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Essay on Uses and Abuses of Internet

Students are often asked to write an essay on Uses and Abuses of Internet in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Uses and Abuses of Internet

The uses of internet.

The internet is a powerful tool that has revolutionized our world. It provides us with information, communication, and entertainment. We can research any topic, connect with friends, and enjoy movies or games.

The Abuses of Internet

However, the internet can also be misused. Cyberbullying, online scams, and the spread of false information are common problems. Furthermore, excessive internet use can lead to addiction, affecting our health and social life.

In conclusion, while the internet offers numerous benefits, it’s crucial to use it responsibly to avoid its potential pitfalls.

Also check:

  • Paragraph on Uses and Abuses of Internet

250 Words Essay on Uses and Abuses of Internet

Introduction.

The internet, a revolutionary invention of the 20th century, has transformed our lives in profound ways. It has become an indispensable tool in various sectors, including education, business, communication, and entertainment. However, like any tool, it can be used both for constructive and destructive purposes.

Uses of Internet

The internet has democratized access to information, breaking down geographical barriers. It has made education more accessible, with countless resources and online learning platforms available at our fingertips. It has also revolutionized communication, enabling instant interaction across the globe. The internet has made business operations more efficient, from online banking to e-commerce. It has also provided a platform for creative expression and entertainment, with platforms like YouTube and Spotify.

Abuses of Internet

However, the internet’s misuse is a growing concern. Cyberbullying, identity theft, and online harassment are rampant, causing psychological harm to individuals. The internet has also facilitated the spread of misinformation and fake news, leading to societal discord and distrust. Additionally, it has given rise to internet addiction, affecting individuals’ mental health and productivity. The proliferation of explicit content is another issue, impacting the moral fabric of society.

In conclusion, while the internet has myriad benefits, its misuse can lead to serious consequences. It is crucial to use this tool responsibly, promoting digital literacy and ethical online behavior. As we stride further into the digital age, we must strike a balance between leveraging the internet’s potential and mitigating its pitfalls.

500 Words Essay on Uses and Abuses of Internet

The advent of the internet has revolutionized the world, bringing about profound changes in the way we live, learn, and work. It has become an integral part of our lives, providing us with a plethora of information and services at our fingertips. However, like any other invention, the internet also has its share of uses and abuses. This essay explores the beneficial aspects of the internet and its potential pitfalls.

Uses of the Internet

The internet’s most significant advantage is its ability to connect people globally. It has made communication faster, cheaper, and more efficient, breaking down geographical barriers. Through email, social media, video conferencing, and instant messaging, we can interact with anyone, anywhere, at any time.

The internet has also democratized education. Online learning platforms, digital libraries, and educational websites have made knowledge accessible to all, regardless of location or financial status. It has also facilitated research, with a vast amount of information available on any conceivable topic.

Moreover, the internet has transformed the business landscape. E-commerce has opened up new markets, enabling businesses to reach customers globally. It has also made financial transactions more straightforward and faster through online banking and digital payments.

Abuses of the Internet

Despite its advantages, the internet is not without its downsides. One of the most prevalent abuses is cybercrime. This encompasses a wide range of malicious activities, from identity theft and fraud to cyberstalking and cyberbullying. The anonymity that the internet provides can be exploited by unscrupulous individuals to harm others.

Another significant issue is the spread of false information or ‘fake news’. The speed at which information spreads online can lead to the rapid dissemination of misinformation, often leading to panic, confusion, and mistrust.

Additionally, the internet can be a source of addiction. Excessive use of social media, online gaming, or other digital activities can lead to internet addiction, negatively impacting mental health and personal relationships.

In conclusion, the internet is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it offers immense benefits, facilitating communication, education, and business. On the other hand, it can be a tool for harm, enabling cybercrime, the spread of misinformation, and addiction. As users, it is incumbent upon us to use the internet responsibly. We must be vigilant in protecting ourselves from its potential abuses while harnessing its vast potential for our benefit. As the internet continues to evolve, so too must our understanding and regulation of its use and abuse.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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How the internet can harm us, and what can we do about it?

The internet has received much negative news coverage in recent years.

How the internet can harm us, and what can we do about it?

Written by Gianluca Quaglio,

The internet has received much negative news coverage in recent years. Articles focus on major privacy scandals and security breaches, the proliferation of fake news, rampant harmful behaviours like cyber-bullying, cyber-theft, revenge porn, the exchange of child porn and internet predation, internet addiction, and the negative effects of the internet on social relations and social cohesion. Nevertheless, some 87 % of European households have internet access at home, and 65 % use mobile devices to access the internet. Europeans aged 16 to 24 years spend 168 minutes per day on mobile internet, dropping to 30 minutes for 55 to 64-year olds. Around 88 % of 15 to 24-year olds use social media, 80 % on a daily basis.

While the social and economic benefits of the internet cannot be denied, some of these developments can severely affect such European values as equality, respect for human rights and democracy. Technology companies are under increasing pressure to mitigate these harmful effects, and politicians and opinion leaders are advocating drastic measures.

The recently published STOA study on ‘Harmful internet use’ covers the damage associated with internet use on individuals’ health, wellbeing and functioning, and the impact on social structures and institutions. While the study does not attempt to cover all possible societal harm relating to the internet, Part I focuses on one specific cause of harm, internet addiction, and Part II covers a range of harmful effects on individuals and society that are associated with internet use. The report concludes with policy options for their prevention and mitigation.

Other studies have already extensively discussed some harmful effects, and these are already subject to a history of policy actions. These include harm to privacy, harm related to cybersecurity and cybercrime, and damage resulting from digital divides. In contrast, this study covers the less-studied but equally important harmful effects that concern individuals’ health, wellbeing and functioning, the quality of social structures and institutions, and equality and social inclusion.

Internet addiction and problematic internet use                             

Internet addiction and problematic internet use prevalence rates vary across studies and countries. The noteworthy discrepancy in prevalence estimates has a number of causes, including the different populations studied, as well as the various diagnostic tools and assessment criteria utilised. With this in mind, it appears that roughly 4 % of European adolescents demonstrate a pathological use of the internet that affects their life and health, while 13 % of adolescents engage in maladaptive behaviour when using the internet. Similar numbers are reported for adults.

Part I of the study focuses on generalised internet addiction, online gaming addiction, and online gambling addiction. Clinical presentations, patient profiling, comorbidities, instruments, interventions, and prognoses are different across these three potential addiction disorders. The study states that the individual, cultural and media-use context significantly contributes to the experience and severity of internet addiction.

The study proposes a set of preventive actions, and evidence to support future policies . It states that offering information, screening tools and campaigns to students in secondary schools and at universities regarding internet-use-related addiction problems can help, especially regarding gaming addiction in adolescent populations. This will require allocating research and resources for schools and their staff, and for families, as well as the establishment of working relationships with health professionals and services.

Harmful social and cultural effects associated with internet use

Part II of the study identifies a number of different harmful social and cultural effects associated with internet use. The evidence points to the occurrence of significant damage to both individuals and society. Some of these harmful effects are described briefly below:

Information overload: Having too much information to be able to adequately understand an issue or make effective decisions. Information overload is associated with loss of control, feelings of being overwhelmed, reduced intellectual performance, and diminished job satisfaction. Studies show that information overload affects up to 20-30% of people.

Damage to social relationships: Extensive internet use, of social media in particular, is correlated with loneliness and social isolation. Intimate relationships can be degraded by internet use, particularly due to viewing online pornography. Malicious online behaviour, particularly cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking and online predation, affects a significant percentage of internet users.

Impaired public/private boundaries: The way in which the internet and smartphones blur the distinction between private and public, and between different spheres of life, including work, home life and leisure, harms the boundaries between people’s public and private lives. Harmful effects that can result from such permeations include loss of quality of life, lack of privacy, decreased safety and security, and harm to social relations – when friends and family members feel they are left behind by new technology.

Harmful effects on cognitive development: Empirical evidence suggests that internet use can have both positive and negative impacts on cognitive development, depending on the person and the circumstances. There is evidence that children’s cognitive development can be damaged by prolonged internet use, including the development of memory skills, attention span, abilities for critical reasoning, language acquisition, reading, and learning abilities. More research is however needed to draw more reliable conclusions.

Damage to communities: Many off-line communities suffer through the partial migration of human activities – shopping, commerce, socialising, leisure activities, professional interactions – to the internet. Online communities sometimes extend off-line communities and sometimes replace them. They are often inadequate replacements, however, as they do not possess some of the valuable or the strongest qualities of off-line communities, and communities may consequently suffer from impoverished communication, incivility, and a lack of trust and commitment.

The study identifies a number of broad policy options for preventing and mitigating these harmful effects. They include, among other things:

  • promoting technology that better protects social institutions, stimulating or requiring tech companies to introduce products and services that better protect social institutions and internet users;
  • education about the internet and its consequences;
  • stronger social services support for internet users: this policy option involves strengthening social services dedicated to internet users to prevent or mitigate harmful effects such as internet addition, antisocial online behaviour or information overload;
  • incentivising or requiring employers to develop policies that protect workers against harmful effects of work-related internet use, such as information overload and the blurring of lines between public and private life;
  • establishing governmental units and multi-stakeholder platforms at EU level,to address the problems of the internet’s harmful social and cultural effects.

Problematic use of the internet (PUI) research network

Finally, in relation to internet-caused damage, it is worth mentioning the recent article published by the European Science-Media Hub (ESMH) on the European Problematic Use of Internet (PUI) research network. The project, funded by the European Commission, gathers over 120 psychologists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists, with the objective of reaching a better definition of diagnostic criteria, the role of genetics and personality traits, and the brain-based mechanisms behind internet related disorders.

Scientific Foresight (STOA)

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This is good

I agree with the article, because although the internet helps us to many things such as allowing us to stay connected with family, friends and provides us access to a lot of information, although this may be too much and some of it is not correct. And as the article says it is worrying how this has become an addiction and causes us cognitive problems and problems in our relationships, because we do not know or do not occupy it with a correct use and do not put certain limits, plus we can suffer from cyberbullying, etc., plus then the comments we make some people do it with bad intentions and to hurt others.

All the information seems too precise to me and the truth is I had never thought about all that, the use of the Internet is increasingly sophisticated and many people are not aware of the damage they can cause and generate to themselves, the Internet helps us of course, but we are not prepared because we do not take into account the harm it can do to others if we use it in the wrong way and even worse to ourselves if we do not use it in a good way.

The Internet is a tool that can help or affect society just as all tools currently in society do. The issue that really worries me is the addition to the Internet since everything in excess is harmful to health and integrity as a person, the technology helps electronic commerce as we are experiencing it today, a benefit to society is the medical advances with which I agree, previously I only did my homework in libraries but now I do my homework from my phone. Yes. The internet is addictive.

I agree that the Internet is a great tool, but misuse can have immense consequences, especially for current and future generations. Although it offers immense benefits in terms of global communication, transportation, information gathering, education, e-commerce, etc., its prolonged use can have a negative impact on cognitive development, attention span and critical thinking, since on the net we can find a lot of people who incite bad practices such as cyber-bullying, cyber-harassment, pornography, etc. So it is a great tool and it is necessary to be at the forefront, but being aware of how far it is OK to go and without forgetting the wonders that the world can offer us.

It is true that the Internet has been the subject of much negative coverage in recent years. However, it is important to remember that it has also brought many benefits to society, such as facilitating communication, access to information and connection between people around the world. As with any tool, it is important to use the Internet responsibly and consciously to make the most of its advantages. In the same way it can also have negative effects on society and culture and we should put more importance on misinformation, cyber bullying, social media addiction and loss of privacy which are just some of the problems associated with excessive and irresponsible use of the Internet. It is important to be aware of these risks and take steps to protect our safety and well-being while enjoying the advantages that technology offers us.

I agree with the article.

The Internet has been one of the most important discoveries in history, as it allows us to have at our disposal a large amount of information and tools that help us remember things or do them for us, distract ourselves, learn a topic or language, etc.

However, there must be a limit on the time we spend online because if we are exposed to the internet for a long time, we can suffer serious consequences. Also from time to time ask ourselves: what are we seeing on the internet? and check that we are actually doing something productive with that time spent.

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Guide to Exam

Essay on Uses of Internet – Advantages and Disadvantages

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Essay on uses of Internet – advantages, and disadvantages: – The Internet is one of the best gifts of science. It has made our life and lifestyle much easier than before. Today Team GuideToExam brings to you a number of essays on the internet along with the advantages and disadvantages of the internet.

Are you ready?

Let’s Start…

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Table of Contents

Essay on Internet advantages and disadvantages (50 Words)

The Internet is a modern gift of science to us. In this modern world, we can’t do anything without the use of the internet. We all know the use of the internet in business, online transactions, different official works, etc. Students also use the internet to boost their studies.

But there are both advantages and disadvantages of the internet for students. Some students know how can the internet be used to improve their studies, but due to misuse of the internet some students loss, their valuable time and can’t score well in exams. But we can’t deny the use of the internet in education, business, online transactions, etc.

Essay on Internet advantages and disadvantages (150 Words)         

The Internet is the greatest invention of science. It helps us in getting every piece of information with a click. We can share information, and get connected with people around the world through the use of the internet.

The Internet is a vast storage of information where we can get a bunch of information from different fields. There are both uses and abuses of the internet. The use of the internet in business has developed the business in modern times.

In today’s world, the use of the internet in education can also be seen. Some advanced schools and colleges in our country have introduced the digital class. It has become possible due to the uses of the internet.

Though there are a lot of advantages of the internet, a few disadvantages of the internet can also be seen. Misuse of the internet has always been a headache for national security. We need to know the proper uses of the internet so we can be beneficial from this modern invention of science.

Essay on Internet advantages and disadvantages (200 Words )

In today’s world, we use the internet in every walk of our life. About two decades ago there was a question in most people’s minds ‘how can the internet be used’. But in today’s world, the uses of the internet are very common almost in every field.

Today the use of the internet for students has been very common. Students can get online help from different websites, they can opt for online coaching, online courses, etc. use of the internet can be seen in every sphere of life.

It has connected the whole world. The Internet provides us with various moods of communication like email, social networking sites, web and video calls, etc. on the other hand use of the internet in business has brought a revolutionary change to the market.

The Internet has promoted the online marketing platform in the world. Now a businessman can sell his product online from his home.

Though we can point out many advantages of the internet, there are some abuses of the internet too. The misuse of the internet can be seen among some students. They sometimes stick to social networking sites and waste their valuable time.

As a result of that, they don’t get much time for studies.  They should know the proper uses of the internet and should use it for their benefit.

Essay on Internet advantages and disadvantages (300 Words )

Introduction to internet essay: – The Internet is a modern invention of science that has brought a revolutionary change to our lives. Using the internet, we can access any information from anywhere that has been stored on the web.

In today’s world, we can’t imagine anything without the internet. There are a lot of advantages of the internet, but it is impossible to turn our faces from the disadvantages of the internet.

Uses of the internet: – The internet is used for any purpose. It is used to send emails, online chat, online transactions, share files, access different web pages, etc. On the other hand, in this modern era, a businessman can’t grow his business without the use of the internet in business.

Again the use of the internet in education has completely changed our education system. The use of the internet for students is very necessary as a student can get all his syllabus-oriented information on the web.

