Prevalence of the Pathological Internet Use in a Sample of Turkish School Adolescents

Background: The Internet addiction, also described as pathological Internet use (PIU), is conceptualized by an individual's in­ability to control his or her use of the Internet, which eventually causes marked distress and/or functional impairment. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of the PIU among adolescence, in relation to different Internet ac­tivities, and to excessive use of the Internet in Samsun, Turkey. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between October 1 and 31, 2005 in Samsun, Turkey. In total, 1315 high school students (760 male, 555 female; mean age, 15.2±1.1 years) were recruited. A self-administered questionnaire and Young's Internet Addiction Scale (IAS) was applied to the participants. Results: Although only 506 (38.5%) of the participants have a computer at their home, total 1054 (80.2%) used a computer at home or public, such as an internet cafe. Eight hundred and ten (76.9%) of the participants, used a computer, to access to the Internet. Of the internet users, 10(1.2%), 161 (19.9%) and 639 (78.9%) were Internet addicts (IAs), possible Internet ad­dicts (PAs), and nonaddicts (NAs), respectively. It is found that males were more likely than females to be pathological us­ers in this study (P< 0.05). Conclusion: Our results still demonstrate that the Internet plays an important role in the lives of Turkish adolescents.