Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 123131

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Journal of Adolescence
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jado

Internet use and addiction among Finnish Adolescents

(1519 years)
Hanna-Maija Sinkkonen*, Helena Puhakka, Matti Merilinen
University of Eastern Finland, School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Joensuu, Finland

a b s t r a c t

Keywords: This study investigates Internet use among Finnish adolescents (n 475) combining
Internet use qualitative and quantitative research. Internet use was evaluated using the Internet
Internet addiction Addiction Test (Young, 1998a, 1998b). The data was divided into three parts according to
the test scores: normal users (14.3%), mild over-users (61.5%), and moderate or serious
over-users (24.2%). The most common reason for use was having fun. While half the
students reported disadvantages associated with their use, further qualitative analysis
revealed that students with serious overuse did not report any harm caused by using the
Internet. As disadvantages of using the Internet, students reported that it is time-
consuming and causes mental, social, and physical harm and poor school attendance.
Four factors of Internet addiction were found, and for two of them, a statistical difference
between females and males was found.
2013 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier
Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Internet is a global phenomenon, and its inuence has increased steadily in recent decades. It has become a signicant
component of contemporary life for all age groups. At present, the rapid emergence of online interactions provides new
possibilities to exchange information, to provide support or to have conversations between people who otherwise could not
be interconnected. However, the Internet has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Young people especially have increasingly adopted the Internet, using it as means of entertainment, socialization and
information retrieval. Though the Internet is a useful and easy-to-access tool, it may create problems for those who cannot
control their use of time, so a risk of overuse is possible. In particular, excessive Internet use may lead to adverse effects on
psychosocial development for adolescents (Tahiroglu, Celic, Uzel, Oczcan, & Avci, 2008). An overarching factor among these
negative-orientated conceptions is the consensus of problematic use of the Internet as a time-consuming, distressing and
uncontrollable activity (Tahiroglu, Celik, Uzel, Ozcan, & Avci, 2008). This kind of use often results in occupational, nancial and
social difculties. The content of interest can also have malign inuences on a users well-being. Besides harmful excessive
use, Weinstein and Lejoyeux (2010) proposed three sub-types of problematic Internet use: excessive gaming, sexual pre-
occupations and messaging or using e-mail. They argue that all these sub-types may lead to withdrawal and feelings of anger
and tension when a computer is inaccessible. These sub-types have an effect on tolerance, too. The user may create a growing
need to have better computer equipment and engage in still more hours of use. In addition, these uses may lead to several
kinds of adverse consequences, including arguments, lying, poor achievement and social isolation.
In this regard, excessive use of the Internet can be dened as an addiction and hence can be dened as a disease that
involves dysfunction in the brain reward system, memory and motivation. Addictions were previously connected mainly

* Corresponding author. School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Eastern Finland, PL 101, 80101 Joensuu, Finland.
E-mail address: Hanna-Maija.Sinkkonen@uef. (H.-M. Sinkkonen).

0140-1971/$ see front matter 2013 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.11.008
124 H.-M. Sinkkonen et al. / Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 123131

with the overuse of alcohol or drugs, but in recent decades, the denition has been widened. At present, behavioural
addictions to food, shopping, gambling, sex, and other related behaviours are also included. In these kinds of behaviours, a
shot of dopamine in the brain causes addictive behaviour because it has been experienced as rewarding. Addicted persons
have difculty in recognizing problems caused by their addiction and in controlling their behaviour (Saphira et al., 2003;
Smith, 2012). In the beginning, disadvantages are hidden and problematic behaviour gives the user merely pleasure.
However, when behavioural addiction becomes the rule, the disadvantages accumulate and cause annoyance and
dissatisfaction.

