The Relationship Between Depression and Internet Addiction

Prior research has utilized the Zung Depression Inventory (ZDI) and found that moderate to severe rates of depression coexist with pathological Internet use.1 Although the ZDI was utilized for its expediency with on-line administration, its limitations include poor normative data and less frequent clinical use. Therefore, this study utilized the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), which has more accurate norms and frequent usage among dual diagnostic patient populations. An on-line survey administered on a World Wide Web site utilized the BDI as part of a larger study. A total of 312 surveys was collected with 259 valid profiles from addicted users, which again supported significant levels of depression to be associated with pathological Internet use. This article discusses how a treatment protocol should emphasis the primary psychiatric condition if related to a subsequent impulse control problem such as pathological Internet use. Effective management of psychiatric symptoms may indirectly correct pathological Internet use. Prior research has identified the existence of addictive Internet use, which has been associated with significant social, psychological, and occupational impairment.2 Addicts in this study used the Internet an average of 38 hr per week for nonacademic or non-employment purposes, which caused detrimental effects such as poor grade performance among students, discord among couples, and reduced work performance among employees. This is compared to non-addicts who used the Internet an average of 8 hr per week with no significant consequences reported. Predominantly, the interactive capabilities of the Internet such as chat rooms or on-line games were seen to be the most addictive. This type of behavioral impulse control failure, which does not involve an intoxicant, was seen as most akin to pathological gambling. Therefore, a formal term utilized in this article is pathological Internet use (PIU) to refer to cases of addictive Internet use. Research in the addictions field has shown that psychiatric illnesses such as depression are often associated with alcoholism3 and drug addiction.4 Further, research has shown that other addictive behaviors overlap with depression-for example, eating disorders5'6 and pathological gambling.7-9 Although the concept of Internet addiction has gained credibility among mental health professionals both in academic and clinical realms, little research has been conducted to examine if similar underlying psychiatric illnesses may contribute to such Internet abuse.1 Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess depression and compare such results to other established dual diagnostic populations. Young1 utilized the Zung Depression Inventory10 (ZDI), which suggested that increased levels of depression are associated with moderate to severe levels of PIU. However, the ZDI yields limited clinical utility; therefore, this study used the Beck Depression Invento#1 (BDI) because it is a more psychometrically and clinically valid instrument to further investigate the effects of depression on PIU. Finally, this study also attempted to increase its sample size from the previous examination (N -99) to improve generalizability of results.