Teenagers at risk of internet addiction

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By Louise Williams and Tim Colquhoun

November 23, 2005
Page 1 of 2

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 YOUR SAY: Internet Addiction

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If your teenager spends hours huddled over a computer, there is a good chance you have
something to worry about — internet addiction.

The first study of the impact of internet use on Australian teenagers found a third of respondents
were "in the process of becoming psychologically addicted" and teenagers, on average, spent 13
hours a week on-line.

The pilot study, conducted by Dr Mubarak Ali of Flinders University in Adelaide, focused on
114 government and private-school students across a broad socio-economic range.

The validity of so-called internet addiction is hotly debated, but Dr Ali, a mental health expert,
said it appeared to follow a similar pattern to gambling.

"Substance abuse is something visible. Psychological addictions are caused by wanting to hang
onto or enhance positive feelings and stimuli, like winning in gambling, playing computer games
or projecting whatever personality you like in chat rooms," he said.

Seven per cent of teenagers aged 13 to 17 described themselves as "becoming addicted" to the
net and other 26 per cent said they used it every day and considered it "an important part of their
lives".

A national study will be launched next year to investigate the impulses related to compulsive
internet use.

Dr Ali said teenagers reported an alarming lack of parental supervision, including a very low
take-up of readily available net-filter software, mainly due to a technological generation gap.
Less than 7 per cent of boys reported any parental concern over their chat room participation,
compared with almost 40 per cent of girls' parents.

"This is despite the fact that a chat room is anonymous and all the weaknesses of human beings
can be played out inside it without any restrictions, including cyber-sex and the circulation of
pornography, humiliating or embarrassing photos and gossip," Dr Ali said.

"It is cultural stereotyping to assume boys are able to look after themselves. We find no
significant gender differences in the rate of psychological problems experienced by adolescents.

"Both groups are being inadequately supervised, but boys are particularly neglected. They are
being left to go it alone in managing their emotions, leaving them increasingly vulnerable to
abuse and psychological stress within the cyber world."

Earlier this year, the Australian Medical Journal raised the alarm over research showing older
Australian teenagers now spend more than six hours a day multi-tasking with a range of media,
ranging from TV to internet use and instant messaging.