Denition of Internet Addiction

Spending ever-increasing periods on the Internet increases the risk of developing misuse, which has been referred to
variously in research literature as Internet overuse, problematic Internet use and maladaptive Internet use (Carli et al., 2013;
Demetrovics, Szeredi, & Rzsa, 2008; Kormas, Critselis, Janikian, Kafetzis, & Tsisika, 2011). In addition, pathological, mal-
adaptive and adaptive Internet use have been investigated and are considered separate from normal use (Durkee et al., 2012).
Additionally, Israelashvili, Kim, and Bukobza (2012) proposed three denitions of excessive users: over-users, heavy users and
addicted users. According to them, because over-users and heavy users utilize the Internet for age-related and modern-life-
related purposes, labelling them as addicted is not appropriate.
Johansson and Gtestam (2004) also presented many terms in the literature regarding problematic use of the Internet. In
their opinion, the terms Internet dependence and Internet addiction have been used synonymously. Furthermore,
excessive use has been connected with fewer problems and regarded as a minor issue even though it can cause problems as
serious as those related to gambling.
Thus, several different terms are associated with the concept of Internet addiction (e.g., Douglas et al., 2008; Johansson &
Gtestam, 2004), and these various denitions used in the literature blur the distinction between moderate and problematic
use. Although the rst denition of Internet addiction disorder (IAD) was presented in the 1990s (Goldberg, 1995) there is still
no agreement about the diagnostic criteria for IAD. Regardless of the fact that almost two decades have passed, there is no
consensus on the risks of excessive Internet use; understanding of this disorder and how it works as a health risk are still quite
scarce (Jiang & Leung, 2011). Nevertheless, there is currently an agreement that pathological Internet use is an addiction that
has features of an impulse control disorder (Dowling & Quirk, 2009; Korkeila, Kaarlas, Jskelinen, Vahlberg, & Taiminen,
2010).
The rst empirical study on Internet addiction was conducted by Young (1996, 1998a, 1998b), who differentiated between
normal and pathological uses of the Internet using eight criteria: being preoccupied by the Internet, feeling the need to use it,
making repeated efforts to stop using it, feeling restless without it, spending more than intended when using it, exhibiting
readiness to suspend social relationships, lying to close friends or family, and using the Internet as a way of escaping
problems.
In their meta-synthesis of studies on Internet addiction, Douglas et al. (2008) proposed a conceptual model of the IAD
phenomenon. They identied several constructs dening IAD. Their synthesis indicated that addicts use the Internet up to
eight times as much as non-addicts. Other factors found that can push or facilitate heavy Internet use are an individuals social
status, loneliness and isolation and a possibility to choose a virtual identity to compensate for an individuals own short-
comings. A potential addict may be socially isolated and feel more comfortable on the Internet, avoiding face-to-face envi-
ronments. The likely candidate does not admit that the lack of a social life is a problem; one of the Internets attractive factors
is its ability to facilitate socialization. Furthermore, using the Internet is relatively easy, it is quite inexpensive, it provides
anonymity and it offers effective ways to communicate (Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). The possibility of acting anonymously
without being detected also facilitates deviant and illegal behaviour (Quale & Taylor, 2003). Therefore, it is possible that using
the Internet may be a trigger to begin acting illegally as well.
The negative effects of excessive Internet use include avoidance of interpersonal contacts and a lifestyle that is likely to
endanger individuals health. An IAD interview is a clinical screening instrument with eight items concentrating on the
presence or absence of eight behaviours or feelings typical of an Internet over-user (Tonini et al., 2012). These include lack of
sleep, fatigue, excessive time spent online, difculty in decreasing time spent online, declining or poor academic/work
performance, apathy, irritability and decreased interest in social relationships.

Prevalence of Internet addiction and its negative outcomes

Pathological Internet use has signicant correlations with depression (75%), anxiety (57%), ADHD symptoms (100%),
obsessive-compulsive symptoms (66%) and aggression (66%). Pathological Internet use is more common in males than in
females (Carli et al., 2013).
Although scientic knowledge about causal relations between mental health and Internet addiction is still imperfect
(Korkeila, 2012), Israelashvili et al. (2012) argued that, in this regard, evaluating both the amount of Internet use and purposes
of overuse is important.
Adolescents Internet use has been investigated in eleven European countries. The prevalence of pathological use was
found to be 4.4% (with sample size of 11,956), and the prevalence of maladaptive use was 14.3%. According to these results,
pathological Internet users use the Internet nearly two times more than adaptive users. Most pathological users are male,
 H.-M. Sinkkonen et al. / Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 123131 125

while females represent the majority of maladaptive users. In addition, there are gender differences in the subjects of interest.
Males spend more time on the Internet playing games, while females use the Internet more for social networking and e-
mailing. One factor in interpreting these gender differences is the fact that games can be more addictive than social
networking and e-mailing (Durkee et al., 2012). In Scandinavia, Johansson and Gtestam (2004) found that Norwegian boys
used the Internet more than girls. Of the total number of respondents (3237 adolescents), 10.6% of them were problematic
users (boys 11.6%, girls 9.7%). According to a 2004 Finnish study, 4.6% of boys and 4.7% of girls age 1218 years were Internet-
addicted (Kaltiala-Heino, Lintonen, & Rimpel, 2004).

