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Extensive Internet Involvement—Addiction or Emerging Lifestyle?

In the discussions for the future DSM-5, the Substance-Related Disorders Work Group has been addressing “addiction-like” behavioral disorders such as “Internet addiction” to possibly be considered as potential additions for the diagnostic system. Most research aiming to specify and define the concep...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bergmark, Karin Helmersson, Bergmark, Anders, Findahl, Olle
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3290978/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22408585
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8124488
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author Bergmark, Karin Helmersson
Bergmark, Anders
Findahl, Olle
author_facet Bergmark, Karin Helmersson
Bergmark, Anders
Findahl, Olle
author_sort Bergmark, Karin Helmersson
collection PubMed
description In the discussions for the future DSM-5, the Substance-Related Disorders Work Group has been addressing “addiction-like” behavioral disorders such as “Internet addiction” to possibly be considered as potential additions for the diagnostic system. Most research aiming to specify and define the concept of Internet addiction (or: Excessive/Compulsive/Problematic Internet Use—PIU), takes its point of departure in conventional terminology for addiction, based in established DSM indicators. Still, it is obvious that the divide between characteristics of addiction and dimensions of new lifestyles built on technological progress is problematic and far from unambiguous. Some of these research areas are developing from the neurobiological doctrine of addiction as not being tied to specific substances. The concept of “behavioral addictions”, based on biological mechanisms such as the reward systems of the brain, has been launched. The problems connected to this development are in this study discussed and reflected with data from a Swedish survey on Internet use (n = 1,147). Most Swedes (85%) do use the Internet to some degree. The prevalence of excessive use parallels other similar countries. Respondents in our study spend (mean value) 9.8 hours per week online at home, only 5 percent spend more than 30 hours per week. There are both positive and negative social effects at hand. Many respondents have more social contacts due to the use of Internet, but there is a decline in face-to-face contacts. About 40% of the respondents indicate some experience of at least one problem related to Internet use, but only 1.8% marked the presence of all problems addressed. Most significant predictors for problem indicators, except for age, relate to “time” and time consuming activities such as gaming, other activities online or computer skills.
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spelling pubmed-32909782012-03-09 Extensive Internet Involvement—Addiction or Emerging Lifestyle? Bergmark, Karin Helmersson Bergmark, Anders Findahl, Olle Int J Environ Res Public Health Article In the discussions for the future DSM-5, the Substance-Related Disorders Work Group has been addressing “addiction-like” behavioral disorders such as “Internet addiction” to possibly be considered as potential additions for the diagnostic system. Most research aiming to specify and define the concept of Internet addiction (or: Excessive/Compulsive/Problematic Internet Use—PIU), takes its point of departure in conventional terminology for addiction, based in established DSM indicators. Still, it is obvious that the divide between characteristics of addiction and dimensions of new lifestyles built on technological progress is problematic and far from unambiguous. Some of these research areas are developing from the neurobiological doctrine of addiction as not being tied to specific substances. The concept of “behavioral addictions”, based on biological mechanisms such as the reward systems of the brain, has been launched. The problems connected to this development are in this study discussed and reflected with data from a Swedish survey on Internet use (n = 1,147). Most Swedes (85%) do use the Internet to some degree. The prevalence of excessive use parallels other similar countries. Respondents in our study spend (mean value) 9.8 hours per week online at home, only 5 percent spend more than 30 hours per week. There are both positive and negative social effects at hand. Many respondents have more social contacts due to the use of Internet, but there is a decline in face-to-face contacts. About 40% of the respondents indicate some experience of at least one problem related to Internet use, but only 1.8% marked the presence of all problems addressed. Most significant predictors for problem indicators, except for age, relate to “time” and time consuming activities such as gaming, other activities online or computer skills. MDPI 2011-12-02 2011-12 /pmc/articles/PMC3290978/ /pubmed/22408585 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8124488 Text en © 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Bergmark, Karin Helmersson
Bergmark, Anders
Findahl, Olle
Extensive Internet Involvement—Addiction or Emerging Lifestyle?
title Extensive Internet Involvement—Addiction or Emerging Lifestyle?
title_full Extensive Internet Involvement—Addiction or Emerging Lifestyle?
title_fullStr Extensive Internet Involvement—Addiction or Emerging Lifestyle?
title_full_unstemmed Extensive Internet Involvement—Addiction or Emerging Lifestyle?
title_short Extensive Internet Involvement—Addiction or Emerging Lifestyle?
title_sort extensive internet involvement—addiction or emerging lifestyle?
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3290978/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22408585
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8124488
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