Abuses of the internet/ Disadvantages of the internet: – We all know the advantages of the internet. But there are some abuses of the internet too. We can’t deny the fact that the internet has brought a revolutionary change to our lifestyle, but we can’t ignore the disadvantages of the internet.

First of all, a person who spend too much time in from of a computer may fall ill. It may damage his/her eyesight. On the other hand, sometimes the internet can provide us with the wrong information. Because on internet or web anyone can post any information.

So sometimes wrong information can also be posted on the internet. Again hackers may post malicious links and can cause harm to our confidential data. One of the most dangerous disadvantages of the internet in today’s time is fraud business. With the popularity of the internet, we can see rapid growth in the fraud business.

Conclusion to internet essay: – The Internet has made our work easy in every field. With the invention of the internet human civilization has developed a lot. Though there are both advantages and disadvantages of the internet, we can’t deny the fact that the internet has developed us a lot.

Everything depends on its use. We all need to know “how can the internet be used” and should use the internet for our benefit.

Essay on Internet advantages and disadvantages (400 Words )

Introduction to internet essay: – The Internet has completely changed our lifestyle and the style of our work as well. The invention of the internet has saved our time and reduced our effort in almost every work. The Internet can provide any information to us in no time that has been stored in it. So the question is ‘how can the internet be used?’. In order to use the internet, we require a telephone connection, a computer, and a modem.

Uses of the internet: –  The uses of the internet are immense. Internet is used everywhere such as in schools, colleges, banks, shopping malls, railways, airports, etc. Moreover, we use the internet at home for different purposes. We can access different websites, and social networking sites can make online transactions through the internet.

Different files and information can be shared via emails or messengers. The use of the internet in business has made a different platform for both- buyers and sellers. We have lots of advantages of the internet.

Uses of the internet for students: – The use of the internet for students is like a blessing to them. Students can find any needed information on the web to boost up their studies. Now a day the use of the internet in education is very common. The educational institutions provide internet for students at schools so that their knowledge can be improved.

Abuses of the internet or Disadvantages of the internet: – We can’t decline the fact that the uses of the internet have developed human civilization a lot, But we must agree that we have both advantages and disadvantages of the internet. The abuses of the internet or misuse of the internet can ruin a person at any moment.

Generally, abuses of the internet or internet abuse mean the improper use of the internet. These days teenagers are found addicted to the internet as they spend most of their time on the internet playing online games, surfing social networking sites, etc.

As a result, they are lacking behind in their study. On the other hand, lots of people have become victims of cybercrime. Some anti-social groups use the internet to deceive people through cheating funds. Again hackers may easily access our personal information that has been stored in the internet. Misuse of the internet can spoil our life.

Conclusion to internet essay: –  Excess or misuse of everything is bad. The use of the internet has developed us to a great extent. It has made our life simple, easy, and comfortable as well.

Uses of the internet in education have made us wiser than before, use of the internet in business has formed a different and wider market for us. Misuse of the internet can definitely ruin us but if we use the internet for our benefit, it will make our life easier and more simple in the future.

Long Essay on Internet advantages and disadvantages (800 Words)

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Introduction to internet essay: – The internet is naturally one of the most exciting and brilliant gifts of science to mankind. The invention of the internet and its uses of the internet have radically changed the ways of our life and living standards as well. In today’s world, most of our routine activities are done through the internet.

How can the internet be used: – Everybody knows the uses of the internet. In order to use the internet, we need a telephone connection, a computer, and a modem. We can also use the internet through mobile via hotspot.

  Uses of the internet: – In this modern era, there is hardly any walk of life that is not affected by the internet. Most shops, offices, factories, and service centers use the internet to make their work easier. It is called ‘the storehouse of information. The whole world has been made a global village with the invention of the internet.

The Internet has reduced the load of work from our offices. A huge amount of data can be stored on the internet. We can get each and every information in a click from our doorstep, can communicate with our near and dear ones at any time from anywhere, can make payments online, can buy and sell products online, etc. All these become possible only because of the internet.

Uses of the internet in Education: – The use of the internet in education has brought a remarkable change to our education system. Now a student can have access to any required information on the web.

Earlier it was very difficult for a student to collect data in order to prepare a project on a specific subject. But now it can be found on the web with a click. Moreover, they can share their ideas with their friends through email or social networking sites.

Use of the internet in business: – The use of the internet in business has upgraded the standard of business. In this century it is really hard to imagine an established business without the use of the internet. Now the internet has become a vital tool for marketing and advertising.

The use of the internet in business can boost the business by promoting or advertising the product. It can reach a more targeted audience/buyer/consumers through online promotion. Thus now the day internet is considered very useful in business.

Use of the internet in communication: – The invention of the internet helps a lot in globalization. The whole world is connected directly or indirectly through the internet. In earlier days’ people had to write letters to communicate with others who were not near to them.

But after the invention of the telephone, people could make calls to each other. But then came the internet as the blessing of science and now people can not only talk to each other on phone, but also they can watch each other live sitting at home.

Through social networking sites, we can get in touch with our friends, we can share information, and documents via emails, etc.

Abuses of internet / Disadvantages of the internet: – Does the internet have any disadvantages? YES, there a few disadvantages to the internet. It is very hard to believe that there are a few abuses of internet too. We know that excess of everything is bad. Excess use of the internet can also be harmful to our health.

On the other hand, internet can distract us at our work. Teenagers are seen as addicted to the internet. They spend hour after hour in front of the mobile or computer and waste their valuable time.

The Internet is a source of vast information, simultaneously it offers numerous sources of entertainment too. The major disadvantage of the internet is that sometimes it provides illegal sources of entertainment like pornography, private videos, etc.

People who fall prey to it may get addicted and thus may get distracted from their work. We can get benefited if we can skip the abuses of internet and use it to enhance our knowledge.

Misuse of internet: – There are numerous uses of the internet. But as we discussed earlier there are disadvantages to the internet too. Misuse of the internet may cause serious harm to mankind. One of the main misuses of the internet is Cyberbullying. A fake profile can be made on social networking sites to threaten people.

Anti-social groups or terrorist may use internet to spread anti-social activities. On the other hand, lots of black hate activities take place on the internet. After the invention of internet our personal and official data are accessible in the internet.

Though they are kept protected, the misuse of internet always causes a threat to that confidential information. Hackers may hack those data any may threat to reveal that information in public. Again with the popularity of social networking sites, a new trend of spreading rumors in public is seen these days.

Conclusion to internet essay: – Different people have different opinions on the internet. But we can’t ignore the benefits of internet. It has completely changed our lives and lifestyle as well. Though there are a few disadvantages of the internet too, we need to skip those internet abuses and try to use it for the development of mankind.

Essay on My Mother

Long Essay on Internet advantages and disadvantages (650 Words)

Introduction to internet essay: – internet is one of the modern wonders of science that connects crores of computers across the world. After the invention of the internet, it has become very easy to do our day-to-day activities which took too much time before. With the use of internet, a lots of work can be done in a minute or two.

How can the internet be used: – In today’s world it is not necessary to teach anyone “how can the internet be used?”. Everybody knows how to use internet. Earlier we need a telephone connection, a modem and a computer to use the internet.

Now modern technology has provided us lots of other methods to use the internet. Now we can use the internet through mobile or other modern routers.

Uses of internet: – In this modern era, the internet is used in every walk of life. In the world of communication, internet plays a vital role. With the invention of the internet, communication has become very easy and simple. In earlier days’ letters were the most depended mode of communication.

But it was very time taking. A piece of urgent information can’t be shared through letters. But now we can share information via emails, SMS, or social networking sites within a minute. 

Simultaneously the uses of the internet have reduced the use of paper and paperwork to a great extent. Now information or important documents can be kept on the web or through emails rather than keeping it in the paper. Internet is the storehouse of vast knowledge. We can get any information within a minute on the web.

We can make online transactions, take online courses, book our train-bus-air tickets online, watch videos, share thoughts, ideas using internet.  (But there are both uses and abuses of internet. We will discuss the abuses of the internet or internet abuse separately).

Uses of internet for students: – There are various internet for students. A student can do research online degrees, get involved in part-time jobs, and appear in the mock test using internet. Students need to know the proper uses of internet to get benefited from it.

In the web, students can find various applications and tools that can enhance their studies. In this developing world, educational institutions are seen spending a huge amount of money to set up internet facilities for students at their institutions as they are aware of the various uses of the internet for students.

Use of internet in business: – The uses of internet in business has strengthened the business opportunity and business standard as well. The internet can maximize the profit in business. There are many advantages of using internet in business.

The use of internet for business purpose can create a platform for business. Now a day’s internet is the most powerful tool for advertising and marketing as well. Online advertising is proved to be the best publicity in this century. It can reach more targeted audience rather than manual publicity.

On the other hand, with the use of the internet business meetings can be organized through video conferencing. Again there are lots of tools and software available for accounting and bookkeeping in business. The Internet has introduced a new method of payment i.e. online payment. Now a businessman can sell his product online and can reach a wider market than before.

Abuses of internet / Disadvantages of the internet: – The improper use of internet is known as abuses of the internet. The first and foremost abuses of internet are the excessive use of social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc.

The social media is to communicate with our near and dear ones. But some people especially some students spend too much time on those social networking sites and waste their valuable time. Again internet has promoted some cheat funds that have ruined many people.

Conclusion to internet essay: – The Internet has developed mankind to a great extent. We need to use internet for the wellness of mankind.

Essay on uses and abuses of internet (950 Words)

Uses of internet.

The Internet is nowadays a kind of compulsory thing in our daily lives. Uses of the Internet in our daily life have become obligatory. We spend lots of time on the Internet to get an answer to every question which strikes our minds.

We can even fulfill our desire to learn more with the help of the internet. The optimistic use of the Internet makes our lives straightforward and plain. As every single thing on this earth has both its positive and negative sides, the Internet has also got its negative and positive sides.

It is up to us to utilize our time on the internet in a productive manner. While there are various uses of the Internet but you can use the internet for getting an online education. You can use the Internet to promote your business online.

The uses of the internet in education

Nowadays with the help of the internet, we can do online courses and improve our writing. We also get the answer of every answer to every question on the internet is it a question of English or of algebra.

If we want to become flourishing in our career or business the Internet is a miraculous tool, but only the positive and productive use of the Internet will assist us to do so. Students these days are using the Internet to gain knowledge of fresh skills and even to acquire degrees in professional online courses.

Likewise, educators use the Internet for teaching and sharing their knowledge and experience throughout the world with the help of the internet. The internet has changed the lives of students massively.

Students nowadays are starting to use the Internet so that they can learn more and pass the competitive exams or entrance exams. That’s why more than half of the students are coupled with the internet.

Abuses of internet

Cybercrime (use of computers in unlawful doings.): Offenses those are committed against individuals or groups with a criminal purpose to deliberately harm the status/name of the victim or cause physical or mental damage, or loss, to the victim using modern networks such as the Internet.

Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic devices or simply using the internet. Cyberbullying is also known as online bullying. Cyberbullying is when someone bullies or hassles others on social media sites.

Damaging bullying behavior can include posting rumors, threats, and a victim’s personal information on the internet.

Electronic spam: This refers to sending the unwanted advertisement.

Advantages of internet

Internet helps us to boost the speed of our daily tasks. The Internet is used for research and development. The quality of research is developed by Internet tools only. Again the Use of the Internet provides us speedy and free-of-charge communication.

The best thing is that Communication on the Internet is free and fast. We all are linked with each other on social media sites. Social media is common for both personal and professional purposes.

Uses of the internet in money management       

We can use the internet in money management also. The use of the Internet is not limited to only earning money; it can also be used to manage money. Nowadays we can see thousands of apps, websites, etc. that help us in handling daily management, budget planning, transactions, transfers, etc. and this trend is rising gradually.

The use of Internet banking and mobile banking is also rising. All the banks are really functioning tough to provide Internet banking and mobile apps to empower people to utilize the power of the Internet and the latest money management tools. This is helping the common people a lot.

Uses of the internet in business

People also use the internet to promote their business. They sell their products by using various e-commerce solutions on the internet. E-commerce is booming on the internet and we can see new services and creative businesses starting up every single day, which in turn is creating jobs and thereby reducing unemployment. This is helping numerous people to earn money.

Uses of the internet for shopping in our daily life.

Shopping has become a stress-free task now and almost everybody can order products online there’ll be no one to say anything if you see numerous of products still find nothing to be nice to you or simply if you don’t buy anything.

The competitions in online shopping business are obvious. Shopping sites are more interesting because of the huge discounts different companies are offering to the customers also they offer real choice to the customers. The best part is people get attracted to those things more easily.

The customers can pay cash for the product after the delivery also and also can return the product if they don’t like the same. There are numerous online shops where we can buy the things we need in a very cheap rate in comparison to the local shops.

Conclusion to internet essay: –  Internet has completely changed our lifestyle. It has made our works much easier than before. Internet has brought a remarkable change in the world of communication.

Final Words

So we have come to the concluding part of internet essay or essay on internet. In conclusion, we can say that internet and the uses of internet is a very vast topic to discuss. We have tried to cover as much as we can in our essay on internet.

We have also tried to discuss thoroughly on the different related topic such as uses of the internet for students along with advantages and disadvantages of the internet for students and uses of the internet in education.

Abuses of internet, misuse of internet, use of internet in business etc. These essays on internet are composed in such a way that you can also prepare an article on the internet or a speech on the internet and its uses and abuses. Hope these essays helped you.

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Essay on Internet Uses For Students

500 + words internet essay.

The internet is described as a global network of computer systems interconnected and following the internet security protocol. However, have you ever considered why the internet is important? This 500+ Words Essay on internet advantages and disadvantages will help students ace essay writing during exams.

A combination of high-end science and advanced technology, the internet is a viral invention. Here, in an essay on the internet, students can learn about the uses and impact of the internet.

Why the Internet Is Important

The internet has undergone significant development from the time of its birth to the present. Over a period of time, the internet has become more interactive and user-friendly. It has also helped man in day-to-day transactions and interactions. The Internet is widely used for numerous functions such as learning, teaching, research, writing, sharing content or data, e-mails, job hunting, playing games, listening to music, watching videos, exploring and finally surfing the internet. Meanwhile, though it makes life easy for people, the internet also comes with a lot of pros and cons. Find the advantages and disadvantages of the internet from this essay.

Also read: History of Internet

Essay on Advantages of Internet

Read this essay on internet advantages to know the effects of using the internet. Look for the points mentioned below.

  • The internet has helped reduce the usage of paper and paperwork to a large extent by computerising offices, schools, NGOs, industries and much more.
  • Internet helps to provide updated information and news from all over the world
  • Education, business and travel have been thriving with the growth of the Internet
  • The internet is of high educational and entertainment value
  • The internet makes access to public resources, libraries and textbooks much easier
  • The internet makes it easy by reducing the time and energy taken to do work
  • Work has become more efficient, quick and accurate
  • Meetings and conferences are made easier with video calls and other brilliant tools

Apart from all these, as mentioned in the above paragraph on Internet uses, it helps carry out banking activities, exchange information, shop for various goods and more.