Access to Internet and Internet addiction

The location and situation of access play a signicant role in the phenomenon of Internet addiction. Although personal
computers and smartphones have become more common, the number of people who own this kind of equipment varies
between countries. There are also cultural differences. Accessing the Internet by going to Internet cafs or libraries is often an
option for those who do not have personal access, and this kind of entertainment may ll individual needs for social contact as
well. The Internet provides rapid and easy access to entertainment, information and shopping (Tosun & Lajunen, 2009), which
makes such access desirable.
Johansson and Gtestam (2004) found signicant t-values for different locations of Internet access. According to
them, home use of the Internet was a predictor of dependence among Norwegian youth. For an adolescent, free access
to Internet combined with reduced parental monitoring increases the risk of developing Internet addiction (Hall &
Parsons, 2001; Kandell, 1998). In schools especially, students have free and available access, while people in other
circumstances tend to pay for it (Niemz, Grifths, & Banyard, 2005), and this kind of high availably may be a risk for
addiction (Ko, Yen, Yen, Lin, & Yang, 2007) in spite of the fact that the Internet is nowadays a necessary tool for
students.
Kormas et al. (2011) found that Greek adolescents with maladaptive Internet disorder did not usually use a friends home
portal but were more likely to access the Internet via Internet caf portals and their own portals. They were less likely to
access it for educational purposes. In addition, 23.4% of Turkish adolescents reported going to an Internet caf weekly, and
31.5% of the respondents said that they had an Internet connection at home (Tahiroglu et al., 2008). The most preferred reason
for access was playing games.
Playing games and seeking entertainment online may weaken adolescents social and interpersonal skills and can hinder
their educational progress. However, expertise with data processing equipment is a skill that is presently valued in working
life.
The aim of this study was to investigate use of the Internet among Finnish youth. The research questions in this study are
as follows:

1. What are the reasons for using the Internet?

2. What are the typical features related to IA?
3. What are the typical features related to Internet addiction commensurate with the level of IA, and do any gender dif-
ferences exist in them?
4. What are the experienced negative outcomes of Internet use commensurate with the level of Internet addiction?

Method

Participants

At the end of October 2012, a Competences Relevant to Decision Making questionnaire was sent to the counsellors of
university students at eld schools. The questionnaire includes a section titled Internet use and Addiction among Finnish
Adolescents. An Internet link to the questionnaire was provided to all counsellors of students working in North Karelia,
Finland. They were asked to offer the questionnaire to students at the ninth grade in compulsory education and at the upper
secondary school level. The counsellors were advised to let the adolescents complete the questionnaire during student
counselling lessons.
A total of 516 students (1519 years) participated in the study. After the exclusion of 41 responses because of a great
amount of missing information, the data consisted of responses from 475 respondents.
The respondents (n 475) age varied between 15 and 19 years; 47% were 15 years old (mode: 15 years), and the mean age
was 16.1 years (SD 1.2). The participants were divided almost in half between compulsory education students in the ninth
grade 49% (n 235) and upper secondary school students 51% (n 240).
According to Ofcial Statistics of Finland (2010), the amount of female students in compulsory education is 51%, while 49%
are male, whereas, at the upper secondary level, the amount of female students is 57%, and males make up 43%. In our data,
57% of the respondents were female (n 271), while 43% were male (n 204). The total amount and representation of the
two genders provides a good opportunity to observe and generalize the forthcoming results to female and male students at
the level of compulsory education as well as at the upper secondary level.
126 H.-M. Sinkkonen et al. / Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 123131

Table 1
Reasons for Internet use.

