Despite the negative consequences reported among Dependents, 54% had no desire to cut down the amount of time they spent on-line. It was at this point that several subjects reported feeling "completely hooked" on the Internet and felt unable to kick their Internet habit. The remaining 46% of Dependents made several unsuccessful attempts to cut down the amount of time they spent on-line in an effort to avoid such negative consequences. Self-imposed time limits were typically initiated to manage on-line time. However, Dependents were unable to restrict their usage to the prescribed time limits. When time limits failed, Dependents canceled their Internet service, threw out their modems, or completely dismantled their computers to stop themselves from using the Internet. Yet, they felt unable to live without the Internet for such an extended period of time. They reported developing a preoccupation with being on-line again which they compared to "cravings" that smokers feel when they have gone a length of time without a cigarette. Dependents explained that these cravings felt so intense that they resumed their Internet service, bought a new modem, or set up their computer again to obtain their "Internet fix."

DISCUSSION

There are several limitations involved in this study which must be addressed. Initially, the sample size of 396 Dependents is relatively small compared to the estimated 47 million current Internet users (Snider, 1997). In addition, the control group was not demographically well-matched which weakens the comparative results. Therefore, generalizability of results must be interpreted with caution and continued research should include larger sample sizes to draw more accurate conclusions.

Furthermore, this study has inherent biases present in its methodology by utilizing an expedient and convenient self-selected group of Internet users. Therefore, motivational factors among participants responding to this study should be discussed. It is possible that those individuals classified as Dependent experienced an exaggerated set of negative consequences related to their Internet use compelling them to respond to advertisements for this study. If this is the case, the volume of moderate to severe negative consequences reported may be an elevated finding making the harmful affects of Internet overuse greatly overstated. Additionally, this study yielded that approximately 20% more women than men responded which should also be interpreted with caution due to self-selection bias. This result shows a significant discrepancy from the stereotypic profile of an "Internet addict" as a young, computer-savvy male (Young, 1996a) and is counter to previous research that has suggested males predominantly utilize and feel comfortable with information technologies (Busch, 1995; Shotton, 1991). Women may be more likely to discuss an emotional issue or problem more than men (Weissman & Payle, 1974) and therefore were more likely than men to respond to advertisements in this study. Future research efforts should attempt to randomly select samples in order to eliminate these inherent methodological limitations.

While these limitations are significant, this exploratory study provides a workable framework for further exploration of addictive Internet use. Individuals were able to meet a set of diagnostic criteria that show signs of impulse-control difficulty similar to symptoms of pathological gambling. In the majority of cases, Dependents reported that their Internet use directly caused moderate to severe problems in their real lives due to their inability to moderate and control use. Their unsuccessful attempts to gain control may be paralleled to alcoholics who are unable to regulate or stop their excessive drinking despite relationship or occupational problems caused by drinking; or compared to compulsive gamblers who are unable to stop betting despite their excessive financial debts.

The reasons underlying such an impulse control disability should be further examined. One interesting issue raised in this study is that, in general, the Internet itself is not addictive. Specific applications appeared to play a significant role in the development of pathological Internet use as Dependents were less likely to control their use of highly interactive features than other on-line applications. This paper suggests that there exists an increased risk in the development of addictive use the more interactive the application utilized by the on-line user. It is possible that a unique reinforcement of virtual contact with on-line relationships may fulfill unmet real life social needs. Individuals who feel misunderstood and lonely may use virtual relationships to seek out feelings of comfort and community. However, greater research is needed to investigate how such interactive applications are capable of fulfilling such unmet needs and how this leads to addictive patterns of behavior.

Finally, these results also suggested that Dependents were relative beginners on the Internet. Therefore, it may be hypothesized that new comers to the Internet may be at a higher risk for developing addictive patterns of Internet use. However, it may be postulated that "hi-tech" or more advanced users suffer from a greater amount of denial since their Internet use has become an integral part of their daily lives. Given that, individuals who constantly utilize the Internet may not recognize "addictive" use as a problem and therefore saw no need to participate in this survey. This may explain their low representation in this sample. Therefore, additional research should examine personality traits that may mediate addictive Internet use, particularly among new users, and how denial is fostered by its encouraged practice.

A recent on-line survey (Brenner, 1997) and two campus-wide surveys conducted at the University of Texas at Austin (Scherer, 1997) and Bryant College (Morahan-Martin, 1997) have further documented that pathological Internet us is problematic for academic performance and relationship functioning. With the rapid expansion of the Internet into previously remote markets and another estimated 11.7 million planning to go on-line in the next year (Snider, 1997), the Internet may pose a potential clinical threat as little is understood about treatment implications for this emergent disorder. Based upon these findings, future research should develop treatment protocols and conduct outcome studies for effective management of this symptoms. It may be beneficial to monitor such cases of addictive Internet use in clinical settings by utilizing the adapted criteria presented in this study. Finally, future research should focus on the prevalence, incidence, and the role of this type of behavior in other established addictions (e.g., other substance dependencies or pathological gambling) or psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit disorder).

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