Essay on Internet Disadvantages

Despite the use of the internet and its positives, there are also some internet disadvantages. Continuous use of the internet can affect our lifestyle and health. Let us check out the disadvantages of the internet from this paragraph.

  • Over-dependence on the internet can lead to many health problems
  • People tend to spend more of their productive time doing nothing but browsing
  • Even if the internet is now used extensively at work, overuse of the internet could lead to depression
  • Quality time with friends and relatives is primarily reduced due to the use of the internet
  • Cybercrime has also increased as internet security and privacy are compromised

Thus, we have seen the uses of the internet and its impact on students and working professionals. While we know that overuse of the internet should be avoided, we also have to acknowledge that the internet has still not been exploited to its full potential, despite its massive growth. In conclusion, we can state that to make internet use more comfortable and pleasurable, school students should be taught about the pros and cons of using the internet, thus ensuring that they can stand up against cybercrime and ensure safety.

Also Read: Social Media Essay | Essay on Women Empowerment | Essay On Constitution of India

Frequently asked Questions on Internet Essay

What is the internet.

The internet is a global system of interconnected computers and this system uses a standardised Internet Protocol suite for communication and sharing information.

What are the top 5 uses of the Internet?

The Internet is mostly used by people to send emails and to search on any topic. It can be used to download large files. People depend on the internet for electronic news and magazines these days. A lot of people, especially the young generation use it to play interactive games and for entertainment.

What is WiFi?

WiFi is the latest wireless technology used to connect computers, tablets, smartphones and other electronic devices to the internet.

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Essay on Uses of Internet for Students and Children

500 words essay on uses of internet.

The Internet has become a sensation nowadays. It is something that humans cannot function without anymore. It has occupied a great part of our lives. We use the internet for almost every little and a big task now. It ranges from searching for a job to listening to music.

Essay on Uses of Internet

The Internet has basically made our lives easier and convenient. The world is at our fingertips now, thanks to the internet. When we see how it has changed the scenario of the modern world, we can’t help but notice its importance. It is used in all spheres of life now.

Internet and Communication

The world has become smaller because of the internet. Now we can communicate with our loved ones oceans away. The days of letter writing are gone where we had to wait for weeks to get a reply. Everything is instant now. Even though telephones allowed us to do that, but the cost was too high. The common man could not afford to call people overseas because of the costs.

However, the internet changed that. Communicating with people both near and far is now easy and affordable. We can send them emails and chat with them through instant messaging apps. We may also video call them using the internet which allows us to see them clearly even though we are miles away.

Furthermore, we can now get instant news updates from all over the world. The moment anything takes place anywhere in the world, we get to know about it. In addition, we are informed about the natural calamities within the correct time. Moreover, we can easily contact our job recruiters using the internet. Job application has been made so much easier through the internet.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Internet and Entertainment

Entertainment and the Internet go hand in hand now. Everything is at your fingertips to enjoy. You can book movie tickets easily on the internet. Gone are the days of waiting in long queues to get the ticket for the latest movie. It can all be done through the comfort of your home. Similarly, you can also book match tickets and concert tickets without going through the hassle of standing in long lines.

In addition, we can now do all our shopping online. You won’t have to go out in the harsh weather to shop for stuff. The Internet allows you to browse through a large assortment of products with all the details given. It ranges from something as small as a mug to a laptop, you can have it all. Furthermore, you may also filter the categories to find exactly what you are looking for within seconds.

Nowadays, web series are quite a hit amongst the youth. They do not watch TV anymore; rather they enjoy the web series. Various platforms have created shows which they release on the internet that has a major fan following. You can get your daily dose of entertainment from the internet now. Whether you want to hear the latest music, you don’t have to spend a hefty amount to buy the CD. You can simply listen to it on the internet.

Thus, we see how the internet has changed and made our lives easy in various ways. We can connect with our loved ones easily and get access to unlimited entertainment instantly.

FAQs on Uses of Internet

Q.1 How does the internet help in communicating?

A.1 We can now communicate with our loved ones using the internet. We can video call them and connect with our relatives living overseas.

Q.2 What does internet offer in terms of entertainment?

A.2 Internet offers us various modes of entertainment. We can watch movies and shows online. We can also book tickets and shop for products online.

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Misusing the Internet

essay about use and misuse of internet

Participants: 

Patricia Wallace, the author of The Psychology of The Internet

John Suler, the author of The Psychology of the Digital Age

Kent Norman, the author of Cyberpsychology

Raphael Cohen-Almagor, the author of Confronting the Internet’s Dark Side

Online aggression and cyber bullying is becoming more and more of an issue, how can we help control negative outcomes derived from the miss use of the internet?

John Suler : Thanks to the online disinhibition effect, there is a wide range of antisocial behavior – everything from off-putting remarks by friends to cunningly hostile assaults by psychopaths. Even in its beginnings, cyberspace felt like the wild west. People took the law into their own hands as they staked their claim in a weakly regulated territory. Opinionated settlers used it as a soapbox for “free speech.” Sociopaths seized it as their playground.

Given this complexity, we need a variety of strategies to cope with aggression. It will not be easy. Law enforcement professionals try to control blatant crimes. That leaves aggression that is not technically illegal. We could create new laws prohibiting certain types of behavior, like cyberbullying, but that steers us onto the slippery slope of trying to define them in ways that can be enforced.

Education will help. If people understand online aggression, they stand a better chance of coping with it. That education would include practical advice, such as learning to spot trolls (including such tricks as sock-puppets), then simply ignoring them. Education might help people understand how someone’s hostility may not have anything to do with them, but is instead a transference reaction. We might also warn people about the wild west atmosphere that prevails in many areas online: If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Or as Paul Vixie said, “The internet is not for sissies.”

Some gaming companies use machine intelligence to control hostility. An algorithm detects inappropriate language then warns, punishes, or bans the player. But this may not work in social media where people do not like machines looking over their shoulders.

We should consider the social problems in the “real” world that cause the frustration and anger people displace into cyberspace. Online hostility is not just about the Internet.

Kent Norman : For the past four years I have been teaching a course on the psychology of social networking and social computing. Each student is required to keep a weekly journal of sessions and activities on social media sites. From these logs, the time and frequency of sites is in this order: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, Email, GroupMe, and YouTube. Interestingly, their activities on these sites are split between academic use (organizing study sessions, group projects, and clubs) and social interactions. While college students often use Facebook for keeping up with friends and family, it seems to be more often used for school organizations, clubs, fraternities, and sororities. These activities are on the positive side!

Also on the positive side, students are aware of the need for social capitol. The more links that they make, the more people that they can call on for references, backup, and favours. Many of the seniors are already on LinkedIn building their networks and promoting their skill sets.

However, on the negative side, some students obsess with keeping up with latest things posted on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and SnapChat. They seem to suffer from the fear of missing out (FOMO). They report checking social the first thing when they get up, multiple times during the day, and the last thing before they turn out the lights.

I think that I am fortunate dealing with college students rather than K-12. By college, most have learned how to navigate through social media and use it to their advantage by amplifying its positive benefits and minimizing the negative.

Raphael Cohen-Almagor : There are moral, social and legal means to fight against these challenges. Most of us are rational beings who are able to apply reason, assess alternatives, consider the merit of different modes of activities. People understand that their conduct has consequences. Responsible people need to evaluate the likely consequences of whatever mode of conduct they choose. And most of us operate within the realm of the law. Most of us are law-abiding citizens.

Education is a key tool. We need to invest in communication, and in education. With awareness to the imperative of responsibility that is the duty of each and every one of us, whether we are Netusers who upload information to the Web, or readers of Net material, or Internet Service Providers (ISPs), government officials, or people who are operating in the international arena, we all need to weigh freedom of expression, on the one hand, and social responsibility, on the other. With combined effort of all stake-holders it is possible to promote awareness that some things are simply not to be done.

Cyberbullying is a growing concern because it is easy, cheap, instantaneous and has a certain utility for the bully. The bully is able to hide his or her identity, the IP address of the computer, and vent hostilities continuously. Only combined efforts of all can potentially redeem this growing and most troubling phenomenon that sometimes results in suicide. Cyberbullying should be fought at school and at home by Netusers, by readers, by the ISPs, by the state, and by the international community at large. As ISPs are the gatekeepers, they need to be proactive far more than they are now. ISPs should fight against cyberbullying as stringently as they fight against copy-tight abusers. Cyberbullying is more important as human lives are at stake.

Patricia Wallace : Cyberbullying differs from face-to-face bullying in several ways, and strategies for reducing this behavior and controlling negative outcomes have to take into account the nature of cyberspace. Unlike the playground bullies who taunt and tease their victims in person, cyberbullies can torment victims 24 by 7, and they can spread the victimization to a much wider audience through Twitter and other social media. In extreme cases, the victim’s suffering goes viral, and the material the cyberbully posted remains online for years – potentially forever – so the pain is renewed again and again as new people discover it. This is what happened to the “Star Wars Kid,” whose classmates posted a video he made of himself brandishing a light saber and pretending to be a Jedi knight. The boy suffered years of harassment and even death threats, and he eventually quit school and sought psychiatric help for depression. At the time, neither the police nor the school administrators were able to do anything about it.

What can parents and educators do to protect youth from cyberbullying, and prevent them from becoming cyberbullies themselves? Research points to the importance of the three “E’s”:

  • Eye contact

Cyberbullies can’t see their victims’ faces when they read a hateful text message or learn that an embarrassing photo became public. But education that makes a victim’s emotions much more salient, through eye contact, for example, can promote empathy. Such experiences can have a powerful effect on young people, and such empathy lessons may even lead them to stand up for the next victim. It’s important to combat the kind of toxic disinhibition that the Internet can foster in some people, and emphasizing the old netiquette rule – “remember the human” – is one way to start.

Read the rest of this 6-part Roundtable Discussion:

Part One: Cyberpsychology Part Two: Misusing the Internet Part Three: When Kids Go Online Part Four: The Future of Online Relationships Part Five: The single most important issue in cyber psychology today Part Six: The Future of the Internet

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Uses of Internet Essay

The Internet is one of the modern scientific discoveries that has changed the mode of human life. It is used extensively for several purposes. It could be defined as connecting a network to another network everywhere within the globe through committed routers and servers. Here are a few sample essays on "uses of the internet".

100 Words Essay on Uses of the Internet

200 words essay on uses of the internet, 500 words essay on uses of the internet, uses of the internet, advantages and disadvantages of the internet, my personal experience.

Uses of Internet Essay

The Internet is a global computer network. The process of connecting two or more computing systems to a cable or modem is called the Internet. The Internet is the only way of replacing data and statistics via computer networking. It could be very easily reachable. To get important information, one seeks it on google if they have an internet connection. Net performs a critical position within the discipline of change and commerce. Currently, e-commerce has emerged as a very popular tool all around the world because anyone can buy whatever they want through online sites without journeying to markets or shopping department stores. It also plays a critical role in training as students can get important information through the net.

The Internet is one thing that we can't imagine our lives without. It is used everywhere. These days, speaking with buddies and relatives residing in overseas lands is no longer a steeply-priced affair, but you can connect to them at just the click of a button. The Internet offers numerous means of verbal exchange with email, social media platforms, net calls, and messengers. You can communicate with your close ones at any time of the day with the assistance of the net.

The Internet is likewise a top-notch source of enjoyment. In today's times, while everybody is busy with their very own lives, the Internet can show to be your pleasant pal. From e-books to films to songs – the whole lot you need for enjoyment is available on the net.

The Internet has also proved to be a boon for business. It has ended up as a platform to sell products in its own country as well as outside the country. Each and everything nowadays is being sold online. The use of the Internet has largely changed the way we travel. You no longer require traveling to the bus stand or railway station and standing in queue for long hours to get your tickets booked, it can be done with a click of a button at the comfort of your home.

The Internet is an essential invention of the modern era. The Internet has various uses, and it has touched the lives of each person. When two computers are connected over the Internet, they can send and receive all kinds of information. Military research projects in the 1960s invented the Internet, it came into existence on 1st January 1983, and since then, the Internet has evolved and become an essential part of our lives.

Information: The Internet is the platform where we can get information about anything through search engines such as Google and Bing.

Communication: The Internet is used to communicate through emails which is the earliest application of the Internet.

Social Networking: People can connect with people from far away in seconds through these social networking sites. Some popular social networking sites are Facebook, Whatsapp, Snapchat, etc.

E-commerce: Amazon and eBay are some e-commerce sites on the Internet that help sell and buy products.

Learning: Many courses are available, and some provide certification, which can help students in their careers.

Entertainment: The Internet provides a wide range of entertainment sources, such as Amazon Prime Video, Youtube, etc., which are used to watch movies and TV serials.

Jobs: provide portals for Job seekers and Job providers.

The Internet has provided us with multiple advantages. For instance, it is a huge source of information because we can easily find information about anything we want to know on the Internet. There are numerous websites. Among such websites, Google is widely used by most internet users. Because the Internet can be used as a store of knowledge, it can be used in teaching-learning programs as well.

Moreover, the Internet can be used for business and the banking sector too. We can find many online shopping websites. Furthermore, we can also find vast usages of the Internet for various purposes. For instance, it has connected people through various social networking sites such as Facebook, Messenger, Gmail, Viber, Snapchat, WhatsApp, etc. These facilities have made the task of communication tremendously easier, faster and cheaper than traditional ones. During the pandemic, the Internet has allowed updating the conventional training device and gives additional assets for analysis; students can take their training in the comforts of their homes.

Through the Internet, one may get answers to all their curiosity. In the education sector, too, it plays a significant role, especially considering the pandemic. They can also browse for classes – lectures at no extra cost through the Internet.

I personally use the internet each day for a wide variety of devices. I use the internet for online banking, bill pay, and to get access to my college work. I am used to watching my favourite series online in my free time with the help of the internet. I use unlimited internet through my phone. The use of the Internet is slowly replacing the use of traditional newspapers. It offers various recreational advantages as well. It can be said that the Internet plays a great role in enhancing the quality of life.

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Misuse of Internet Among School Children: Risk Factors and Preventative Measures

  • First Online: 22 March 2022

Cite this chapter

essay about use and misuse of internet

  • K. Jayasankara Reddy   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6071-0472 2 &
  • G. Balasubramanian   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9535-4674 2  

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The Internet has been one of the most transformative and rapidly growing technologies. In recent years, it has improved the quality of life in areas such as communication, education, recreation. On the contrary, there are growing concerns about the use of the Internet that have created adverse consequences in the areas of social life, interpersonal relationships, family environment, and school activities. School-going children were vulnerable to such unhealthy outcomes due to readily available high-speed Internet and ease of access to different Internet platforms, which resulted in risky behaviours, decreased academic performance, poor nutrition, decreased sleep quality, and a high incidence of inter-social conflicts. While the majority of the research has focused on the adolescent population in terms of problematic Internet use, only a few studies have identified the vulnerabilities of school-going children in the same context. The research also confirmed that the risk factors for problematic Internet use start as early as middle childhood. Heightened risky use of the Internet was observed in children with neurodevelopmental concerns. This study explores risk factors associated with problematic Internet use among school-going children, identifying relevant warning signs followed with preventative measures.