Normal use of Internet Mild overuse of the Moderate or serious overuse Total
(below 30) Internet (3149) of the Internet (50 or more)

n 68 n 292 n 115 n 475

To have fun 45 (15.0%) 187 (62.3%) 68 (22.7%) 300
Because of friends or social reasons 4 (3.4%) 77 (66.4%) 35 (30.2%) 116
Because of school, learning, seeking 13 (32.5%) 20 (50.0%) 7 (17.5%) 40
information
To get support 0 (0) 0 (0) 2 (100%) 2
Other reasons 6 (35.3%) 8 (47.1%) 3 (17.6%) 17

c2 (8) 35.360, p .000.

Data collection

The Web-based questionnaire consisted of six sections: background information, Internet use, choice of a profession,
decision making related to professional career, personal skills and knowledge and self-image. The questionnaire included 130
items; both Likert-type and open-ended questions were presented.

Measures

Internet addiction was evaluated using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) (Young, 1998a, 1998b, 2007a, 2007b), translated
into Finnish by Korkeila (2012). The test consists of 20 Likert-scaled (15) items (see Appendix A). The IAT is widely used, and
it has a high degree of validity (Panayides & Walker, 2012). The internal consistency of the IAT items was fairly high (Cr.
a .92) for the data in the current study.
The questionnaire was designed for self-evaluation of Internet addiction. The sum score of items (20100) reects how
addicted the respondent is. Young (1998a, 1998b) suggested that a normal Internet users score is 30 or below, while there is
mild Internet overuse if a score is between 31 and 49. If a score is between 50 and 79, a person is moderately Internet-
addicted, and one is seriously addicted if a score is 80 or more. It has been recommended, that the cut-off point for
Internet risk use should be 50, and for Internet addiction, it should be 70 (Korkeila, 2010, 2012).

Data analysis

After preliminary analysis, the data (n 475) were analysed in three steps. First, the items concerning Internet addiction
were compacted with the help of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (Brown, 2006; Hurley et al., 1997). Extraction was done
using general least squares (GLS) factor analysis because it is particularly useable if the data is not normally distributed.
Because of the theoretical phenomenon, the correlation between factors was predictable (r .531  .488). The direct
Oblimin-rotated model extracted a more explicit model compared to orthogonal (Varimax-) ones. In the analysis, the 20 items
were condensed into four factors (see Table 2). Factor solutions in some earlier studies have varied between one and six
factors (Korkeila et al., 2010). Niculovi 
c, Zivkovic, Manasijevi 
c, and Strbac (2012) found four dimensions in their study among
undergraduate students age 2024 years old, and their content was similar to ours.
As the Cronbachs a varied between .88 and.74, the internal consistency of the factors was satisfactory. At the same, the
factor sum scores of each individual respondent were calculated for the purposes of forthcoming analyses.
In the second phase, the factors of Internet addiction (n 475) were examined commensurate with the level of Internet
addiction with the help of one-way ANOVA. For this purpose, the respondents were divided into three subgroups: normal
users (n 68), mild over-users (n 292) and moderate or serious over-users (n 115) (Young, 1998a, 1998b) (Table 3).
Third, the respondents open-ended answers concerning the negative outcomes of the Internet use were categorized
according to the factors of Internet addiction. Then, the subgroups of Internet users were compared in relation to negative
outcomes associated with Internet addiction factors (Table 4).

Results

Only six students (1.3%) of all who participated in this research study can be classied as Internet users with serious
problems (IAT score 80 or over) with the Internet. The moderately Internet-addicted (IAT score 5079) totaled 109 (22.9%) of
the respondents. For further research, these two groups were combined so that moderate or serious over-users formed a
group of 115 students (24.2%) of all respondents. Students with average Internet use comprised 75.8% of the total. This group
was divided into two parts: normal users, 14.3% (n 68) of the total, and mild over-users, 61.5% (n 292) of the total.
Females had more mild Internet use than males, and males had more moderate overuse of the Internet (c2 (2) 6.835,
p .033).
 H.-M. Sinkkonen et al. / Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 123131 127

Table 2
Factors of Internet addiction (n 475).

