Is excessive online usage a function of medium or activity?: An empirical pilot study

Mark D. Griffiths; Attila Szabo

doi:10.1556/jba.2.2013.016

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Journal of Behavioral Addictions

Volume/Issue:: Volume 3: Issue 1

Is excessive online usage a function of medium or activity?

An empirical pilot study

Authors:

Dr. Mark D. Griffiths

Dr. Mark D. Griffiths International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Division, Nottingham Trent University, Burton Street, Nottingham, NG1 4BU, UK

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Attila Szabo PhD

Attila Szabo PhD Institute for Health Promotion and Sports Sciences, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Bogdánfy u. 10, H-1117, Budapest, Hungary

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Pages:: 74–77

Online Publication Date:: 06 Dec 2013

Publication Date:: 01 Mar 2014

Article Category:: Research Article

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1556/jba.2.2013.016

Keywords:: addiction; computer; dependence; habit; online; virtual environment

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Abstract

Aims

The purpose of the study was to seek a better insight into whether the online medium or the online activity was more important in relation to excessive online use. It is not clear whether those people who spend excessive amounts of time on the Internet are engaged in general Internet or whether excessive Internet use is linked to specific activities.

Methods

Perceived changes in Internet use habits as function of hypothetical accessibility of favorite sites were investigated in young adults. University students (n = 130, mean age = 20.6 years) who had (on average) spent over 20 hours a week on the Internet for at least nine years completed a survey. The most favored online activities and expected quality of life without Internet access were also investigated.

Results

Findings revealed that social networking was by far the most popular online activity, and that lack of access to their preferred online activities would drop by 65% (as measured by perceived Internet usage). Approximately one in six participants (16%) claimed they would not even switch on the computer if access to their favorite online activities were unavailable. In relation to a hypothetical question about the quality of life without Internet access, the responses were normally distributed (rather than skewed).

Conclusions

These results show that time spent with Internet activity is not random and/or generalized, but appears more focused. Attraction or addiction on Internet to one or more specific behavior(s) may be a better way forward in the quest for better understanding excessive human behavior in the online environment.

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Journal of Behavioral Addictions

Print ISSN:: 2062-5871

Online ISSN:: 2063-5303

Dr. Zsolt Demetrovics
Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University
Address: Izabella u. 46. H-1064 Budapest, Hungary
Phone: +36-1-461-2681
E-mail: jba@ppk.elte.hu

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2024
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SJR index	2.26
SJR Q rank	Q1

2023
Web of Science
Journal Impact Factor	6.6
Rank by Impact Factor	Q1 (Psychiatry)
Journal Citation Indicator	1.59
Scopus
CiteScore	12.3
CiteScore rank	Q1 (Clinical Psychology)
SNIP	1.604
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SJR index	2.188
SJR Q rank	Q1

Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Publication Model	Gold Open Access
Submission Fee	none
Article Processing Charge	990 EUR/article Effective from 1st Feb 2025: 1400 EUR/article
Regional discounts on country of the funding agency	World Bank Lower-middle-income economies: 50% World Bank Low-income economies: 100%
Further Discounts	Corresponding authors, affiliated to an EISZ member institution subscribing to the journal package of Akadémiai Kiadó: 100%.
Subscription Information	Gold Open Access

Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Language	English
Size	A4
Year of Foundation	2011
Volumes per Year	1
Issues per Year	4
Founder	Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem
Founder's Address	H-1053 Budapest, Hungary Egyetem tér 1-3.
Publisher	Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible Publisher	Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN	2062-5871 (Print)
ISSN	2063-5303 (Online)

Senior editors

Editor(s)-in-Chief: Zsolt DEMETROVICS

Assistant Editor(s):

Csilla ÁGOSTON

Dana KATZ

Associate Editors

Stephanie ANTONS (Universitat Duisburg-Essen, Germany)
Joel BILLIEUX (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
Beáta BŐTHE (University of Montreal, Canada)
Matthias BRAND (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany)
Daniel KING (Flinders University, Australia)
Gyöngyi KÖKÖNYEI (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Ludwig KRAUS (IFT Institute for Therapy Research, Germany)
Marc N. POTENZA (Yale University, USA)
Hans-Jurgen RUMPF (University of Lübeck, Germany)
Ruth J. VAN HOLST (Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands)

Editorial Board

Sophia ACHAB (Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland)
Alex BALDACCHINO (St Andrews University, United Kingdom)
Judit BALÁZS (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Maria BELLRINGER (Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand)
Henrietta BOWDEN-JONES (Imperial College, United Kingdom)
Damien BREVERS (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
Julius BURKAUSKAS (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania)
Gerhard BÜHRINGER (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany)
Silvia CASALE (University of Florence, Florence, Italy)
Luke CLARK (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada)
Jeffrey L. DEREVENSKY (McGill University, Canada)
Geert DOM (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
Nicki DOWLING (Deakin University, Geelong, Australia)
Hamed EKHTIARI (University of Minnesota, United States)
Jon ELHAI (University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA)
Ana ESTEVEZ (University of Deusto, Spain)
Fernando FERNANDEZ-ARANDA (Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)
Naomi FINEBERG (University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom)
Sally GAINSBURY (The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia)
Belle GAVRIEL-FRIED (The Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Israel)
Biljana GJONESKA (Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Republic of North Macedonia)
Marie GRALL-BRONNEC (University Hospital of Nantes, France)
Jon E. GRANT (University of Minnesota, USA)
Mark GRIFFITHS (Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom)
Joshua GRUBBS (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA)
Anneke GOUDRIAAN (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Susumu HIGUCHI (National Hospital Organization Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center, Japan)
David HODGINS (University of Calgary, Canada)
Eric HOLLANDER (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA)
Zsolt HORVÁTH (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Susana JIMÉNEZ-MURCIA (Clinical Psychology Unit, Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)
Yasser KHAZAAL (Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland)
Orsolya KIRÁLY (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Chih-Hung KO (Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan)
Shane KRAUS (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA)
Hae Kook LEE (The Catholic University of Korea, Republic of Korea)
Bernadette KUN (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Katerina LUKAVSKA (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
Giovanni MARTINOTTI (‘Gabriele d’Annunzio’ University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy)
Gemma MESTRE-BACH (Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, La Rioja, Spain)
Astrid MÜLLER (Hannover Medical School, Germany)
Daniel Thor OLASON (University of Iceland, Iceland)
Ståle PALLESEN (University of Bergen, Norway)
Afarin RAHIMI-MOVAGHAR (Teheran University of Medical Sciences, Iran)
József RÁCZ (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary)
Michael SCHAUB (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Marcantanio M. SPADA (London South Bank University, United Kingdom)
Daniel SPRITZER (Study Group on Technological Addictions, Brazil)
Dan J. STEIN (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Sherry H. STEWART (Dalhousie University, Canada)
Attila SZABÓ (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Hermano TAVARES (Instituto de Psiquiatria do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil)
Wim VAN DEN BRINK (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Alexander E. VOISKOUNSKY (Moscow State University, Russia)
Aviv M. WEINSTEIN (Ariel University, Israel)
Anise WU (University of Macau, Macao, China)
Ágnes ZSILA (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)