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Jayasankara Reddy, K., Balasubramanian, G. (2022). Misuse of Internet Among School Children: Risk Factors and Preventative Measures. In: Deb, S. (eds) Child Safety, Welfare and Well-being. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9820-0_19

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essay about use and misuse of internet

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  • v.6(1); 2016 Mar 22

Internet addiction and problematic Internet use: A systematic review of clinical research

Correspondence to: Dr. Daria J Kuss, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Burton St, Nottingham NG1 4BU, United Kingdom. [email protected]

Telephone: +44-115-8484153 Fax: +44-115-8484153

AIM: To provide a comprehensive overview of clinical studies on the clinical picture of Internet-use related addictions from a holistic perspective. A literature search was conducted using the database Web of Science.

METHODS: Over the last 15 years, the number of Internet users has increased by 1000%, and at the same time, research on addictive Internet use has proliferated. Internet addiction has not yet been understood very well, and research on its etiology and natural history is still in its infancy. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association included Internet Gaming Disorder in the appendix of the updated version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as condition that requires further research prior to official inclusion in the main manual, with important repercussions for research and treatment. To date, reviews have focused on clinical and treatment studies of Internet addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder. This arguably limits the analysis to a specific diagnosis of a potential disorder that has not yet been officially recognised in the Western world, rather than a comprehensive and inclusive investigation of Internet-use related addictions (including problematic Internet use) more generally.

RESULTS: The systematic literature review identified a total of 46 relevant studies. The included studies used clinical samples, and focused on characteristics of treatment seekers and online addiction treatment. Four main types of clinical research studies were identified, namely research involving (1) treatment seeker characteristics; (2) psychopharmacotherapy; (3) psychological therapy; and (4) combined treatment.

CONCLUSION: A consensus regarding diagnostic criteria and measures is needed to improve reliability across studies and to develop effective and efficient treatment approaches for treatment seekers.

Core tip: Internet addiction has appeared as new mental health concern. To date, reviews have focused on clinical and treatment studies of Internet addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder, limiting the analysis to a specific diagnosis of a potential disorder that has not yet been officially recognised, rather than a comprehensive investigation of Internet-use related addictions (including problematic Internet use) more generally. This systematic literature review outlines and discusses the current empirical literature base for clinical studies of Internet addiction and problematic Internet use. A total of 46 relevant studies on treatment seeker characteristics, psychopharmacotherapy, psychological therapy, and combined treatment were identified.

INTRODUCTION

Over the last 15 years, the number of Internet users has increased by 1000%[ 1 ], and at the same time, research on addictive Internet use has proliferated. Internet addiction has not yet been understood very well, and research on its etiology and natural history is still in its infancy[ 2 ]. Currently, it is estimated that between 0.8% of young individuals in Italy[ 3 ] and 8.8% of Chinese adolescents[ 4 ] are affected. The reported higher prevalence rates in China suggest Internet addiction is a serious problem in China, and the country has acknowledged Internet addiction as official disorder in 2008[ 5 ].

A comprehensive systematic review of epidemiological research of Internet addiction for the last decade[ 6 ] indicated Internet addiction is associated with various risk factors, including sociodemographic variables (including male gender, younger age, and higher family income), Internet use variables (including time spent online, using social and gaming applications), psychosocial factors (including impulsivity, neuroticism, and loneliness), and comorbid symptoms (including depression, anxiety, and psychopathology in general), suggesting these factors contribute to an increased vulnerability for developing Internet-use related problems. Despite the gradually increasing number of studies concerning Internet addiction, classification is a contentious issue as a total of 21 different assessment instruments have been developed to date, and these are currently used to identify Internet addiction in both clinical and normative populations[ 6 ]. Conceptualisations vary substantially and include criteria derived from pathological gambling, substance-related addictions and the number of problems experienced. In addition to this, the cut-off points utilised for classification differ significantly, which impedes research and cultural cross-comparisons and limits research reliability.

Increasing research efforts on Internet addiction have led the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to include Internet Gaming Disorder in the appendix of the updated version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) in 2013 as condition that requires further research before it can be accepted for inclusion in the main manual[ 7 ]. This has resulted in researchers commencing efforts to reach an international consensus for assessing Internet Gaming Disorder using the new DSM-5 approach based on an international expert panel[ 8 ]. However, various limitations to this recently proposed “consensus” have been identified, including the lack of a representative international community of experts in the field, the voting method used to arrive at the consensus, the criteria and nosology identified, lack of critical measurement of the disorder and lack of field testing[ 9 ]. For the purpose of a comprehensive and inclusive understanding of the potential disorder, in this systematic literature review, Internet addiction will be referred to as encompassing Internet-use related addictions and problematic Internet use, including Internet Gaming Disorder. It is argued that until this concept is understood more fully (including nosology, etiology and diagnostic criteria), limiting our understanding of Internet-use related addictions to Internet gaming-related problems does neither pay sufficient respect to the affected individuals’ personal experience nor to the variety of online behaviours that can be engaged in excessively online. For example, other potential online addictions and Internet-use related disorders have been recently reviewed[ 10 ], suggesting that limiting a diagnosis to online gaming exclusively misses out many cases of individuals who experience negative consequences and significant impairment due to their Internet use-related behaviours.

For some individuals, their online behaviours are problematic and they require professional help as they cannot cope with their experiences by themselves, suggesting treatment is necessary. Based on in-depth interviews with 20 Internet addiction treatment experts from Europe and North America, Kuss and Griffiths[ 11 ] found that in inpatient and outpatient clinical settings, Internet addiction and Internet-use related problems are associated with significant impairment and distress for individuals, which have been emphasised as the criteria demarcating mental disorders[ 12 ]. This suggests that in the clinical context, Internet addiction can be viewed as mental disorder requiring professional treatment if the individual presents with significant levels of impairment. Psychotherapists treating the condition indicate the symptoms experienced by the individuals presenting for treatment appear similar to traditional substance-related addictions, including salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict and relapse[ 11 ]. This view is reflected by patients who seek treatment for their excessive gaming[ 13 ].

In 2002, the South Korean government-funded National Information Society Agency has opened the first Internet addiction prevention counselling centre worldwide, and has since developed large-scale projects (including prevention, training, counselling, treatment, and policy formulation) to tackle the pervasive problem of technology overuse[ 14 ]. Across the United States and Europe, Internet addiction treatment is not funded by the government, often leaving individuals seeking help either for other primary disorders or through private organisations, although new clinical centres that specialise in treating Internet-use related problems are being developed[ 15 ]. Based on the available evidence, recent research furthermore suggests that the best approach to treating Internet addiction is an individual approach, and a combination of psychopharmacotherapy with psychotherapy appears most efficacious[ 16 ].

To date, reviews have focused on clinical and treatment studies of Internet addiction[ 16 - 19 ] and Internet Gaming Disorder[ 2 ]. This arguably limits the analysis to a specific diagnosis of a potential disorder that has not yet been officially recognised in the Western world, rather than a comprehensive and inclusive investigation of Internet-use related addictions (including problematic Internet use) more generally. Previous reviews relied on overly restrictive inclusion criteria, and this has led to ambiguities in the conceptualisation of the problem, and consequently resulted in limitations regarding both validity and reliability. In order to overcome these problems, the aim of this literature review is to provide a comprehensive overview of clinical studies on the more inclusive clinical picture of Internet-use related addictions from a holistic perspective.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Between July and August 2015, a literature search was conducted using the database Web of Science. This database is more comprehensive than other commonly used databases, such as PsycINFO or PubMed because it includes various multidisciplinary databases. The following search terms (and their derivatives) were entered: “Internet addict*”, “Internet gaming addiction”, “gaming addiction”, “Internet Gaming Disorder”, “compuls* Internet use”, “compuls* gam*”, “pathological Internet use”, “excessive internet use”, or “problematic Internet use”, and “clinic*”, “diagnos*”, “treat*, “therap*”, or “patient*”. Studies were selected based on the following inclusion criteria. Studies had to (1) contain quantitative empirical data; (2) have been published after 2000; (3) include clinical samples and/or clinical interventions for Internet and/or gaming addiction; (4) provide a full-text article (rather than a conference abstract); and (5) be published in English, German, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, or French as the present authors speak these languages. The initial search yielded 152 results. Following a thorough inspection of the articles’ titles and abstracts, the articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded. The search strategy is presented in Figure ​ Figure1 1 .

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is WJP-6-143-g001.jpg

Flow chart displaying the search process.

Additional articles were identified through searching the citations in the literature selected, resulting in the inclusion of another eight studies[ 20 - 27 ].

A total of 46 studies met the inclusion criteria. These studies are presented in Table ​ Table1. 1 . The included studies used clinical samples, and focused on characteristics of treatment seekers and online addiction treatment. Four main types of clinical research studies were identified, namely research involving (1) treatment seeker characteristics; (2) psychopharmacotherapy; (3) psychological therapy; and (4) combined treatment. The results section will outline each of these.

Clinical studies reviewed

AD: Alcohol dependence; ADHD: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; AICA-C: Checklist for the assessment of internet and computer game addiction; AICA-S: Scale for the assessment of internet and computer game addiction; AUD: Alcohol use disorder; AUDIT-K: Korean version of alcohol use disorder identification test; BAI: Beck anxiety inventory; BDI: Beck depression inventory; BDI-II: Beck depression inventory II; BIS: Barratt impulsiveness scale; BIS-11: Barratt’s impulsivity scale-11; BSD: Bipolar spectrum disorders; BSQ: Body sensations questionnaire; CAARS:S: Conners’ adult ADHD rating scales self; CB: Compulsive buying; CBS: Compulsive buying scale; CBT: Cognitive behavioural therapy; CBT-IA: Cognitive-behavioural therapy for internet addiction; CDR: Centre for dependence rehabilitation; CDS-2: Cambridge depersonalization scale; C-FAI: Chinese family assessment instrument; CGI: Clinical global impression scale; CGI-I: Clinical global impressions-improvement scale; CIAS: Chen internet addiction scale; CIU: Compulsive internet use; CSEI: Coopersmith’s self-esteem inventory; CT: Comprehensive therapy; DAPP: Dimensional assessment of personality pathology-short form; DC-IA-C: Diagnostic criteria of internet addiction for college students; DES: Dissociative experience scale; DSQ: Defense style questionnaire; EA: Electroacupuncture; EEG: Electroencephalogram; ED: Eating disorders; EDI-2: Eating disorder inventory 2; EDU: Education for internet use; EOP: Excessive online game play; EPI: Echo-planar image; ERP: Event-related potentials; GAD-7: Seven-item generalized anxiety disorder; GPIU: Generalised pathological internet use; GSE: General self-efficacy scale; HC: Healthy controls; IA: Internet addiction; IAD: Internet addiction disorder; IAG: Internet video game addicts; IAT: Internet addiction test; IC-IUD: Impulsive-compulsive internet usage disorder; IGD: Internet gaming disorder; IIP-D: Inventory of interpersonal problems; IRSQ: Interpersonal relationship styles questionnaire; ITC: Inferior temporal cortex; K-IAS: K-internet addiction scale; MDD: Major depressive disorder; MDQ: Mood disorder questionnaire; MET: Motivational enhancement therapy; MFGT: Mechanism of multi-family group therapy; MI: Motivational interviewing; MINI: Mini international neuropsychiatric interview; MMN: Mismatch negativity; MRI: Mental research institute; NC: Normal controls; NEO-FFI: NEO five factors inventory; NEO-PI-R: NEO personality inventory-revised; OCD: Obsessive compulsive disorder; OCS: Online cognitions scale; PA: Panic and agoraphobia scale; PCC: Posterior cingulate cortex; PD: Panic disorder; PG: Problematic gambling disorder; PHQ: Patient health questionnaire; PI: Psycho-intervention; POGP: Problematic online game play; QGU-B: Questionnaire on gaming urge-belief; ReHo: Regional homogeneity; SADQ: Severity of alcohol dependence questionnaire; SARP: Substance addiction recovery program; SCARED: Screen for child anxiety related emotional disorders; SCID: Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV; SCID-IV: Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV-patient version; SCL: Symptom checklist; SCL-90R: Symptom checklist 90-revised; SG: Survey group; SOC: Sense of coherence scale; STAXI-K: State-trait anger expression inventory; STG: Superior temporal gyrus; TG: Training group; YBOCS: Yale-brown obsessive compulsive severity scale; YIAS: Young’s internet addiction scale; YIAS-K: Young's internet addiction scale, korean version; ZKPQ: Zuckermann-kuhlman personality questionnaire.

Treatment seeker characteristics

A total of 25 studies[ 19 , 26 , 27 , 32 , 43 , 50 , 62 , 72 , 78 , 79 , 93 , 106 , 109 , 111 , 112 , 118 , 124 , 130 , 133 , 143 , 146 , 163 , 164 , 188 , 204 ] investigated the characteristics of treatment seekers. Here, treatment seekers are defined as individuals seeking professional support for online addiction-related problems. The following paragraphs will outline the treatment seekers’ sociodemographic characteristics, Internet/gaming addiction measures used to ascertain diagnostic status in the respective studies, differential diagnoses and comorbidities.

Sociodemographic characteristics

In the included studies, sample sizes ranged from a case study of a male in Australia presenting with the problem of generalised pathological Internet use[ 112 ] to a total of 1826 clients sampled from 15 inpatient alcohol addiction rehabilitation centres in Germany, of which 71 also presented with Internet addiction and were then compared to a control group of 58 patients treated for alcohol addiction only[ 188 ]. Ages ranged from 16 years[ 112 ] to a mean age of 30.5 years[ 72 ]. The majority of studies used male participants, with one study using female participants only[ 50 ]. Most studies included individuals seeking treatment for Internet addiction and/or problematic Internet use in specialised inpatient and outpatient treatment centres. A number of studies included particular samples, such as individuals sampled via phone consultations ( i.e ., including 86% relatives of the affected individuals)[ 43 ], patients sampled in alcohol rehabilitation centres[ 130 ], patients diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)[ 46 ], and female patients treated for eating disorders[ 50 ].

Treatment seekers were sampled from various continents. Within Europe, samples included treatment seekers in Germany[ 43 , 78 , 124 , 130 , 133 , 164 , 188 , 197 ], The Netherlands[ 50 ], Italy[ 26 , 27 , 32 ], and Greece[ 79 ]. In North America, a Canadian sample was included[ 72 ]. In South America, samples included individuals from Perú[ 62 ], Puerto Rico[ 118 ], and Brazil[ 139 ]. In Western Asia, Turkish individuals were sampled in two studies[ 143 , 146 ], whereas in East Asia, participants were from China[ 163 , 204 ], South Korea[ 93 , 106 , 109 ], and Taiwan[ 113 ]. One case study included an Australian adolescent[ 112 ].

Internet/gaming addiction

Internet and/or gaming addiction were measured with a number of different psychometric tools in the included studies, sometimes combined with structured clinical interviews. Clinical interviews were explicitly mentioned in the reports of eight studies[ 32 , 50 , 62 , 93 , 106 , 109 , 164 , 204 ], and these consisted mostly of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV[ 64 ], a semi-structured interview for DSM-IV Axis I diagnoses for mental disorders.