Pattern matrixa F1 F2 F3 F4
Reliance on online life (Cronbachs a .88; % of variance 37.13; cumulative % 37.13)
How often. .79
Q20. .do you feel depressed, moody, or nervous when you are off-line, which goes away once you are back online?
Q13. .do you snap, yell, or act annoyed if someone bothers you while you are online? .74
Q11. .do you nd yourself anticipating when you will go online again? .71
Q12. .do you fear that life without the Internet would be boring, empty, and joyless? .63
Q15. .do you feel preoccupied with the Internet when off-line or fantasize about being online? .57
Q9. .do you become defencive or secretive when anyone asks you what you do online? .41
Q10. .do you block out disturbing thoughts about your life with soothing thoughts of the Internet? .40
Q4. .do you form new relationships with fellow online users? .38
Q18. .do you try to hide how long youve been online? .35
Q5. .do others in your life complain to you about the amount of time you spend online? .31
Relationships (Cronbachs a .85; % of variance 5.25; cumulative % 42.39)
Q19. .do you chose to spend more time online over going out with others? -.88
Q3. .do you prefer the excitement of the Internet to intimacy with your partner? -.87
Neglect of work (Cronbachs a .75; % of variance 4.67; cumulative % 47.06)
Q8. .does your job performance or productivity suffer because of the Internet? .77
Q6 .do your grades or schoolwork suffer because of the amount of time you spend online? .69
Q2 .do you neglect household chores to spend more time online? .45
Q7. .do you check your e-mail before something else that you need to do? .39
Self-control (Cronbachs a .74; % of variance 3.21; cumulative% 50.27)
Q16. .do you nd yourself saying just a few more minutes when online? -.81
Q1. .do you nd that you stay online longer than you intended? -.43
Q17. .do you try to cut down the amount of time you spend online and fail? -.38
Q14. .do you lose sleep due to late-night log-ins? -.29

(GLS) KMO Measure of Sampling Adequacy .925; Bartletts Test of Sphericity (190) 4103.582, p < .000
Goodness-of-t test c2(116) 240,204, p .000 (n 475)
Extraction Method: Generalized Least Squares. Rotation Method: Oblimin with Kaiser Normalization.
a
Rotation converged in 11 iterations.

Internet use was very similar among the youth who studied in compulsory education and at upper secondary schools.
There were no statistical differences between groups when the study considered the parents educational levels and the
respondents own educational goals or ages.
Access to the Internet was easy to determine because most of the respondents (93.3%) had a computer at home, and 60.4%
of respondents had it totally in their own use. Many said that they have mobile cell phone and that they could spend time on
the Internet when they wanted to, even at school. At some schools, each student had received a tablet for schoolwork and for
his or her own use. A few of the respondents used computers located in some public space, such as the library. The overuse of
the Internet became more common if a computer was reserved totally for a youths personal use (c2 (2) 10.248, p .006).

Reasons for using and harm caused by the Internet

The Internet was commonly used for fun. Normal Internet users used it least of all for seeking friends or company. Internet
use for learning or schoolwork seemed to be minimal (Table 1).
The open question considering the purposes of using the Internet was answered by 406 (85.5%) of the respondents. Most
(22.7%) of those who answered revealed that they accessed the Internet to use or to seek some kind of information. Enter-
tainment (19.0%) was another notable reason for use. Apart from these reasons, 3.4% of the respondents revealed that they
used the Internet to play games. Although these open answers were very different in nature, it seems that, for the majority,
the most common reason for using the Internet is for entertainment.
In addition, the disadvantages of Internet use were asked about in the questionnaire. Respondents described freely what
type of harm their Internet use has caused. The content of the answers was classied into ve categories. 52.5% of those who
answered this question (n 393) indicated that using the Internet had caused problems, while 47.0% had experienced no
harm. For two respondents, others Internet use had caused problems, and six students reported that they had experienced no
harm but only advantages. Disadvantages and harm increased in relation to Internet use. A third of normal Internet users
(n 68) had experienced harm, whereas half of the mild overuse of the Internet group (n 292) and two thirds of the
moderate or serious over-use of the Internet (n 115) group had experienced harm.
The respondents were asked to describe the harm they experienced through using the Internet in more detail. This open-
ended question was answered by 194 students. The most common harm mentioned (n 57, 29.4%) was that using the
Internet is very time-consuming. Time spent using the Internet is taken from meeting friends, engaging in physical exercise,
spending time with parents or sleeping. Eleven (5.7%) respondents specied the harmful effects related to the social dis-
advantages, mentioning their arguments with parents over their Internet use and having friends only online. It is clear that
excessive use of the Internet is time-consuming and can cause social withdrawal. At the same time, individuals who have poor
social skills may also tend to withdraw into the Internet.
128 H.-M. Sinkkonen et al. / Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 123131

