Locus: The Seton Hall Journal of Undergraduate Research

Volume 1 Article 4

October 2018

The Relationship Between Internet Addiction and

Mental Health Conditions
Lara Carter

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Carter, Lara (2018) "The Relationship Between Internet Addiction and Mental Health Conditions," Locus: The Seton Hall Journal of
Undergraduate Research: Vol. 1 , Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarship.shu.edu/locus/vol1/iss1/4
 Carter: The Relationship Between Internet Addiction and Mental Health Con

The Relationship Between Internet Addiction and

Mental Health Conditions
Lara Carter
Seton Hall University

Abstract lable desire for excessive use of the internet, de-

valuation of time spent without connecting to the
Internet addiction is a relatively new phe- internet, intense nervousness and aggression in the
nomenon which can have similar impacts as sub- case of deprivation and progressive deterioration
stance dependence on one’s cognitive and behav- of social and family life” (p. 445). This study as
ioral functioning. This type of addiction is a grow- well as other similar studies have shown that inter-
ing problem, and is constantly being researched to net addiction is associated with anxiety disorders,
try to address what causes this addiction, who is personality disorders, bipolar disorder, social pho-
affected by it, and how it can be treated. By un- bia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and
derstanding these issues, it will be easier to put an depression in young adults, as well as many other
end to internet addiction and the negative conse- psychological disorders (Orsal et al., 2013). Inter-
quences that may result from it. It has been found net addiction can affect people’s social and cog-
that internet addiction can have serious impacts nitive functioning and significantly interfere with
on one’s mental health and may cause conditions their everyday life. The selected research has il-
such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. lustrated the presence of a relationship between in-
This paper will discuss some of the recent litera- ternet addiction and a variety of psychological and
ture regarding internet addiction, and the research social disorders. Orsal et al. (2013) focus specif-
that has been previously conducted on it. The dis- ically on depression in relation to internet addic-
cussion of the previous research will include the tion among university students, and hypothesize
results and conclusions which have been made in that a positive correlation is present between de-
regards to the impacts which internet addiction pression and internet addiction among this popu-
can have on one’s mental health. lation. Other studies, such as one by Ko, Yen, Yen,
Chen, and Chen (2012), hypothesize the coexis-
tence of several psychiatric disorders and internet
1. Overview addiction, including ADHD, depression, hostility,
personality disorders, and social anxiety disorder.
While the internet can be a helpful tool for re- Younes et al. (2016) also looks at internet addic-
searching and connecting with others around the tion among university students, and its relation-
world, it may also be detrimental to one’s mental ship in regards to insomnia, anxiety, depression,
health if it is used too frequently. When one’s use stress, and self-esteem using unique scales to mea-
of the internet becomes overwhelming, it may be sure each of these disorders. While all of these
a sign of internet addiction. According to a study studies explore internet addiction and its related
by Orsal, Orsal, Unsal, and Ozalp (2013), internet problems in a different way, the hypotheses are
addiction can be characterized by “an uncontrol-

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 Locus: The Seton Hall Journal of Undergraduate Research, Vol. 1, Iss. 1 [2018], Art. 4