In terms of psychometric measures, in the majority of studies, Young’s popular Internet Addiction Test[ 48 ], the IAT, was used[ 26 , 32 , 72 , 93 , 106 , 109 , 118 , 143 , 146 ]. The IAT is a 20-item self-report scale that measures the extent of Internet addiction based on criteria for substance dependence and pathological gambling[ 51 ], and includes loss of control, neglecting everyday life, relationships and alternative recreational activities, behavioural and cognitive salience, negative consequences, escapism/mood modification, and deception. Significant problems due to Internet use are identified if individuals score between 70-100 on the test, and frequent problems when they score between 40-69[ 48 ]. However, previous research has suggested that across studies, different cut-off scores for the IAT have been used to classify individuals[ 6 ], impairing comparisons across studies.

Another popular measure appeared to be the Assessment of Internet and Computer Game Addiction Scale (AICA-S)[ 44 , 194 ], which was used in seven studies[ 43 , 78 , 124 , 130 , 133 , 188 , 197 ]. The AICA-S is a 16-item scale and includes questions about the frequency of specific Internet usage, associated negative consequences and the extent to which use is pathological from a diagnostic point of view. Fourteen out of the total sixteen main questions are used to calculate a clinical score, and to distinguish normal from potentially addictive use[ 211 ].

Other measures included the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS)[ 55 ], a 14-item unidimensional self-report questionnaire including loss of control, preoccupation (cognitive and behavioural), withdrawal symptoms, coping/mood modification, and conflict (inter- and intrapersonal). The CIUS classification is based on the DSM-IV TR diagnoses for substance dependence and pathological gambling[ 12 ], and was used in one study[ 50 ]. Moreover, in one study[ 79 ], the Online Cognitions Scale was used[ 80 ], which is a 36-item questionnaire that measures cognitions related to problematic Internet use, and includes subscales on loneliness/depression, diminished impulse control, social comfort, and distraction. In another study[ 113 ], Chen’s Internet Addiction Scale[ 117 ] was administered, which is a 26-item self-report measure of core Internet addiction symptoms, including tolerance, compulsive use, withdrawal, and related problems ( i.e ., negative impact on social activities, interpersonal relationships, physical condition, and time management). Another study[ 164 ] used the Internet Addiction Scale[ 212 ], as well as a combination of Young’s[ 213 ] and Beard’s[ 66 ] Internet addiction criteria, including preoccupation, tolerance, loss of control, withdrawal, overall impairment, deception, and escapism[ 164 ]. The latter was also used in another study[ 204 ].

A different approach was taken by Tao et al[ 163 ], who intended to develop diagnostic criteria for Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) and to evaluate the validity of these criteria. Accordingly, in order to be diagnosed with IAD, patients had to fulfil the following criteria: The presence of preoccupation and withdrawal (combined with at least one of the following: Tolerance, lack of control, continued excessive use despite knowledge of negative effects/affects, loss of interests excluding the Internet, and Internet use to escape or relieve a dysphoric mood). In addition to this, clinically significant impairment had to be identified ( i.e ., functional and psychosocial impairment), and the problematic behaviour had to last a minimum of three months, with at least six hours of non-essential Internet use a day. This study has been used as a basis for the APA’s research classification of Internet Gaming Disorder in the DSM-5.

As this section demonstrates, a wide variety of measurements have been applied in order to ascertain Internet or Internet-use related addiction, sometimes involving an expert assessment by an experienced professional. As has been stated in previous research[ 6 ], no gold standard exists to measure Internet addiction with high sensitivity and specificity, which is exacerbated by the use of different cut-off points on the same measures across studies. To mitigate this diagnostic conundrum, a diagnosis of Internet addiction would significantly benefit from including a structured clinical interview administered by a trained professional[ 214 ], and this would help eliminating false positives and false negatives in the context of diagnosis.

Differential diagnoses/comorbidities

A number of studies investigated differential diagnoses and/or comorbidity of Internet addiction and other psychopathology. In terms of assessing potential comorbidities, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV mental disorders[ 64 ] was used by five studies[ 32 , 50 , 93 , 106 , 164 ]. Psychopathological symptomatology was also assessed using the Symptom-Checklist, SCL-90-R[ 125 , 191 ] and the Chinese version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview[ 115 ]. Personality disorders were identified by using the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Short Form[ 58 , 59 ]. Other addiction-related assessments included alcohol and drug addiction measured with the DÉBA[ 76 ], the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Korean version[ 95 ], and the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire[ 205 ], as well as shopping addiction, assessed via the Compulsive Buying Scale[ 54 ]. The presence of eating disorders was assessed using the Eating Disorder Inventory 2[ 52 , 53 ]. Mood disorders were assessed using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression[ 39 ], Beck’s Depression Inventory[ 132 ], and the Mood Disorder Questionnaire[ 198 ]. Levels of anxiety were measured with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety[ 40 ], Beck’s Anxiety Inventory[ 74 ], and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7)[ 127 ]. Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were investigated by means of Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales Self (CAARS:S)[ 42 ]. Finally, dissociation and depersonalisation were measured using the Dissociative Experiences Scale[ 34 ] and the Cambridge Depersonalization Scale[ 128 ].

The results of comorbidity and differential diagnosis analyses revealed the following. Of 50 adult outpatients self-referred for their Internet overuse, 14% presented with comorbid ADHD, 7% hypomania, 15% GAD, 15% social anxiety disorder, 7% dysthymia, 7% obsessive compulsive personality disorder, 14% borderline personality disorder, 7% avoidant personality disorder, and 2% binge eating disorder[ 32 ]. Higher frequencies of comorbid psychopathology were reported in a sample of 30 male patients with Internet gaming addiction[ 62 ], namely 40% antisocial personality traits, 56.7% affective disorders (30% major depression and 26.7% dysthymia), 26.7% other addictions (13.3% gambling, 10% alcohol, 10% marihuana, 6.7% nicotine and 3.3% cocaine addiction), and 16.7% antisocial disorders (13.3% ADHD, social phobia 10% and 3.3% dysmorphic corporal disorder). Generally smaller prevalence rates were reported in a sample of 57 Internet addiction treatment seekers in Canada[ 72 ]: 3.5% presented with comorbid depression and 7.5% with anxiety.

Half of a sample of 50 students with Internet addiction[ 79 ] presented with a comorbidity of another Axis I disorder (10% with major depression, 5% with dysthymia and psychotic disorders, respectively). This finding was corroborated by another study of 290 male treatment seekers, half of whom met criteria for another psychiatric disorder[ 124 ]. In addition to this, of the former sample, 38% presented with a concurrent Axis II personality disorder (22% with narcissistic, and 10% with borderline disorder, respectively)[ 79 ]. Significantly higher levels of depression and dissociation were furthermore found in a sample of 25 patients with Internet addiction as compared to a matched healthy control group[ 164 ]. Moreover, relative to a control group of male patients treated for alcohol addiction, 71 male patients with alcohol addiction and comorbid Internet addiction presented with higher levels of depression and obsessive-compulsive symptoms[ 188 ]. Furthermore, another study[ 197 ] including 368 Internet addiction treatment seekers showed that 30.9% met the diagnostic criteria for bipolar spectrum disorders, and this study also evidenced generally increased psychopathological symptomatology (including substance use disorders, affective and personality disorders). Finally, significant positive correlations were reported between compulsive buying and compulsive Internet use, as 11.7% of a sample of 60 female patients displaying patterns of compulsive buying also presented with addictive Internet use. This study reported no differences between individuals presenting with different types of eating disorders regarding compulsive Internet use[ 50 ].

Moreover, patients with Internet addiction and patients with pathological gambling received higher scores on depression, anxiety[ 26 , 27 ], and lower scores on global functioning relative to healthy controls, used impulsive coping strategies, and experienced more socio-emotional impairment. Additionally, patients with Internet addiction differed from patients with pathological gambling in that the former experienced higher mental and behavioural disengagement, which was found to be associated with interpersonal impairments[ 26 ].

Overall, the presence of comorbidities for Internet-use related addiction in the clinical context appears to be the norm rather than an exception. Individuals seeking treatment for their Internet overuse frequently present with mood and anxiety disorders, and other impulse-control and addictive disorders appear common. This indicates Internet addiction treatment may benefit from therapeutic approaches that combine evidence-based treatments for co-occurring disorders in order to increase treatment efficacy and acceptability for the patient.

Psychopharmacotherapy

In five studies, psychopharmacotherapy[ 20 , 22 , 24 , 28 , 46 ] for online addictions was used. Atmaca[ 28 ] reported the case of a 23-year-old male 4 th year medical student who presented with the problems of problematic Internet use and anxiety. The patient was treated with a combination of selective serotonine reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and antipsychotic medication. The antidepressant citalopram was administered at a dose of 20 mg/d and was increased to 40 mg/d within the period of a week, which was continued for six weeks. Subsequently, quetiapine (an atypical antipsychotic typically used for schizophrenia spectrum disorders) was added to the treatment, starting with a dose of 50 mg/d, which was increased to 200 mg/d within four days. The treatment resulted in decreased Internet addiction as measured with the Y-BOCS[ 30 ] modified for Internet use, decreased non-essential and essential Internet use, and improved control over Internet use. The improvements persisted until four-month follow up.

Bipeta et al[ 46 ] compared 34 control subjects with or without Internet addiction assessed via Young’s Diagnostic Questionnaire[ 48 ] with patients with pure OCD with or without Internet addiction (mean age = 27 years, SD = 6.5 years). OCD patients were treated with standard pharmacological treatment for OCD (treatment as usual) for one year, received the benzodiazepine clonazepam (often used in the treatment of anxiety disorders), which was tapered off in three weeks, an SSRI or the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine for 12 mo. The individuals with Internet addiction in the OCD group received the following doses of medication: Five patients received 150-200 mg fluvoxamine/d, four received 150-200 mg sertraline/d, one received 60 mg fluoxetine/d, and the final one received 200 mg clomipramine/d. In the OCD group that included individuals who were not addicted to using the Internet, the following doses of medication were administered: Eight patients received 150-300 mg fluvoxamine/d, five received 100-200 mg sertraline/d, eleven received 40-80 mg fluoxetine/d, and three received 150-200 mg clomipramine/d. Overall, the OCD treatment improved scores for both OCD and Internet addiction, while only two of the eleven OCD patients still fulfilled Internet addiction criteria after twelve months of treatment[ 46 ].

Dell’Osso et al[ 20 ] assessed the safety and efficacy of the antidepressant SSRI escitalopram (typically used for mood disorders) in 19 adult patients (12 men, mean age = 38.5, SD = 12.0 years) who presented with the problem of impulsive-compulsive Internet usage disorder assessed via the YBOCS[ 30 ], modified for Internet use. The trial consisted of a total of 19 wk, composed of a ten week treatment phase in which escitalopram was administered starting with 10 mg/d, and increased and maintained at 20 mg/d for 10 wk, and subsequent nine weeks of a randomised double-blind placebo controlled trial with or without administration of escitalopram at previous dosages. The treatment phase resulted in a significant decrease in Internet use. However, there were no differences in treatment effect between the treatment and placebo group following the second stage of the study. The authors also note that the group treated with escitalopram experienced negative side effects, including fatigue and sexual side effects, whereas side effects did not occur in the placebo group[ 20 ].

Han et al[ 26 ] used a controlled trial to test the effects of the antidepressant bupropion sustained release treatment (with a dose of 150 mg/d for the first week and 300 mg/d for five subsequent weeks) on the brain activity of eleven Internet video game addicts (mean age = 21.5, SD = 5.6 years), assessed via Young’s Internet Addiction Scale[ 216 ]. The results indicated that the administered psychopharmacological treatment provided successful results for the video game addiction group, as it decreased craving, playing time, and cue-induced brain activity. These authors[ 22 ] also used the central nervous system stimulant concerta (methylphenidate commonly used for ADHD) in 62 video game playing children with ADHD (52 males, mean age = 9.3, SD = 2.2 years) who had not previously been given medication. Internet addiction was assessed using the Korean version of Young’s Internet Addiction Scale[ 87 ]. The initial concerta dosage was 18 mg/d, with the maintenance dosage being individually adjusted based on the respective children’s clinical symptoms and weight. Following treatment, Internet addiction and Internet use significantly decreased, as did ADHD symptoms and omission errors in a Visual Continuous Performance Test[ 22 ].

Taken together, the studies including psychopharmacological treatment for Internet addiction and/or gaming addiction showed positive effects in decreasing Internet addiction symptomatology and Internet/gaming use times. In the few studies conducted, antidepressant medication has been used most, suggesting mood disorders may be comorbid with Internet use addiction. The research also indicated that if other (primary or secondary) disorders are present (specifically, OCD and ADHD), medication typically used to treat these disorders is also effective in reducing Internet addiction-related problems.

Psychological therapy

Ten studies[ 23 , 65 , 86 , 119 , 136 , 149 , 174 , 201 - 203 ] described some form of psychological therapy for treating Internet addiction. The majority of psychological therapies used an individual approach, which was applied to outpatients, apart from three studies that used group therapy approaches[ 23 , 65 , 119 , 136 , 149 ].

The most common approach used to treat Internet addiction was Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)[ 86 , 202 ]. This approach was usually individualised (apart from one study which used a group approach[ 65 ]). A further study used a combination of individualised and group therapy, namely Short-Term Treatment for Internet and Computer Game Addiction[ 192 ]. The typical CBT programme was administered for the duration of a few months, ranging from eight sessions[ 65 ] to 28 sessions, which included both group and individual sessions[ 192 ], and sessions lasted between one[ 86 ] and two hours[ 65 ]. The topics covered with patients in these sessions were: (1) identification of the Internet application associated with symptoms of addiction; (2) control issues ( e.g ., examining the self, feelings, impulsivity, and the relation between the individual and the Internet to self-manage and self-restrain Internet use); (3) principles of healthy communication, namely interpersonal communication, such as between parent-children[ 65 ], and sharing success stories[ 86 ]; (4) Internet awareness (with regards to relationships established and developed through the Internet, and dealing with online content); (5) cessation techniques applied to the Internet ( e.g ., recognizing the addictive behaviour and discontinuing it); and (6) additional elements ( e.g ., college career planning, covering underlying factors contributing to Internet abuse, such as marital discord, job burnout, problems with co-workers, or academic problems). In general, CBT followed a number of stages, including team building or a probatory stage to review sessions or stabilization and relapse prevention. All sessions were run by therapists[ 119 , 192 ] or psychiatrists[ 86 ] who were supporting adults, apart from one case that involved children and adolescents[ 65 ].

The treatment outcomes were measured through scores on a number of psychometric scales covering excessive Internet use, including the Internet Overuse Self-Rating Scale[ 67 , 68 ], the Adolescent Pathological Internet Use Scale[ 120 ], the Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire[ 48 ], and the assessment of emotional, cognitive and behavioural symptoms. The following emotional skills and problems were measured in some studies. Anxiety was assessed using the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders[ 71 ] and self-esteem was measured with Coopersmith’s Self-Esteem Inventory[ 103 ]. Cognitive skills covered were diverse, and measures included the Online Cognition Scale (OCS)[ 80 ], and the Time Management Disposition Scale[ 69 ]. The behavioural characteristics related to Internet addiction primarily concerned the individual, but also included their peer and family relationships, and were measured using the Chinese version of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire[ 70 ], and the Parent-Child Communication Scale[ 122 ]. Only one study[ 86 ] did not make use of questionnaires because it was a neuropsychological and electrophysiological study conducted using an event-related potential approach, focused on cognitive function by detecting a P300 component. The results of this study indicated there was a deficit in cognitive functioning in Internet addicts, which is a finding that has also been observed in other addictive disorders[ 215 ].