In addition, harm related to school attendance, such as difculty concentrating on schoolwork and being late for school
(n 49, 25.3%) were reported. Time spent on the Internet was wasted, and many adolescents said that it could have been
possible to spend it more usefully. Almost as many students (57, 25.3%) revealed that the Internet has caused mental harm,
such as poor concentration during lessons, feelings of irritation, exhaustion and problems in falling asleep.
Although working with a computer requires sitting still and looking at a display terminal, only nine respondents (4.6%)
wrote that their eyes have been irritated or that they had various kinds of body aches.

Typical structural features related to Internet addiction

The Internet Addiction Questionnaire contains twenty statements on harmful features of the use. Statistical analysis
revealed four factors (Table 2): reliance on online life (F1), relationships (F2), neglect of work (F3) and injurious effects to self-
control (F4). Four factors explained 50.3% of the variance.
The rst factor, reliance on online life, consists of ten variables and describes feelings and thoughts related to Internet
use. The second factor addresses relationships with others in real life versus in virtual life (two components). The third factor
includes components that describe neglect of daily life tasks (four variables). The fourth factor concerns the variance in self-
control related to Internet use (four variables).

Typical features related to Internet addiction commensurate with the level of Internet addiction

When the four factors were found, they were compared with the respondents levels of Internet addiction (Table 3). The
results reveal clearly that, when Internet use increases, both reliance on online life and neglect of schoolwork and other work
increase. Preference for real-life relationships and self-control begin to decrease, but in this respect, female and male students
differ from each other.
Growth within reliance on online life (F1) indicates an increase in addiction. In addition, growth within F3, neglect of
work indicates increasing failure to do daily chores. Relationships (F2) and self-control (F4) work in reverse order: when
the score decreases, relationships (F2) and self-control (F4) decline.
Gender differences were found in two factors. The male respondents addiction revealed a decrease in real-life relationships
(F2) compared to females (t (473) 3.589, p < .000) whereas females addiction manifested as a decline in self-control (F4) (t
(473) 3.575, p < .000). As Fig. 1 shows, negative changes begin to become clear even with mild overuse of the Internet.

Negative outcomes of Internet use commensurate with the level of Internet addiction

When responders descriptions of the experienced harm and constrictions of Internet use were classied into four cat-
egories according to the level of use and the four factors of negative outcomes, the harm experienced among those who were
over-using the Internet manifested itself (Table 4). While normal users reported that they realize the perils of overuse and
therefore have reduced their use, none of the moderate or serious over-users discovered any harmful inuence on their mood.
The same trend was found for this group of students when the three other factors were scrutinized. Three hundred ninety-
three students gave an answer to the question considering negative experiences from using the Internet. Of the 179 who
responded to the question by indicating that they had experienced none, 82.1% were normal users or mild over-users, while
the corresponding gure among moderate or serious over-users was 17.9%.
Some kind of harm had occurred for 214 students, among them 16 (7.4%) normal users, 133 (62.2%) mild over-users and 65
(30.4%) moderate or serious over-users. Twelve students answered that they had experienced no harm but advantages from
their Internet use; six of them were moderate or serious over users. Table 4 gives an overview of these open answers.
The results indicate that the harm caused by Internet arises when the overuse is still mild. In this phase, the time-
consuming aspect of use is noticeable, but when overuse increases, the harm experienced seems to decrease.

Discussion

The disadvantages of Internet use emerge with mild Internet overuse when the users notice how time-consuming their
usage is and how it decreases time that should be used for more suitable activities, such as sleeping or schoolwork. In our

Table 3
Group comparison between the levels of Internet use with relation to the factors of Internet addiction (n 475).

