Internet Addiction

Internet addiction is a phenomenon unknown before the mid-1980s. The term was first coined by the psychologist Ivan Goldberg in the United States, who proposed it as a disorder in a satirical hoax in 1995. However, empirical evidence indicates that Internet addiction, with common features similar to other addictive disorders, does appear to exist for some Internet users. Since the early studies conducted by the pioneer and leading proponents, such as Kimberly Young and Mark Griffiths, Internet addiction has received attention from multiple disciplines ranging from social psychology, public health, education, and social work to communication. Research on Internet addiction has proliferated, addressing topics as diverse as definition, classification, epidemiology, assessment, and diagnosis, as well as treatment and prevention. Nowadays, Internet addiction has undergone a ...