Four of the included group therapy approaches (out of five studies) included Internet addicts and family groups treated simultaneously. These included (1) a CBT modality called “multimodal school-based group” (MSBG)[ 65 ]; (2) a “multi-family group therapy” (MFGT), which was used for treating Internet addiction for the first time[ 119 ]; (3) a traditional family therapy for a young adult addicted to using the Internet[ 136 ]; and (4) a “multi-level intervention model” that is usually applied to substance abuse, which included family counselling and peer support groups[ 149 ].

The psychotherapeutic MSBG approach was applied in a school setting and involved students, parents and teachers. The group of Internet addicts were students treated using classical CBT in a group ranging from six to ten participants. The students’ parents were also administered cognitive behavioural training to recognize their children’s Internet addiction (through children’s feeling states, communication and solving-problem skills in the family, and through controlling the parents’ own feelings and behaviours to manage their children’s excessive Internet use). Teachers were provided psychoeducation, which was delivered by means of workshops in didactic teaching, analysis and discussion, with the purpose of recognising and treating Internet addiction in students, and of supporting their parents.

MFGT is a new psychotherapy approach for adolescent Internet addicts[ 119 ]. This intervention provides therapeutic groups for both adults (parents) and adolescents (Internet addicts), and the aim is to provide peer support, allowing transferential reactions, engagement with the treatment and promoting family cohesion. The main goal of this form of psychotherapy is to reduce Internet addiction whilst improving parent-adolescent communication and closeness, and to fulfil the family members’ psychological needs, rather than these needs being fulfilled by Internet use. Altogether, six active sessions were used, with a subsequent three-month follow-up to target potential relapse and discuss new issues and solutions to maintain the effectiveness of the intervention. Each of the sessions lasted for two hours and included five parts: a warm-up exercise, feedback on homework from the last session, a main structured activity, a brief summary and the family assignment. The topics treated per session were: Understanding a family with the problem of excessive Internet use (session 1), parent-adolescent communication skills training (session 2), parent-adolescent communication practices related to the problem (sessions 2 and 3), parent-adolescent relationship building skills training (session 4), associations between psychological needs and Internet use, how to satisfy the unfulfilled need in the family relationships (session 5), and setting up healthy expectations for the family system (session 6).

The classical family therapy approach used in one study[ 136 ] was based on Bowen’s[ 216 ] family system theory, which focused on the distinction of the self-inside from the self within the family constellation, and was based on an extensive analysis of family-of-origin problems and communication patterns. The treatment was focused on current interactions and changes in behaviour in the family system[ 217 ] to modify the family’s communication method by changing behaviours that maintain problematic Internet use, and coping with Internet overuse related problems. The therapy focused on an undesirable online behaviour and replacing it with a healthy behaviour, which would simultaneously induce a change in the family relationships. The intervention lasted three months and included 15 sessions. It treated emotional problems to enhance control over Internet use, and included functional and emotional expression to solve interpersonal relationship problems associated with Internet addiction.

The multi-level intervention model included an individual-based counselling approach with motivational interviewing (MI), complementary techniques, and traditional family-based counselling[ 149 ]. It consisted of six phases, lasting between 15 and 19 mo. The phases included (1) emphasising controlled and healthy Internet use; (2) promoting understanding of the change process through different stages from pre-contemplation to relapse, (3) using the MI model[ 218 ] for Internet addiction; (4) adopting a family perspective by using a systemic approach; (5) applying a multi-level counselling model including the patient, his/her family and his/her peers; and (6) using individual and group therapy to facilitate the intervention.

The only group approach that did not include a family intervention was the R/T group counselling programme, which specifically addressed Internet addiction[ 23 ]. It consisted of ten group sessions (two per week) within the period of one month, which varied in length between one and 1.5 h. Accredited specialists provided this intervention for university students. The content included an introduction to the therapy goal, teaching, activities, homework assignment and sharing. Each session furthermore included four sections: The purpose, materials ( e.g ., blank paper, topic-oriented games, posters, videos), strategies ( e.g ., discussion topics, homework assignments) and session evaluation for both the individual and their family, in order to assess whether the aim of the sessions had been achieved.

Overall, the psychological studies which included a control group to compare the effect of the interventions achieved varying results, impeding a general analysis of psychotherapy impact. Du et al[ 65 ] did not find significant differences between experimental and control groups in the post-test measure of Internet overuse, although the intervention group improved their time management (efficacy and time control) and other skills (emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer relationships and prosocial behaviours) significantly, and this was maintained until a six-month follow-up. Other comparative findings included a longer P300 component duration in Internet addicts treated by CBT compared to healthy controls[ 86 ]. However, the amplitudes were similar in both groups. Moreover, although Internet addiction symptoms were reduced after treatment in the experimental group[ 149 ], this was not the case for the group’s scores on beliefs and behaviours related to Internet use and psychological well-being, and there was only a small improvement in parental monitoring and functioning following treatment.

Only two studies (out of four experimental studies) showed a clear effectiveness of psychological therapy, and both of these used a group approach. Kim[ 23 ] used a quasi-experimental design and an intervention with a group psychotherapy approach, and found a significant reduction in Internet addiction and significantly higher self-esteem in the experimental group compared to the control group. Liu et al[ 119 ] found that their MFGT approach was effective in three aspects. It resulted in a significant reduction of time spent online (reduced by half in comparison to the controls), a decrease in the Internet addiction measure, and, from the parents’ perspective, more satisfaction regarding their child’s online behaviours. Moreover, the most important factor to reduce Internet addiction in this study was found to be the parent-adolescent relationship.

Combined therapy

Six studies used combined therapy to treat Internet addiction, consisting of some form of psychological treatment in combination with one of the following: Other psychological therapies[ 138 , 180 ], pharmacotherapy[ 21 , 25 , 139 ] or electroacupuncture therapy[ 221 ].

CBT was the most frequently applied psychological therapy to treat Internet addiction. Subsequently, add-ons to the CBT approach included in the identified studies will be elaborated on. Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) was developed by Poddar et al[ 138 ] and was tested in the context of treating IGD. This MET-CBT approach consisted of a series of stages: (1) a contemplation stage ( i.e ., initial sessions of rapport building, a detailed interview and case formulation); (2) a preparation stage ( i.e ., sessions delivered in an empathetic atmosphere to emphasise psychoeducation, including managing physiological and emotional arousal through relaxation techniques, and a cost-benefit analysis of game addiction); and (3) a contract stage with the patient, a parent and the therapist ( i.e ., behaviour modification of gaming, reducing time spent online and promoting healthy activities). By applying these stages, a reduction of IGD and online gaming was achieved, and school performance was improved.

Another case study[ 139 ] combined CBT with psychopharmacotherapy [ i.e ., administering clonazepam (a benzodiazepine typically used to treat anxiety disorders) and sertraline (an SSRI antidepressant)] to treat Internet addiction. The intervention lasted for three months, and consisted of the following. The CBT approach aimed to support self-recognition and modify and restructure feelings and dysfunctional cognitions related to Internet use, with the goal to prevent relapse. CBT was administered for ten weekly sessions to teach the patient to handle her anxiety and other symptoms related to her Internet use (in this case panic and obsessive symptomatology, which was comorbid to her Internet addiction). Clonazepam (0.5 mg) and sertraline (50 mg) were also administrated once daily. The applied treatment proved effective for reducing both anxiety and Internet addiction.

A new treatment approach to treat Internet addiction combined CBT and MI with an on-the-job Lifestyle Training programme[ 180 ]. Treatment was delivered by qualified therapists who were supervised by a senior therapist for both main psychological therapies. The treatment consisted of eliciting and strengthening the motivation to change, choosing a treatment goal, gaining self-control, preventing relapse, and coping skills training. Ten outpatient sessions of 45 min were used, and seven of these took place within a period of 2.5 mo. The remaining sessions were optional and were administered as a follow-up within 3 mo. Each of the sessions had a fixed format: (1) introduction; (2) evaluation of current status; (3) discussing homework; (4) explaining the theme of the day; (5) practicing a skill; (6) receiving homework; and (7) closing the session. This study was the only study that provided three perspectives for data collection: The patients’, the therapists’ and the researchers’ perspectives. This intervention, which is commonly used for other addictive disorders, was found to work well for Internet addiction as it reduced Internet use, increased social contacts, provided a daily structure, and encouraged alternative uses of free time and positive beliefs.

Moreover, CBT was most frequently used in combination with a psychopharmacological treatment, such as administering bupropion. The reason to select this medication is because a proportion of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) are also excessive online gamers, and this drug has been previously evaluated as potential treatment for MDD and other drug-addictions. Recently, its effectiveness has been tested and confirmed experimentally[ 21 , 25 ]. Han and Renshaw[ 21 ] tested this combined treatment in Chinese male adolescent and adult patients with mood disorders and online gaming addiction, and treated them with bupropion sustained release (from 150 mg/d until 300 mg/d during 8 wk) and a psychological intervention ( i.e ., education for Internet use). The treatment resulted in significantly decreased depression and Internet addiction levels, and time spent playing online games compared with the control group. At follow-up ( i.e ., four weeks post treatment), the reduction in gaming hours and level of Internet addiction was maintained, while the depression recurred.

Similarly, Kim et al[ 25 ] tested the effectiveness of CBT in an active treatment group vs a control group who did not receive CBT in Korean male adolescent patients with MMD and online gaming addiction. Both groups were treated using the same levels of bupropion. Following treatment, Internet addiction was significantly reduced in the CBT group and other measures showed improvement ( e.g ., anxiety and life satisfaction), while depression severity did not change. These findings were maintained at follow-up. Therefore, the combination of psychotherapy with bupropion is effective in MDD patients with online gaming addiction in the long term only for online gaming addiction, and the time spent using online games. Both studies with bupropion were managed by psychiatrists, and one[ 25 ] used a multidisciplinary treatment team including a psychiatrist, nurse, psychologist, and social worker.

One study used clonazepam (0.5 mg/d) and sertraline (50 mg/d) combined with CBT to treat Internet addiction[ 139 ]. This study reported the case of a young Brazilian woman with Internet addiction and comorbid psychiatric disorders ( i.e ., panic and OCDs). During the treatment period of ten weeks, both drugs were administered daily whilst CBT was provided once a week, and focused on teaching the patient how to handle anxiety and Internet use through breathing training with diaphragmatic exercises, education about both disorders’ symptoms and about Internet use ( e.g ., time management, triggers of problematic Internet use, changing habits, cognitive restructuring, exposure and response prevention, promotion of social support, alternative activities, and promotion of functional Internet use). This combined treatment was effective for all conditions treated.

Zhu et al[ 207 ] combined a psychological intervention ( i.e ., CBT with sessions every four days for a total treatment period of 40 d) with electroacupuncture in 120 patients presenting with Internet addiction in China. They used three groups: 40 participants in the electroacupuncture group, 36 participants in the psychological intervention group, and 37 individuals participated in the comprehensive therapy group combining both treatment ingredients. Electroacupuncture was applied at acupoints Baihui (GV20), Sishencong (EX-HN1), Hegu (LI4), Neiguan (PC6), Taichong (LR3), and Sanyinjiao (SP6), and retained for 30 min once every other day. Overall, treatment was effective in all groups as Internet addiction symptomatology was successfully decreased, whereas this effect was significantly stronger in the combined therapy group relative to the other groups. The authors furthermore note that the combined treatment improved cognitive function in Internet addiction by means of accelerating stimuli discrimination and information processing on the level of the brain.

Combined therapies have shown effective results for treating Internet addiction, including both post-treatment and follow-up measures. The use of electroacupuncture in combination with a psychological intervention improved treatment success for Internet addiction more than providing cognitive-behavioural treatment only, suggesting the novel therapy electroacupuncture may be beneficial in the treatment of Internet addiction. It is suggested to replicate this study to verify the positive results.

Conversely, given the results found by the included studies, psychopharmacotherapy does not always appear to be as efficacious for psychological problems, such as major depression, as it is for Internet and gaming addiction. This is an interesting finding, because it seems that Internet addiction is usually accompanied by other psychological disorders. Therefore, combining therapies may be a good option for some clients, and should be managed by interdisciplinary teams with structured mid-term interventions.

This systematic literature review has sought to provide an overview of the currently available clinical research on Internet addiction and problematic Internet use using a holistic perspective. Clinical studies concerning Internet addiction, problematic Internet use and excessive online gaming have been included to offer a comprehensive insight into the relevant research to date. A total of 46 empirical clinical studies were identified, which focused on treatment seeker characteristics and different types of therapy provisions. Treatments included psychopharmacotherapy, psychological therapy, and combined treatment. Each of these will be discussed subsequently.

In terms of treatment seeker characteristics, the included studies indicated that the published research ranged from case studies to including patients treated for problematic Internet use in both inpatient and outpatient settings across 13 countries and four continents. It is worth noting that a number of studies indicated that comorbidities appear to be the norm, rather than an exception for individuals who present with the problem of Internet addiction or problematic Internet use. Comorbid mood and anxiety disorders appear to be particularly common. A link between mood disorders and Internet addiction has been suggested in previous research, including both adolescent[ 88 , 210 - 227 ] and adult samples[ 228 - 233 ]. A possible explanation for this strong and frequent link may be the fact that as Internet use increases, online activities take up gradually more time in the lives of Internet users. This reduces the time available to participate in alternative enjoyable pastime activities and to engage with real-life family and friendship circles, which may lead to increased loneliness and stress[ 234 ]. Alternatively, Internet use and gaming may serve as a method to escape real-life problems, effectively resulting in avoidance coping, which may exacerbate stress and negative feelings, and lead to negative consequences, including addiction and depression[ 235 ].

Moreover, a number of earlier studies have shown that anxiety disorders and anxiety-related symptoms, including social phobia, phobic anxiety, and OCD co-occur with Internet addiction in adolescents[ 88 , 236 - 238 ] and adults[ 230 , 238 ]. Previous research including Internet addiction treatment experts from six countries indicated that a large percentage of individuals presenting with Internet addiction at both in-patient and out-patient treatment facilities suffer from comorbid anxiety disorders, most commonly social anxiety and social phobia[ 11 ]. This may be explained through the mechanism of compensation, suggesting individuals who have difficulties engaging and bonding with their peers in real life may instead use the Internet for social interaction, as the online space removes the embodied (and potentially anxiety-provoking) elements from the interaction. These elements include the individual’s outward appearance and the exclusion of (often feared) face-to-face contact in favour of virtual (and often text-based) interaction. This may facilitate social interaction by increased likelihood of self-disclosure[ 239 ], online disinhibition[ 240 ], and hyperpersonal communication, characterised by the increased speed of developing social bonds and intimacy online[ 241 ].

