Asia Pac Psychiatry. 2014 Feb 26. doi: 10.1111/appy.12122.
Montag C1, Bey K, Sha P, Li M, Chen YF, Liu WY, Zhu YK, Li CB, Markett S, Keiper J, Reuter M.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION:
It has been hypothesized that two distinctive forms of Internet addiction exist. Here, generalized Internet addiction refers to the problematic use of the Internet covering a broad range of Internet-related activities. In contrast, specific forms of Internet addiction target the problematic use of distinct online activities such as excessive online video gaming or activities in social networks.
METHODS:
The present study investigates the relationship between generalized and specific Internet addiction in a cross-cultural study encompassing data from China, Taiwan, Sweden and Germany in n = 636 participants. In this study, we assessed – besides generalized Internet addiction – addictive behavior in the domains of online video gaming, online shopping, online social networks and online pornography.
RESULTS:
The results confirm the existence of distinct forms of specific Internet addiction. One exception, however, was established in five of the six samples under investigation: online social network addiction correlates in large amounts with generalized Internet addiction.
DISCUSSION:
In general, it is of importance to distinguish between generalized and specific Internet addiction.
KEYWORDS:
China, Germany, Sweden, Taiwan, generalized and specific Internet addiction
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