similar. Overall, the hypothesis posed within the berg Self Esteem Scale (RSES) is a scale that was
selected research is that a relationship exists be- also used in the study by Younes et al. (2016),
tween having an internet addiction and having a which is commonly used to measure one’s self-
variety of mental illnesses or disorders. esteem. A correlation was also found between
In order to measure internet addiction as well scoring as having a potential internet addiction on
as certain mental illnesses, there are several tests the IAT and scoring on the RSES as having low
and scales that can be used. The most widely self-esteem. All of these scales are important mea-
used test for internet addiction is called the Young sures of not only the presence of these disorders
Internet Addiction Test, often abbreviated YIAT or addictions in one’s life, but their significance in
or simply IAT, first developed by Dr. Kimberly one’s life and how greatly it impacts the individ-
Young in 1996 (Faraci, Craparo, Messina, & Sev- ual’s daily functioning and relationships. Several
erino, 2013). The newest version that Young has studies have also validated these findings, such as
published consists of 20 items in the form of a the study by Ko et al. (2012) which describes the
Likert scale. This IAT measures for factors such relationship between internet addiction and major
as excessive use of the internet, its importance depressive disorder, social anxiety, aggressive be-
to the participant, and the influences that use of havior, and other psychiatric disorders in more de-
the internet can have on one’s work or social life. tail. Ko et al. (2012) found that in adult cases
The higher the score, the more likely the partic- of internet addiction, 7% of these cases had dys-
ipant is to be classified as internet dependent or thymic disorder and 15% had social anxiety disor-
addicted. Studies have shown that when one is der. A variety of disorders were found to be asso-
determined to have an internet addiction, there is ciated with adults who have an internet addiction,
often a coexistence with other psychological prob- yet the causality of this relationship is not fully
lems that is also present (Younes et al., 2016). explained.
For common psychological problems such as in- Several studies have undoubtedly proven that
somnia, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, there is a relationship between internet addiction
there are unique scales that can be used to mea- and mental health conditions. What has not been
sure the presence of these disorders in one’s life. proven, however, is the nature of the relationship
Internet addiction is a problem across several pop- between the two. There has not been a signifi-
ulations, and the disorders and illnesses that may cant amount of research done to prove the causal-
coexist as a result of this addiction only intensify ity of this relationship completely, and it is unclear
the problem. whether internet addiction causes mental illness or
One scale that is widely used in identify- having a mental illness makes one more prone to
ing certain disorders is the Depression Anxiety internet addiction. This ambiguity about the di-
Stress Scales (DASS) as described by Younes et rection of the causal influence could be a potential
al. (2016) in their study. Similar to the IAT, the threat to the internal validity of the study due to
DASS is in the format of a Likert scale with 21 the fact that the uncertainty decreases the level of
items to be measured, and it is considered to be confidence that one variable causes another. A re-
a “reliable and valid measure of depression, anxi- cent study by Taymur et al. (2016) attempts to
ety, and tension/stress in clinical and non-clinical explain the relationship between internet addic-
populations of adults” (Younes et al., 2016, p. 4). tion and psychopathology, and concluded that the
This research has shown that a significant relation- greater the severity of an internet addiction, the
ship is present between having a potential internet greater the increase in symptoms associated with
addiction and suffering from anxiety, depression, anxiety and depression. This finding could sug-
or stress. In addition to the DASS, the Rosen- gest that the mental illness or dysfunctional behav-

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 Carter: The Relationship Between Internet Addiction and Mental Health Con

iors were the cause of the development of an inter- tal health in recent years. With greater knowledge
net addiction, and that as the addiction progressed, and research increasing in the psychological and
these symptoms worsened. On the other hand, this scientific fields, there are more disorders that are
finding could also suggest that as the internet ad- going to be clearly defined and separated. When
diction developed, the symptoms of mental illness it comes to the mental health conditions that are
arose as a result of the forming addictive behav- found to be related to internet addiction, it is pos-
iors. Since these studies focus more on internet sible that many of the participants may not actu-
addiction itself, it may be easier for the researchers ally have an illness such as depression or anxiety.
to hypothesize that internet addiction is the cause However, the tests that are being used to mea-
of the various mental illnesses and dysfunctional sure these illnesses may be so precise that they
behaviors that are under study. It is difficult for are defining more people as having these illnesses
either possibility to fully explain the causality of than the actual incidence of prevalence. This is
the relationship because the research that is being to say that these participants may be expressing
done is only occurring at one point in time; there a few of the symptoms associated with these ill-
is no way to know for certain which came first un- nesses, but cannot be properly diagnosed as hav-
less further investigations are made. ing the illness itself.
Since the internet was first developed a few The aforementioned concepts are some of the
decades ago, its usage “has grown exponentially reasons why the topic of internet addiction in re-
worldwide to more than 2.5 billion active users” lation to mental illness should be investigated fur-
which does not make it surprising that internet ther. There are still unexplored areas of this topic,
addiction is such a widely studied phenomenon such as the causality of the relationship between
(Younes et al., 2016, p. 2). With the constant the two variables. This ambiguity regarding the
development of technology and inventions in re- causality is partly due to the fact that the internet
lation to the internet, such as social media, in- is still a relatively new invention, and that there
ternet addiction is also constantly changing as a hasn’t been as much research done on internet ad-
result. This rapid advancement may be why it is diction as other types of addictions that have ex-
challenging to determine exactly what the causes isted throughout history. However, with the in-
and effects of internet addiction are within one’s creasing popularity of the internet and social me-
life. An interesting idea that could be researched is dia especially, it is important to find out the con-
whether or not the recent development of the inter- sequences that the internet can have on individ-
net and internet addiction is related to the increase uals, particularly younger generations (Younes et
in the diagnoses of mental illnesses. According to al., 2016). While the internet is becoming more
research by Stolzer (2016), there has been a signif- accessible with devices such as smart phones and
icant increase in the United States in recent years tablets, internet addiction is an increasing prob-
of being diagnosed as mentally ill throughout the lem with these advances in technology. This tech-
lifespan. It is more common now than ever for nological growth is why it is so valuable to study
physicians to ask questions regarding a patient’s phenomenon such as internet addiction because it
mental health, and to prescribe medicine or other will likely grow into a greater problem over time,
treatments when there are any abnormal feelings and as researchers are better able to understand its
or behaviors present related to one’s mental health. causes, then it can be more easily prevented. If in
This ideology could be related to internet addic- fact internet addiction is a cause of mental health
tion as well; perhaps the idea of an internet ad- conditions, inhibiting internet addiction will help
diction in the first place only exists due to this decrease the prevalence of these problems as well.
significant increase in diagnoses regarding men- Investigating specifically the causes and effects of