The research presented indicated that comorbidities complicate treatment. This literature review has shown that comorbidities are very common in the context of Internet addiction, emphasising the necessity to investigate the extent to which Internet addiction can be considered a primary or a secondary disorder ( i.e ., secondary to some other psychopathology). Researchers have suggested that given the presence of comorbidity, it is questionable whether Internet addiction deserves an individual diagnosis, as this may lead to other (primary) disorders being underdiagnosed. This may lead to problems regarding efficient treatment choices on behalf of the mental healthcare professionals given that efficacious treatments exist for the more prevalent disorders, such as anxiety and mood disorders[ 242 ], whereas the evidence base for Internet addiction treatment is still rather limited in comparison. However, research has also indicated that some symptoms of Internet addiction appear as stand-alone symptoms and can be differentiated from other psychopathology, providing empirical evidence for the discriminant validity and specificity of the Internet addiction construct[ 243 ]. If comorbidity is present in individuals presenting with Internet addiction or problematic Internet use, clinicians need to target both problems in treatment as research has indicated that individuals with comorbid psychopathology (specifically co-occurring Axis I mental disorders) present with more clinical problems[ 79 ].

In terms of psychopharmacotherapy, the five studies included in this systematic literature review showed that SSRIs ( i.e ., citalopram, clomipramine, fluvoxamine, sertraline, fluoxetine, escitalopram), norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRI; i.e ., buproprion), benzodiazepines ( i.e ., clonazepam), antipsychotic medication ( i.e ., quetiapine), and methylphenidate (i.e ., concerta) were used to treat Internet addiction and Internet-use related problems. Overall, in the included studies, the use of psychopharmacological treatment to alleviate Internet and gaming addiction symptomatology and time spent online appeared successful, suggesting that Internet addiction is an indication for the use of the administered medications[ 20 , 22 , 24 , 28 , 46 ].

The diverse range of administered medication corresponds with the diverse range of presenting problems of the samples included. For instance, concerta is a drug which is efficacious in treating ADHD and therefore commonly used in ADHD treatment[ 244 ] as it has been shown to improve inhibition, motivation and memory by increasing dopamine and norephinephrine concentrations in the brain[ 245 ]. Moreover, given the relatively high prevalence of both mood and anxiety disorders with comorbid Internet addiction as described above, it is not surprising that antidepressant medications and benzodiazepines are frequently used in the pharmacological treatment of Internet addiction. SSRIs are the method of choice for mood and anxiety disorders and related symptoms[ 246 ], and benzodiazepines have anti-anxiety and relaxing properties[ 247 ]. Despite their off-label status in countries including the United Kingdom and Australia, NDRIs are often prescribed for depression-related symptoms and disorders[ 248 ]. In sum, the studied psychopharmacological treatments for Internet addiction proved efficacious in decreasing both Internet addiction symptoms as well as symptoms of other psychopathologies for which the specific medications have been licensed. Even so, clinicians need to assess the costs and benefits of the medication they are prescribing for treating Internet addiction as some side effects may impact treatment acceptability and treatment adherence in patients.

Regarding psychological therapy for Internet addiction and problematic Internet use, ten studies were identified, most of which used a group therapy framework to support clients. Group therapy has a number of advantages over individual therapy. According to the American Psychological Association[ 249 ], the benefits of group therapy include establishing a support network of individuals who experience similar problems and are faced with similar difficulties. Other group members’ stories may put the patients’ own problems into perspective. Moreover, group therapy may create a safe environment in which the sensitive topic of Internet-use related addiction can be discussed openly. Group therapy has the benefit of offering the possibility to learn from others and consequently improve coping skills as individuals differ in their ways they face the world and deal with their lives. These benefits explain why group therapy frameworks are popular psychological therapies for Internet addiction and Internet use-related problems.

The addition of the family network into therapy sessions as evidenced in studies on multimodal school based groups[ 65 ], MFGT[ 119 ], family therapy[ 136 ], and a multi-level intervention model[ 149 ] appears particularly fruitful for young patients, as families are important social groups supporting the young patients’ development. Families teach values, offer emotional attachment, model appropriate behaviours, and discourage high-risk behaviours[ 250 ]. The efficacy of group-based and systemic therapy for adolescents with problems of substance use and addiction has been long established[ 251 ], and suggests that therapeutic frameworks derived from family-based therapies for these disorders may be similarly efficacious in the treatment of Internet addiction and problematic Internet use. The included studies have verified this contention, and therefore clinicians are advised to incorporate families in the psychological treatment of young patients (including adolescents and young adults).

The most commonly applied therapy form was CBT or some variation thereof ( e.g ., CBT-IA)[ 202 ], which has frequently been used in an individual format. The primary goal of CBT is to change maladaptive cognitions and behaviours associated with Internet use, and this therapy form is in line with Davis’[ 252 ] cognitive-behavioural model of pathological Internet use. The model suggests cognitive factors are particularly important in the development and maintenance of Internet addiction. In the included studies, cognitive measures indicated that CBT is efficacious in reducing cognitive impairment associated with Internet addiction[ 86 ]. However, Winkler et al[ 17 ] examined the efficacy of different treatments for Internet addiction in a meta-analysis which included 13 studies, and their results showed that CBT did not perform significantly better than other psychological treatments, although CBT appears to be the most popular approach for treating Internet addiction.

Finally, a number of studies have simultaneously included different forms of therapy, namely psychological treatment supplemented with other types of psychological therapy[ 138 , 180 ], pharmacotherapy[ 21 , 25 , 139 ] or electroacupuncture therapy[ 219 ]. Taken together, all of the combined therapies were efficacious in treating Internet use-related problems, whereas the benefits for comorbid psychopathology ( e.g ., depression) were limited. This suggests that in cases where comorbidity is present and psychopharmacological treatment is administered, the clinician and researcher need to carefully monitor the patient’s progress, adjust the dosage of the medication and/or change the medication administered to achieve the best possible results for the patient. Moreover, as the new treatment modality of electroacupuncture outperformed psychological interventions, it is suggested that researchers replicate these positive results to ensure they hold across other samples.

A number of limitations need to be highlighted in the included studies. Only a few studies ( e.g .,[ 20 , 21 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 46 , 65 , 78 , 93 , 109 , 119 , 133 , 143 , 188 , 204 ]) included a control group, making it difficult to ascertain whether the positive effects of treatment on Internet addiction symptom and related problem reduction were due to the administered treatment, or to non-specific factors of treatment [ i.e ., the placebo effect (the improvement of symptoms with no treatment)], which can be due to natural history and statistical regression to the mean, among other factors[ 253 ]. Moreover, a lack of intention-to-treat analysis in the reported studies might have caused bias in the results due to treatment non-compliance, changes from the initial treatment protocol, or leaving out data from individuals who dropped out of the study before or during the course of treatment[ 254 ].

For future research, the need to utilise validated and reliable measures of Internet addiction and/or problematic Internet use needs to be stressed. Currently, the diagnostic and research landscape appears particularly broad, and diagnostic criteria used to identify the potential disorder are not globally agreed upon. Researchers are recommended to collaborate to establish a consensus regarding diagnostic criteria and measures in order to improve the reliability across studies and to develop effective and efficient treatment approaches for treatment seekers. This will furthermore contribute to providing an incentive for public policy and healthcare providers to offer funding for those who need professional help. Ultimately, research and clinical initiatives need to focus on providing the best possible care for individuals who experience significant impairment and distress as a consequence of their Internet use.

Over the last 15 years, the number of Internet users has increased by 1000%, and at the same time, research on addictive Internet use has proliferated. Internet addiction has not yet been understood very well, and research on its etiology and natural history is still in its infancy. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association included Internet Gaming Disorder in the appendix of the updated version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders as condition that requires further research prior to official inclusion in the main manual, with important repercussions for research and treatment.

Research frontiers

To date, reviews have focused on clinical and treatment studies of Internet addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder. This arguably limits the analysis to a specific diagnosis of a potential disorder that has not yet been officially recognised in the Western world, rather than a comprehensive and inclusive investigation of Internet-use related addictions (including problematic Internet use) more generally.

Innovations and breakthroughs

The aim of this literature review is to provide a comprehensive overview of clinical studies on the clinical picture of Internet-use related addictions from a holistic perspective.

Applications

Researchers are recommended to collaborate to establish a consensus regarding diagnostic criteria and measures in order to improve the reliability across studies and to develop effective and efficient treatment approaches for treatment seekers. This will furthermore contribute to providing an incentive for public policy and healthcare providers to offer funding for those who need professional help. Ultimately, research and clinical initiatives need to focus on providing the best possible care for individuals who experience significant impairment and distress as a consequence of their Internet use.

Terminology

Internet addiction is a condition that requires further research prior to official inclusion in the diagnostic manuals, with important repercussions for research and treatment. To date, reviews have focused on clinical and treatment studies of Internet addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder. This arguably limits the analysis to a specific diagnosis of a potential disorder that has not yet been officially recognised in the Western world, rather than a comprehensive and inclusive investigation of Internet-use related addictions (including problematic Internet use) more generally.

Peer-review

In this systematic review, the authors have presented a thorough and critical analysis of clinical research on Internet addiction related studies.

Supported by A grant from the European Commission (“Tech Use Disorders”; Grant ID: FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF-627999) awarded to Olatz Lopez-Fernandez.

Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.

Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Peer-review started: September 6, 2015

First decision: October 27, 2015

Article in press: January 7, 2016

P- Reviewer: Lai C S- Editor: Qi Y L- Editor: A E- Editor: Jiao XK

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Topic: The Misuse of Internet and its Impact on Society

Profile image of Nazra Aina

The topic we chose for the focus on our final is the misuse of Internet among and Its Impact on Society. The Internet provides us with a lot of benefits if we use it wisely. However, it can be harmful if we use it wrongly. We will focus on the legal, social and cultural aspects of the topic. We started our research by asking the following questions:

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Hamza Siddiqui

The ethical misconduct in information technology, especially in the fascinating world of the internet is nothing new. While the internet has the power to bring a positive change in the lives of people, it can bring harm too. The purpose of this report is to understand how some of the ethical issues in using it are affecting the daily lives of people. Various problems regarding its immoral usage will be discussed first, then some of the major ones will be examined and analyzed based on the survey conducted. In the end, some ideas will also be discussed to tackle the challenges faced by those problems.

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The prospects and perils of the Internet are discussed drawing attention to the fact that the Internet has brought us into the age of post-privacy and that some countries treat the Internet as a foe.

Samad Abedini

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John Mantas

Internet is now part of our daily lives. Most of the people check their social media accounts, weather, their e-mails from Internet in the morning even before they get a cup of coffee. We have an intimate and direct relationship with Internet in every single second of our daily life. Sometimes it is not an option to use or neglect it. As Deborah Lupton says, we live in a digital society and this digital era have influenced our daily life, commerce, government, economy, social relations etc. . It was the late 90s when the human kind has met with the cell-phone. No exaggerating, this was a mile stone in the digital history after the invention of computer. But somehow the spread of cell-phone usage was faster than the computer’s. There is a long and toilsome history behind the keyboard under of our finger tips. What made Internet so widespread is open to discussion, yet we all agree that our hearts are beating with it. Our daily life is under the influence of Internet. In this literature I want to point out the effects of Social Media usage in Internet on our daily life, politics and collection of information somewhat like journalism. Public is kin to publicity and popularity, so it is best to start with the "Public".

İnönü Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi

Ferhat Bahçeci

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vikram singh

An Exploratory Study on Ethics on the Internet

Anastasia Metsiou , Magdalini Kiki , Stavros Migkos , Georgia Broni , Ελένη Παπαχρήστου

Undoubtedly, the internet has become a part of people's daily life, since it supports activities that are related to communication, work, retrieving information, entertainment, and studies, Also the internet is increasingly used in the field of entrepreneurship, as it is widely used in the marketing. Nowadays, it has become a great part of people's socialization and moreover a necessary means of mediation in exchanging personal and governmental correspondence, as a standard and valid means of communication. Unfortunately, there appear to be not only positive but negative aftermaths to its use as well, for example, dark web, cyberbullying and problems concerning the private information online. The extent of the negative effects' appearance has aroused the importance of research to these fields and the necessity to take severe actions in order to abridge the negative effects. Thus, although the internet has been a great means in transforming the way that people interact with each other and the world around them, meanwhile, it has introduced new risks and challenges. In particular, the anonymity offered by the internet has made it easier for criminals to participate in illegal actions and bullies to engage in harmful behaviors, causing great harm. Therefore, further research is crucial to raise awareness about the dangers of the dark web, GDPR issues and cyberbullying, and to provide education and resources to help people protect themselves and others. As the interest of the investigation refers to quantitative parameters, we used a questionnaire to collect data from which we could derive conclusions regarding the present knowledge and perception of cyber security issues such as GDPR, internet safety, cyberbullying, and the dark web in Greece. Descriptive statistics and frequencies were applied to answer the research questions. The results have shown that, although people seem to understand the risks involved in the use of the internet, many of them don't fully seem to comprehend the extend of the risks that the internet can have to people's lives, and it is crucial for actions to be taken as to fully comprehend the depth of the problem. Therefore, theory and research should collaborate to raise awareness.

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  • 12 May 2024

Is the Internet bad for you? Huge study reveals surprise effect on well-being

  • Carissa Wong

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A woman and a man sit in bed in a dark bedroom, distracted by a laptop computer and a smartphone respectively.

People who had access to the Internet scored higher on measures of life satisfaction in a global survey. Credit: Ute Grabowsky/Photothek via Getty

A global, 16-year study 1 of 2.4 million people has found that Internet use might boost measures of well-being, such as life satisfaction and sense of purpose — challenging the commonly held idea that Internet use has negative effects on people’s welfare.

essay about use and misuse of internet

US TikTok ban: how the looming restriction is affecting scientists on the app

“It’s an important piece of the puzzle on digital-media use and mental health,” says psychologist Markus Appel at the University of Würzburg in Germany. “If social media and Internet and mobile-phone use is really such a devastating force in our society, we should see it on this bird’s-eye view [study] — but we don’t.” Such concerns are typically related to behaviours linked to social-media use, such as cyberbullying, social-media addiction and body-image issues. But the best studies have so far shown small negative effects, if any 2 , 3 , of Internet use on well-being, says Appel.

The authors of the latest study, published on 13 May in Technology, Mind and Behaviour , sought to capture a more global picture of the Internet’s effects than did previous research. “While the Internet is global, the study of it is not,” said Andrew Przybylski, a researcher at the University of Oxford, UK, who studies how technology affects well-being, in a press briefing on 9 May. “More than 90% of data sets come from a handful of English-speaking countries” that are mostly in the global north, he said. Previous studies have also focused on young people, he added.

To address this research gap, Pryzbylski and his colleagues analysed data on how Internet access was related to eight measures of well-being from the Gallup World Poll , conducted by analytics company Gallup, based in Washington DC. The data were collected annually from 2006 to 2021 from 1,000 people, aged 15 and above, in 168 countries, through phone or in-person interviews. The researchers controlled for factors that might affect Internet use and welfare, including income level, employment status, education level and health problems.

Like a walk in nature

The team found that, on average, people who had access to the Internet scored 8% higher on measures of life satisfaction, positive experiences and contentment with their social life, compared with people who lacked web access. Online activities can help people to learn new things and make friends, and this could contribute to the beneficial effects, suggests Appel.

The positive effect is similar to the well-being benefit associated with taking a walk in nature, says Przybylski.

