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Cited by 868Impact of Technology on AdolescentsSexuality, Behavior, and TechnologyMedia Influence and Health

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 65 of the 70 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Unregulated Internet Usage: Addiction, Habit, or Deficient Self-Regulation?

LaRose, Robert, Lin, Carolyn A., Eastin, Matthew S.·2003·Media Psychology
DOI 10.1207/s1532785xmep0503_01
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Abstract

Recent reports of problematic forms of Internet usage bring new currency to the problem of "media addictions" that have long been the subject of both popular and scholarly writings. The research in this article reconsidered such behavior as deficient self-regulation within the framework of A. Bandura's (1991) theory of self-regulation. In this framework, behavior patterns that have been called media addictions lie at one extreme of a continuum of unregulated media behavior that extends from normally impulsive media consumption patterns to extremely problematic behavior that might properly be termed pathological. These unregulated media behaviors are the product of deficient self-regulatory processes through which media consumers monitor, judge, and adjust their own behavior, processes that may be found in all media consumers. The impact of deficient self-regulation on media behavior was examined in a sample of 465 college students. A measure of deficient self-regulation drawn from the diagnostic criteria used in past studies of pathological Internet usage was significantly and positively correlated to Internet use across the entire range of consumption, including among normal users who showed relatively few of the "symptoms." A path analysis demonstrated that depression and media habits formed to alleviate depressed moods undermined self-regulation and led to increased Internet usage.

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 22

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  16. Smith, R. (1986). Television addiction. In J. Bryant & D. Anderson (Eds.), Perspectives on media effects (pp. 109-128). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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Metadata

Authors
LaRose, R., Lin, C. A., & Eastin, M. S.
Affiliations
  • Michigan State University (US)
  • Cleveland State University (US)
  • The Ohio State University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Media Psychology
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2003-08
Volume
5
Issue
3
Pages
225-253
ISSN
  • 1521-3269 (ISSN-L)
  • 1532-785X
DOI
10.1207/s1532785xmep0503_01
OpenAlex
W1988710891
Cited by
868
References
70
Citations by year
2026: 44 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 53 · 2020: 53 · 2019: 59 · 2018: 52 · 2017: 55 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 44 · 2014: 58 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 35
FWCI
27.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Media Psychology (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Media Influence and Health
Keywords
problematic internet use, media addiction, self-regulation theory, Bandura, internet addiction, media habits, depression, university students

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