Factors of Internet Mean (SD) of factor scores Group comparison

addiction
Normal use Mild overuse Moderate or serious
(30) (n 68) (3149) (n 292) overuse (50) (n 115)
Reliance on online life 1.01 (.19) .22 (.51) 1.15 (98) F (2, 472) 298,157, p .000a
Relationships .76 (.46) .18 (.68) .91 (1.04) F (2, 472) 124,881, p .000a
Neglect of work 1.05 (.41) .13 (.60) .94 (.93) F (2, 472) 200,639, p .000a
Self-control 1.11 (.47) .05 (.67) .79 (.81) F (2, 472) 164,981, p .000a
a
Levenes test of homogeneity of variances, p < .05.
 H.-M. Sinkkonen et al. / Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 123131 129

1.5

0.5

0
Normal use (<30) (n=68) Mild overuse (31-49) (n=292) Moderate or serious overuse
(>50) (n=115)
-0.5

-1

-1.5
Reliance on online life Relationships Neglect of work Self-control

Fig. 1. Group comparison between the levels of Internet use with relation to the factors of Internet addiction (n 475).

research, respondents indicated that, in their opinion, when overuse increases, the experience of harmful effects seems to
decrease. In this regard, our research points out the similarities of the mechanisms of alcohol overuse and Internet overuse.
The users tolerance grows with use, and the dose gives a weaker effect when the using continues. When the consumption
becomes the focus of life, it absorbs increasing time and causes clearly recognisable problems for the user (e.g., Heinl, 2004,
p. 279).
In a 2004 Finnish study, 4.6% of boys and 4.7% of girls age 1218 years were Internet-addicted (Kaltiala-Heino et al., 2004).
The rst Norwegian study of Internet dependence (Johansson & Gtestam, 2004) found that 1.98% (2.4% of boys and 1.5% of
girls) of the sample could be described as Internet-addicted (ve criteria from the Youngs Diagnostic Questionnaire for
Internet Addiction, YDQ) and 8.68% exhibited at-risk Internet use (three to four criteria). In their research, a total of 10.66% of
the respondents showed problematic Internet use. In their discussion, the authors speculated whether Internet dependence
would fade or increase in the future.
The results from the factor analysis in our research provided information about features of students Internet use. Four
factors were found: reliance on online life, relationships, neglect of work and self-control. This factor solution is very similar to
what Niculovic et al. (2012) found in their research.
In our sample, 1.3% of respondents (1.1% of females and 1.5%) males) experienced serious problems in their Internet use
and fullled the criteria for Internet addiction. In this respect, our results differ from those of Carli et al. (2013), who found
more pathological use among males. In addition, we found a total of 22.9% moderately addicted students. Furthermore, fe-
males had milder Internet overuse (66.4%) than males (54.9%).
In previous research (Weinstein & Lejoyeux, 2010), three subtypes of problematic Internet use were proposed: excessive
gaming, sexual preoccupations, and messaging or using email. In our sample, sexual preoccupations and excessive gaming
were not represented even though 3.4% of the adolescents reported that they accessed the Internet only to play games. Most
of the respondents (63.2%) reported seeking entertainment and having fun as the most popular reasons to use the Internet.
However, the group of normal Internet users were least likely to seek friends or company online. This could indicate that
normal users do not need to be online for this reason because they already have more friends and hobbies than the students
who used the Internet more often. Unfortunately, our data do not give the option to further research this issue.
The ease or difculty of accessing the Internet has been a point of discussion in the literature. In our study, 28.4% of
moderate or serious over-users had a personal computer, and 16.8% had computers in family use. There is not a relevant point
of comparison for ownership of equipment in previous studies, but we assume that, in Finland, adolescents may have more
computers than in some other European countries. However, none of the moderate or serious over-users used the Internet at
friends homes, while 22.8% reported using it at home, 39.3% at school, and 75% at a library or some other public space. These
results are in line with those of previous research (Kormas et al., 2011; Tahiroglu et al., 2008), in which adolescents were likely
to access the Internet in public places, e.g., Internet cafs.
According to Israelashvili et al. (2012), labelling adolescents as addicts may not be appropriate because adolescents also
utilize the Internet for age-related and modern purposes, seeking information for schoolwork and further education. In our
study, 17.5% of the moderate or serious over-users revealed that they used the Internet, among other things, for retrieving
information for school and learning. Thus, we nd the critique of Israelashvili et al. (2012) to be accurate. Our evidence also
justies the afrmation (Kormas et al., 2011) that maladaptive users are less likely to access the Internet for educational
purposes.
This research revealed that rest of the respondents experiences of Internet use was similar to the experiences of those
who were addicted: normal users seldom experienced any harm in their Internet use. When Internet use became more
frequent, harms became more obvious. Addicted Internet users noticed less harm because they had already adapted to the
situation (Saphira et al., 2003).
A weakness in the present study is the uncertainty of our sample. Using e-questionnaires, we cannot know who answered
and how many and which kinds of adolescents offered to answer our survey but did not participate. This makes the study
vulnerable to sample bias. It should be interesting to know where in Finland those who use the Internet the most live. In
sparsely inhabited areas, the Internet can be the only way to seek company for an adolescent, and in this type of situations,
overuse is more understandable than in population centres. However, the classications are based on diagnostic criteria.
130 H.-M. Sinkkonen et al. / Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 123131

