Internet Addiction Survey

*Updated*

On Web pages like this one, we will offer related resources that happen to be available elsewhere online.

The first one listed on this page appears to be designed to help in testing whether an individual is inclined to become addicted to the Internet in general and, if so, how severely, is the Internet Addiction Survey:

This nine item survey is designed to test your tendency to become addicted to the 'Net.

Yet another such resource -- this one available at a different Website focused on Net addiction in general as well -- offers this Internet Addiction Test.

How do you know if you're already addicted or rapidly tumbling toward trouble? Everyone's situation is different, and it's not simply a matter of time spent on-line. Some people indicate they are addicted with only twenty hours of Internet use, while others who spent forty hours on-line insist it is not a problem to them. It's more important to measure the damage your Internet use causes in your life. What conflicts have emerged in family, relationships, work, or school?

Unlike this Central Vermont Blog Addiction Rehab Treatment Center Website [read the site's *Disclaimer* (click here)] or even the Blogaholics Anonymous blog however, these particular tests happen to be for real and, as such, are not intended to be spoofs.

Of course whether or not anyone takes any of the results it may offer seriously is completely up to each individual person themselves, as it is only offered here as an informational resource fyi, nothing more, nothing less.


*Update*

Then there is the must-read Internet Addiction guide (available at Dr. Grohol's Psych Central) [emphasis mine]:

John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
February, 1999; Last revision: March, 2003

A resource for objective, useful information
about Internet addiction, a theorized disorder.


What is Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD)?

What "Internet addiction disorder" (IAD) is still difficult to define at this time. Much of the original research was based upon the weakest type of research methodology, namely exploratory surveys with no clear hypothesis or rationale backing them. Coming from an atheoretical approach has some benefits, but also is not typically recognized as being a strong way to approach a new disorder. More recent research has expanded upon the original surveys and anecdotal case study reports. However, as I will illustrate below later, even these studies don't support the conclusions the authors claim.

The original research into this disorder began with exploratory surveys, which cannot establish causal relationships between specific behaviors and their cause. While surveys can help establish descriptions of how people feel about themselves and their behaviors, they cannot draw conclusions about whether a specific technology, such as the Internet, has actually caused those behaviors. Those conclusions that are drawn are purely speculative and subjective made by the researchers themselves. Researchers have a name for this logical fallacy, ignoring a common cause. It's one of the oldest fallacies in science, and one still regularly perpetrated in psychological research today.

Do some people have problems with spending too much time online? Sure they do. Some people also spend too much time reading, watching television, and working, and ignore family, friendships, and social activities. But do we have TV addiction disorder, book addiction, and work addiction being suggested as legitimate mental disorders in the same category as schizophrenia and depression? I think not. It's the tendency of some mental health professionals and researchers to want to label everything they see as potentially harmful with a new diagnostic category. Unfortunately, this causes more harm than it helps people. (The road to "discovering" IAD is filled with many logical fallacies, not the least of which is the confusion between cause and effect.)

[...]

Read Dr. Grohol's entire Internet Addiction guide, here.


This particular Web page was last updated on Thursday, June 10, 2004