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 Locus: The Seton Hall Journal of Undergraduate Research, Vol. 1, Iss. 1 [2018], Art. 4

internet addiction will be useful in understanding is the characteristic of causing significant impair-
more about the relationship between this addiction ment and/or emotional distress, as any addiction
and a variety of psychological and social problems would have on one’s life. Overall, each definition
that may exist. As the internet steadily increases in describes internet addiction as being characterized
both popularity and accessibility, researching the by a combination of excessive internet use, as well
negative effects that it may have is important for as substantial emotional distress or lack of func-
the general public to understand since the internet tioning as a result of this overuse.
is a tool used across various populations. There are a variety of mental illnesses that ex-
ist, and they are each characterized by a unique set
2. Defining the Variables of symptoms. According to the National Alliance
on Mental Illness (NAMI), “a mental illness is a
While internet addiction does not have a uni- condition that affects a person’s thinking, feeling,
versal definition, there are certain characteristics or mood” and these conditions “may affect some-
that can be classified as overuse of the internet. one’s ability to relate to others and function each
According to research by Dalbudak et al. (2013) a day” (Mental Health Conditions, n.d.). Depres-
loss of control over one’s internet usage can have sion and anxiety, the mental illnesses most com-
a negative impact on daily functioning, relation- monly associated with internet addiction, are each
ships, and emotional stability. This loss of control defined by their own diagnostic criteria. For de-
can be a sign of internet addiction, which Dalbu- pression, the NAMI explains that in order to be
dak et al. (2013) defines as “an individual’s inabil- diagnosed with depression, “a person must have
ity to control his or her use of the Internet, hav- experienced a major depressive episode that has
ing negative consequences (e.g. failing in school lasted longer than two weeks” including symp-
and having decreased productivity) and resulting toms such as loss of appetite or interest in activ-
in marked distress and/or functional impairment” ities, change in appetite or weight, fatigue, feel-
(p. 272). Other research, such as Jelenchick, ings of low self-worth, difficulty concentrating,
Becker, and Moreno (2012), defines internet ad- and suicidal thoughts or intentions (Depression,
diction by the symptoms related to it, stating that n.d.). For anxiety, the NAMI describes all anxi-
it is “characterized by frequent, uncontrolled, and ety disorders as having “persistent, excessive fear
harmful use of the Internet... [including] preoc- or worry in situations that are not threatening” in
cupation, withdrawal, loss of control and func- common (Anxiety Disorders, n.d.). These disor-
tional impairment” (p. 296). Similarly, Younes ders involve a combination of emotional and phys-
et al. (2016) describes the aspects that are associ- ical symptoms. Some of the emotional symp-
ated with both excessive internet use and internet toms of anxiety are feelings of apprehension or
addiction. Younes et al. (2016) defines excessive dread, feeling tense and jumpy, and being restless
internet use as “internet use [that] has become ex- or irritable. The physical symptoms can include
cessive, uncontrolled, and time-consuming to the pounding heart, shortness of breath, upset stom-
point of timelessness and severely disrupting peo- ach, sweating, headaches, fatigue, and insomnia.
ple’s lives” and internet addiction as being char- Much of the research regarding unhealthy or ex-
acterized by “a maladaptive pattern of internet use cessive internet usage focuses on social anxiety
leading to clinically significant impairment or dis- as being most closely associated with internet ad-
tress” (p. 2). Though these researchers each in- diction. According to the NAMI, social anxiety
terpreted internet addiction in a slightly different disorder in particular causes “intense fear, often
manner, there are clear similarities between all of driven by irrational worries about social humilia-
the listed definitions. The most obvious similarity tion” (Anxiety Disorders, n.d.). Evidently, mental