Table 4
Group comparison between level of Internet use with relation to experienced negative outcomes of Internet use (n 475).

Factors of Internet addiction Open answers

Normal use (30) (n 68) Mild overuse (3149) (n 292) Moderate or serious overuse
(50) (n 115)
Reliance on online life Sometimes I realized that I became One answer: I suffer sometimes Nothing/No harm (n 24,
irritated, so I reduced my Internet use. because one of my parents spends too 20.87%)
much time daily on the Internetdmy
parents time use is inhuman.
Relationships I dont meet people much face to face Sometimes I forget to look at my clock, No answers
even though they live near. and I was late for my workout.
I think I dont keep company with my
family as much as I should.
Neglect of work Nothing, really. Sometimes I have It takes too much time so that I have no One answer: I dont feel up to
neglected my schoolwork. time to do other things. sleeping.
Erm. sometimes, not very often, I use Instead of playing video games, I could
my tablet during lessons. use more time on schoolwork.
During lessons, I may use some social
media or other websites, and it can
disturb my concentration.
Problems with self-control Sometimes it is too time-consuming My ability to concentrate seems to No answers
when I get hooked on some series and have diminished.
therefore I spend a lot of time with my Sometimes I dont read enough for
computer. exams because I am trapped in
conversations with my friends.
Other problems Exercises in the Moodle environment Backache. How should I know?
are frustrating. I put back my bedtime. Something.
Nothing, really. Someone has used my name when Not much harm.
Sometimes I have been using the they have written on a public website.
computer too long and Ive gotten a stiff
neck, but that is all.
My e-mail is always overloaded.
Unnecessary expenses.

The other weakness relates to our questions. We did not ask the adolescents about using the Internet via smartphones,
although the use of this equipment is on the rise in our country. In addition, going to Internet cafs has been mentioned in
many previous studies but was not asked about by our questions. However, the adolescents were offered the opportunity to
answer open-ended questions considering the location of Internet use.
The results demand further information about the characteristics of Internet addiction and at-risk Internet use. Our
research included adolescents 1519 years of age, but younger children also use the Internet, and it is possible that prob-
lematic use exists among them, as well. The challenge is to identify and help those children whose online activities are
becoming excessive before the negative outcomes exceed the positive ones. In addition, we favour the idea of using quali-
tative measurements for exploring Internet use and its implications (e.g., Israelashvili et al., 2012). For example, interviewing
adolescents about different types of online activities could have given us a more perfect picture of the advantages and dis-
advantages of adolescents Internet use.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.11.008

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Hanna-Maija Sinkkonen, Ph.D., School of Educational Sciences and Psychology. Current themes of Research: Socio-emotional difculties and Behavioural
Problems, Bullying, Multicultural Education, Students Pedagogical Well-Being at Higher Education, Vocational Career Decision Making among Upper Sec-
ondary School Students.

Helena Puhakka, Ph.D., School of Educational Sciences and Psychology. Current themes of Research: Bullying, Students Pedagogical Well-Being at Higher
Education, Vocational Career Decision Making among Upper Secondary School Students, Student Counselling.

Matti Merilinen, Ph.D., School of Educational Sciences and Psychology. Current themes of Research: Bullying, Students Pedagogical Well-Being at Higher
Education, Vocational Career Decision Making among Upper Secondary School Students.