Conceptual Issues Concerning Internet Addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder: Further Critique on Ryding and Kaye (2017)
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n (doi 10.1007/s11469-017-9811-6, 2017) rightly claimed that "internet addiction" (IA) is a conceptual minefield and raised some important issues for researchers and treatment providers working in the online addiction field. In the present commentary paper, some of the assertions made by Ryding and Kaye are briefly critiqued and extended. More specifically, the present paper (i) examines IA and Internet-based addictions and argues that IA is now a misnomer, (ii) examines IA and its relationship to Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and argues IA and IGD are two completely different constructs, and that IGD is a sub-type of gaming disorder rather than a sub-type of IA, (iii) argues that the time spent engaging in online activities is not a good criterion for assessing online addictions and that the context of use is far more important criterion, and (iv) argues that those researchers working in the IA field can learn a lot from the problem gambling field in collecting robust data. More specifically, one of the innovative ways forward could be to build strategic partnerships with commercial online companies to analyze their behavioral tracking data.
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Problematic use of the Internet is specific and not general; it depends on the concrete activity that is carried out. This can also be affirmed for mobile phones.
“This problematic use of the Internet is specific and not general; that is, it depends on the concrete activity that is carried out [45,46,47]. This can also be affirmed for mobile phones [17,48,49].”
From Problematic Use of the Internet and Smartphones in University Students: 2006–2017 (2018) · cites this paper as [49]
In the last decade, it has been learned that it is convenient to distinguish between behavioral addictions that take place on the Internet, specific uses of the Internet that can become problematic, and a possible generalized Internet addiction.
“In the last decade, we have learned that it is convenient to distinguish between behavioral addictions that take place on the Internet (for example, pathological gambling), the specific uses of the Internet that can become problematic (for example, videogames and social networks), and a possible generalized Internet addiction [45,46,49].”
From Problematic Use of the Internet and Smartphones in University Students: 2006–2017 (2018) · cites this paper as [49]
The terms "internet addiction" and "smartphone addiction" could be 'misnomers' which we might not want to use anymore.
“The terms “internet addiction” and “smartphone addiction” could be ‘misnomers’ [49] which we might not want to use anymore.”
From Problematic Use of the Internet and Smartphones in University Students: 2006–2017 (2018) · cites this paper as [49]
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References 43 · Cited by 83
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Griffiths MD Internet addiction: Internet fuels other addictions Student British Medical Journal 1999 7 428 429
- Authors
- Griffiths, M. D.
- Affiliations
- Nottingham Trent University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Griffiths, Mark D.
- ORCID
- Griffiths, Mark D.
- Venue
- International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
- Published
- 2017-10-17
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 233-239
- ISSN
- 1557-1874 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-1882
- PMC
- PMC5814513
- OpenAlex
- W2766061626
- Cited by
- 83
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6
- FWCI
- 13.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Nottingham Trent University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Keywords
- internet addiction, internet gaming disorder, gaming disorder, conceptual difficulties, problem gambling, context of use, online time, diagnostic classification
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