SCL-90-R and 16PF Profiles of Senior High School Students with Excessive Internet Use

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the psychiatric symptomatology and personality characteristics of Korean senior high school students considered to use the Internet to excess. Method: We administered a questionnaire packet to students that included 4 measures. These measures included a questionnaire on Internet use patterns during the previous month, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). A total of 328 students, aged 15 to 19 years, participated in the study. Results: Students were divided into 4 Internet user groups according to their IAT total scores: nonusers ( n = 59, 18.0%), minimal users ( n = 155, 47.3%), moderate users ( n = 98, 29.9%), and excessive users ( n = 16, 4.9%). The SCL-90-R showed that the excessive users group, when compared with the other groups in this study, reported the highest levels of symptomatology. The 16PF also revealed that excessive users were easily affected by feeling, emotionally less stable, imaginative, absorbed in thought, self-sufficient, experimenting, and preferred their own decisions. Conclusions: This study suggests that senior high school students who use the Internet to excess report and subsequently exhibit significantly more psychiatric symptoms than students who use the Internet less frequently. In addition, excessive users appear to have a distinctive personality profile when compared with nonusers, minimal, and moderate users.

Are Adolescents with Internet Addiction Prone to Aggressive Behavior? The Mediating Effect of Clinical Comorbidities on the Predictability of Aggression in Adolescents with Internet Addiction

“…Yang et al noted that excessive Internet use according to the Y-IAT was associated with higher levels of psychiatric symptoms on the Symptom Checklist-90-Revision in Korea. 21,45 Additionally, Yen et al also reported that adolescents with Internet addiction had more ADHD symptoms and more severe depression. 46 Although the concept of and criteria for Internet addiction remain controversial, four components are considered essential: (a) excessive use, often with a loss of sense of time or neglect of basic drives; (b) withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension, and/or depression and anxiety when the Internet is inaccessible; (c) obsession, including a constant need for better computer equipment, more software, or more hours of use; and (d) negative consequences, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue.…”

Association between attitudes towards Internet usage and health practices in high-school students in 2 schools in Turkey: a cross-sectional study

“…Among a sample of adults (median age of 20 years), higher levels of computer usage were associated with both lower physical activity levels and perception of computer usage as a barrier to physical activity (24). Moreover, Morgan and Cotton, and Yang et al suggested that excessive use of the Internet caused students to deviate from the real life and fail to cope with difficulties they encounter (25,26). Participants of a study conducted by Rotunda et al reported certain negative outcomes of Internet usage and that problematic practices, which were less prevalent, became more common (27).…”

Elevated social Internet use and schizotypal personality disorder in adolescents

“…Similarly studies of young adult samples indicate that self-reported loneliness is positively correlated with the rate of Internet use (Engelberg & Sjoberg, 2004;Nichols & Nicki, 2005), and individuals who report excessive Internet use are characterized by an elevated rate of psychiatric disorders (Blacket al, 1999;Shapira, et al, 2001;Shapira et al, 2003;Yoo et al, 2004). A recent study of normal high school students revealed that heavy Internet use was associated with heightened psychiatric symptoms on self report measures (Yang et al, 2005).…”