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 Carter: The Relationship Between Internet Addiction and Mental Health Con

illness can have a significant and negative impact stance, it can be treated like one in regards to the
on one’s life and can be characterized by several impact it can have on one’s social, cognitive, and
symptoms which relate to one’s daily functioning behavioral functioning when used in excess.
and behaviors.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of 3. Further Research
Mental Disorders (5th ed.), often abbreviated as
DSM-5, is a widely referenced guide when diag- One of the greatest flaws in the research that
nosing and classifying any mental health condi- has been conducted on internet addiction as a
tion, published by the American Psychiatric Asso- mental health condition is that the variables were
ciation in 2013. There are specific criteria which only observed at a single point in time. The
are outlined in a section of the DSM-5 regard- tests which were conducted to measure the vari-
ing addictive disorders and how they are defined, ables occurred only once, instead of being re-
some of which are closely related to internet ad- peated at another point in time to compare the re-
diction. For example, two of the criteria found in sults from each assessment. By conducting longi-
the DSM-5 for addictive disorders are “impaired tudinal studies, it would be easier to determine the
control” and “social impairment” (American Psy- association between internet addiction and men-
chiatric Association, 2013, p. 483). Impaired tal health conditions and see how the variables re-
control refers to spending a significant amount of late to one another. Within a longitudinal study,
time using the substance which one is addicted it would also be valuable to evaluate extraneous
to, in which “all of the individual’s daily activi- variables that may have an impact on either inter-
ties revolve around the substance” (American Psy- net addiction or mental health. For example, ask-
chiatric Association, 2013, p. 483). This crite- ing the participant about any major life changes
rion is similar to the previously stated definitions or current stressors could be useful in determin-
regarding internet addiction, which characterize ing whether or not these factors have any im-
internet addiction by excessive, time-consuming, pact on his or her mental health or internet usage.
and uncontrolled use. Social impairment due to Researching in depth about participants’ environ-
recurring use of the substance can “result in a ments may help in explaining the causes of either
failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, of the variables.
school, or home” and lead to “social or interper- In the research that has been done on inter-
sonal problems caused or exacerbated by the ef- net addiction, there is not a significant amount of
fects of the substance” (American Psychiatric As- information involving the demographics of those
sociation, 2013, p. 483). This criterion is almost who suffer from this addiction. It would be use-
exactly the same as the definition given by Dal- ful to gather more participant information while
budak et al. (2013) regarding internet addiction, studying internet addiction to understand how it
in which he defines it as “an individual’s inabil- affects various populations due to race, socio-
ity to control his or her use of the Internet, hav- economic status, age, disability, and gender. Cer-
ing negative consequences (e.g. failing in school tain groups may be more likely to experience ex-
and having decreased productivity) and resulting cessive or unhealthy internet usage or to suffer
in marked distress and/or functional impairment” from mental illnesses such as anxiety and depres-
(p. 272). It is clear that there are distinct sim- sion. For example, studies such as the research
ilarities between the DSM-5’s overall criteria for done by Orsal et al. (2013) focus specifically
addictive disorders and the characteristics that are on evaluating internet addiction and mental health
widely associated with internet addiction. Even conditions among university students, which ex-
though the internet is not exactly a concrete sub- plains how these variables relate to one another

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 Locus: The Seton Hall Journal of Undergraduate Research, Vol. 1, Iss. 1 [2018], Art. 4

and how they affect this specific population. More students. Psychiatry Research, 196, 296- 301.
research similar to Orsal et al. (2013) would doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2011.09.007
be useful in determining how these variables af-
fect people of a variety of populations in order to Ko, C., Yen, C., Chen, C., & Chen, C. (2012).
understand the prevalence of these issues within Review: The association between Internet ad-
each population. Since the internet is a tool used diction and psychiatric disorder: A review of
across all populations, it is important to under- the literature. European Psychiatry, 271- 278.
stand where internet addiction is most prevalent doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2010.04.011.
and debilitating.
Mental Health Conditions. (n.d.) In National
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