Internet addiction disorder: Prevalence in an Italian student population

BACKGROUND: Internet addiction is one of the latest forms of addiction that has attracted the attention of popular media and researchers in these last few years. Several authors think Internet addiction is a separate disorder that merits inclusion in DSM-V. There is considerable controversy about this opinion. AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of Internet addiction in a representative sample of high school students attending secondary institutions in the district of Cremona and to assess any difference concerning variables such as gender, age, place of residence and kind of school attended. METHODS: The Italian version of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) has been administered to a sample of 2533 students from different kinds of school. The survey also required social and demographic data. RESULTS: The majority of respondents were classified as normal users of the Internet (n = 2386, 94.19%), with 127 (5.01%) moderately addicted and 20 (0.79%) seriously addicted. Significant differences in gender and in kinds of school were found. No statistical differences were revealed in age and urban or rural conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Our study has confirmed the general use of the Internet among youngest people, the emergence of Internet addiction and the male preponderance of this phenomenon.