between CIU and surfing or emailing, although surfing is one of the most popular activities
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the following organizations for funding data collection of the Monitor Study Internet and Youth: Netherlands organization for health research and development (ZonMw), Volksbond Foundation Rotterdam, Addiction Care North Netherlands, Novadic Kentron Addiction Care, Kennisnet Foundation, Tactus Addiction Care, and De Hoop Foundation. In addition, the authors thank Leonard Vanbrabant (Utrecht University) for his assistance during the drafting and editing phase.
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