However, women aged 15–24 who reported having used the Internet in the past week were, on average, less happy with the place they live, compared with people who didn’t use the web. This could be because people who do not feel welcome in their community spend more time online, said Przybylski. Further studies are needed to determine whether links between Internet use and well-being are causal or merely associations, he added.

The study comes at a time of discussion around the regulation of Internet and social-media use , especially among young people. “The study cannot contribute to the recent debate on whether or not social-media use is harmful, or whether or not smartphones should be banned at schools,” because the study was not designed to answer these questions, says Tobias Dienlin, who studies how social media affects well-being at the University of Vienna. “Different channels and uses of the Internet have vastly different effects on well-being outcomes,” he says.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01410-z

Vuorre, M. & Przybylski, A. K. Technol. Mind Behav . https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000127 (2024).

Article   Google Scholar  

Heffer, T. et al. Clin. Psychol. Sci. 7 , 462–470 (2018).

Coyne, S. M., Rogers, A. A., Zurcher, J. D., Stockdale, L. & Booth, M. Comput. Hum. Behav . 104 , 106160 (2020).

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Uses and Abuses of Internet Paragraph

Uses and Abuses of Internet Paragraph

Table of Contents

This article contains what are the uses and abuses of internet. Let’s see the  Paragraph on Uses and Abuses of Internet.

The article contains-

■ What are the uses of internet 

■ what are the abuses of internet , paragraph on the uses and abuses of internet .

Uses of Internet  The internet is the wonderful invention of modern science and technology. Modern life without internet is unthinkable. The word ‘Internet’ is the short form of the words International Network. The internet has been spreading its net over a vast and every part of the civilisation. It is clear that the whole world is linked with a network.

Satellites are much involved in making the connections easier. Information technology is highly developed today and information of any kind and nature can be transmitted through internet. Trade, business and financial transactions have become easier and efficient on account of internet. As a matter of fact, the influences that the internet brings today on people’s life-style, behaviour and communication are marvellous.

Banking transactions have become much easier. One can book or cancel tickets simply sitting at the comfort of home by using internet. Internet has been steadily showing its deep impact in the field of education and healthcare. Internet has become so popular particularly among the younger generation that it is very hard to live a day without internet. 

Yet all is not gold in the gift of internet. It spoils and affects badly on the younger generation. It also affects on human relationships. The students are so much addicted to it that they even waste their valuable time by  playing online games . The worst effect is on human health. Finally, the unrestraint cyber crimes which are the great threat to human civilisation now-a-days have been destroying the peace and decency of life.

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500 Words Essay On Use and Misuse of Internet For Students

essay on use and misuse of internet

Use and Misuse of Internet

The internet has become an essential part of modern life, connecting people across the globe and providing access to an enormous amount of information and resources. However, the internet can also be misused in ways that can have negative consequences for individuals and society as a whole.

Another way in which the internet can be misused is through cybercrime. The internet has made it easier for criminals to access personal information and to commit a wide range of crimes, including identity theft, fraud, and extortion. Additionally, the internet has also made it easier for criminals to engage in activities such as human trafficking, drug trafficking, and the sale of illegal goods and services.

The internet can also be misused in ways that can have negative impacts on mental health and wellbeing. Social media platforms can contribute to feelings of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, particularly among young people. Additionally, the internet can also be used to access and view illegal and harmful content, such as child pornography, which can have serious consequences for individuals and society as a whole.

In conclusion, the internet has become an essential part of modern life, connecting people across the globe and providing access to an enormous amount of information and resources. However, the internet can also be misused in ways that can have negative consequences for individuals and society as a whole. It is important that individuals are aware of these potential negative effects and use the internet in a responsible and balanced way. Additionally, it is also important for the government, private organizations, and individuals to work together to combat the use and misuse of the internet to protect public safety and prevent the harm to individuals and society.

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Uses & Abuses of Internet

Uses & abuses of internet english essay, 250 words on uses & abuses of internet.

The Internet is an online information channel that connects computers and websites. It’s a worldwide operating system.

Communication has become more potent with the help of the Internet. It not just provides entertainment but also provides every sort of knowledge. Business information is available on the Internet. Most business organizations sell their products through the Internet.

Many bank transactions can now be done through the Internet. Chat platforms on the Internet enable users to share their ideas and opinions. Thus the solution to many problems can be discovered by the exchange of views and opinions.

On the Internet, you can find well-known encyclopedias and dictionaries. Many job opportunities and the procedure of acquiring a specific job in a particular field can be searched using the Internet. Thus Internet provides a source of communication with many advantages if it is used with constructive thinking.

As there are many uses and advantages of the Internet, it also has some abuse and disadvantages. Misuse of the Internet has the potential to be harmful. The majority of pupils, including young boys and girls, use chat systems for unnecessary conversation.

Thus, they waste their precious time using the Internet because they do not benefit from searching for new movies, music, pictures, love quotations, and another kind of material entertainment.

Many criminals who engage in prostitution have set up blogs on the internet. Thus they effectively coordinate their operations and conduct business.

So it is necessary to cultivate awareness. If the Internet is used with understanding, it has many advantages as compared to its disadvantages.

350 words on Uses & Abuses of Internet

An international system of communication through connecting computers and websites is called as Internet. It is a global computer network. In 1998, the Internet provided an estimated 301 billion dollars in sales and 1.2 million jobs.

At the end of 1999, an estimated 220 million users had access to the Internet. The number of users soon increased, and by the early 1990s, connectivity had become affordable enough for domestic users to get their connections on their home computers.

Communication has become more potent with the help of the Internet. It not just provides entertainment but also provides every sort of knowledge. Business information is available on the Internet.

Most business organizations sell their products through the Internet. The Internet also provides communications for industrial units and business organizations for doing their business deals and other activities.

On the Internet, you can find well-known encyclopedias and dictionaries. The Internet may provide knowledge about science, economics, society, philosophy, religion, geography, geology, cosmology, famous people, and other topics.

Many career openings and procedures for obtaining a specific job in a specific sector can be found on the Internet. As a result, once used for positive thought, the Internet is a means of contact with many benefits.

The Internet has numerous applications and benefits, but it still has some violence and drawbacks. Misuse of the Internet has the potential to be detrimental. The majority of pupils, including young boys and girls, use chat systems for meaningless conversation.

Thus, they waste their precious time using the Internet because they do not benefit from searching for new movies, music, pictures, love quotations, and another kind of material of entertainment.

Many criminals who engage in prostitution have set up blogs on the internet. As a result, they effectively coordinate their operations and conduct business.

450 Words on Uses & Abuses of Internet

An international system of communication through connecting computers and websites is called as Internet. It is a global computer network.

In 1998, the Internet provided an estimated 301 billion dollars in sales and 1.2 million jobs. At the end of 1999, an estimated 220 million users had access to the Internet.

The number of users soon increased, and by the early 1990s, connectivity had become affordable enough for domestic users to get their connections on their home computers.

Some specific terms are related to the Internet. Any program that allows the user to search for and view data is called a browser. A program that is designed to retrieve specific information is called a search engine.

Surfing is the act of switching from one website to another. URL stands for uniform resource locator, which provides letters and numbers specifying the location of a document on the World Wide Web.

A system for publishing information on the Internet is called as World Wide Web (WWW). Any company that sells dial-up access to the Internet is called an internet service provider.

Many bank transactions can now be done through the Internet. The Internet provides chat services by which people exchange their ideas and thoughts; thus, the solution to many problems can be discovered by exchanging views and opinions.

On the Internet, you can find well-known encyclopedias and dictionaries.The Internet will provide information on research, economics, sociology, philosophy, theology, geography, geology, cosmology, popular people, and other topics.

Many job opportunities and the procedure of acquiring a specific job in a particular field can be searched using the Internet. Thus if the Internet is used constructively, it offers a means of contact with many benefits.

The Internet has a lot of applications and benefits, but it also has a lot of violence and drawbacks. Misuse of the Internet has the potential to be detrimental.

The majority of pupils, including young boys and girls, use chat systems for meaningless conversations because they do not benefit from searching for new movies, music, pictures, love quotations, and another kind of entertainment material.

Many criminals who engage in prostitution have set up blogs on the Internet. As a result, they effectively coordinate their operations and conduct business.

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  • About Adverse Childhood Experiences
  • Risk and Protective Factors
  • Program: Essentials for Childhood: Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences through Data to Action
  • Adverse childhood experiences can have long-term impacts on health, opportunity and well-being.
  • Adverse childhood experiences are common and some groups experience them more than others.

diverse group of children lying on each other in a park

What are adverse childhood experiences?

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years). Examples include: 1

  • Experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect.
  • Witnessing violence in the home or community.
  • Having a family member attempt or die by suicide.

Also included are aspects of the child’s environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding. Examples can include growing up in a household with: 1

  • Substance use problems.
  • Mental health problems.
  • Instability due to parental separation.
  • Instability due to household members being in jail or prison.

The examples above are not a complete list of adverse experiences. Many other traumatic experiences could impact health and well-being. This can include not having enough food to eat, experiencing homelessness or unstable housing, or experiencing discrimination. 2 3 4 5 6

Quick facts and stats

ACEs are common. About 64% of adults in the United States reported they had experienced at least one type of ACE before age 18. Nearly one in six (17.3%) adults reported they had experienced four or more types of ACEs. 7

Preventing ACEs could potentially reduce many health conditions. Estimates show up to 1.9 million heart disease cases and 21 million depression cases potentially could have been avoided by preventing ACEs. 1

Some people are at greater risk of experiencing one or more ACEs than others. While all children are at risk of ACEs, numerous studies show inequities in such experiences. These inequalities are linked to the historical, social, and economic environments in which some families live. 5 6 ACEs were highest among females, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native adults, and adults who are unemployed or unable to work. 7

ACEs are costly. ACEs-related health consequences cost an estimated economic burden of $748 billion annually in Bermuda, Canada, and the United States. 8

ACEs can have lasting effects on health and well-being in childhood and life opportunities well into adulthood. 9 Life opportunities include things like education and job potential. These experiences can increase the risks of injury, sexually transmitted infections, and involvement in sex trafficking. They can also increase risks for maternal and child health problems including teen pregnancy, pregnancy complications, and fetal death. Also included are a range of chronic diseases and leading causes of death, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and suicide. 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

ACEs and associated social determinants of health, such as living in under-resourced or racially segregated neighborhoods, can cause toxic stress. Toxic stress, or extended or prolonged stress, from ACEs can negatively affect children’s brain development, immune systems, and stress-response systems. These changes can affect children’s attention, decision-making, and learning. 18

Children growing up with toxic stress may have difficulty forming healthy and stable relationships. They may also have unstable work histories as adults and struggle with finances, jobs, and depression throughout life. 18 These effects can also be passed on to their own children. 19 20 21 Some children may face further exposure to toxic stress from historical and ongoing traumas. These historical and ongoing traumas refer to experiences of racial discrimination or the impacts of poverty resulting from limited educational and economic opportunities. 1 6

Adverse childhood experiences can be prevented. Certain factors may increase or decrease the risk of experiencing adverse childhood experiences.

Preventing adverse childhood experiences requires understanding and addressing the factors that put people at risk for or protect them from violence.

Creating safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children can prevent ACEs and help all children reach their full potential. We all have a role to play.

  • Merrick MT, Ford DC, Ports KA, et al. Vital Signs: Estimated Proportion of Adult Health Problems Attributable to Adverse Childhood Experiences and Implications for Prevention — 25 States, 2015–2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2019;68:999-1005. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6844e1 .
  • Cain KS, Meyer SC, Cummer E, Patel KK, Casacchia NJ, Montez K, Palakshappa D, Brown CL. Association of Food Insecurity with Mental Health Outcomes in Parents and Children. Science Direct. 2022; 22:7; 1105-1114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2022.04.010 .
  • Smith-Grant J, Kilmer G, Brener N, Robin L, Underwood M. Risk Behaviors and Experiences Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness—Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 23 U.S. States and 11 Local School Districts. Journal of Community Health. 2022; 47: 324-333.
  • Experiencing discrimination: Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Impacts of Racism on the Foundations of Health | Annual Review of Public Health ( annualreviews.org).
  • Sedlak A, Mettenburg J, Basena M, et al. Fourth national incidence study of child abuse and neglect (NIS-4): Report to Congress. Executive Summary. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health an Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.; 2010.
  • Font S, Maguire-Jack K. Pathways from childhood abuse and other adversities to adult health risks: The role of adult socioeconomic conditions. Child Abuse Negl. 2016;51:390-399.
  • Swedo EA, Aslam MV, Dahlberg LL, et al. Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among U.S. Adults — Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2011–2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:707–715. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7226a2 .
  • Bellis, MA, et al. Life Course Health Consequences and Associated Annual Costs of Adverse Childhood Experiences Across Europe and North America: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Lancet Public Health 2019.
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associations with Poor Mental Health and Suicidal Behaviors Among High School Students — Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January–June 2021 | MMWR
  • Hillis SD, Anda RF, Dube SR, Felitti VJ, Marchbanks PA, Marks JS. The association between adverse childhood experiences and adolescent pregnancy, long-term psychosocial consequences, and fetal death. Pediatrics. 2004 Feb;113(2):320-7.
  • Miller ES, Fleming O, Ekpe EE, Grobman WA, Heard-Garris N. Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes. Obstetrics & Gynecology . 2021;138(5):770-776. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004570 .
  • Sulaiman S, Premji SS, Tavangar F, et al. Total Adverse Childhood Experiences and Preterm Birth: A Systematic Review. Matern Child Health J . 2021;25(10):1581-1594. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03176-6 .
  • Ciciolla L, Shreffler KM, Tiemeyer S. Maternal Childhood Adversity as a Risk for Perinatal Complications and NICU Hospitalization. Journal of Pediatric Psychology . 2021;46(7):801-813. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsab027 .
  • Mersky JP, Lee CP. Adverse childhood experiences and poor birth outcomes in a diverse, low-income sample. BMC pregnancy and childbirth. 2019;19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-019-2560-8.
  • Reid JA, Baglivio MT, Piquero AR, Greenwald MA, Epps N. No youth left behind to human trafficking: Exploring profiles of risk. American journal of orthopsychiatry. 2019;89(6):704.
  • Diamond-Welch B, Kosloski AE. Adverse childhood experiences and propensity to participate in the commercialized sex market. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2020 Jun 1;104:104468.
  • Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, & Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232–e246. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-2663
  • Narayan AJ, Kalstabakken AW, Labella MH, Nerenberg LS, Monn AR, Masten AS. Intergenerational continuity of adverse childhood experiences in homeless families: unpacking exposure to maltreatment versus family dysfunction. Am J Orthopsych. 2017;87(1):3. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000133.
  • Schofield TJ, Donnellan MB, Merrick MT, Ports KA, Klevens J, Leeb R. Intergenerational continuity in adverse childhood experiences and rural community environments. Am J Public Health. 2018;108(9):1148-1152. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304598.
  • Schofield TJ, Lee RD, Merrick MT. Safe, stable, nurturing relationships as a moderator of intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment: a meta-analysis. J Adolesc Health. 2013;53(4 Suppl):S32-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.05.004 .

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

ACEs can have a tremendous impact on lifelong health and opportunity. CDC works to understand ACEs and prevent them.

'Predator in every child's pocket': What NH parents must know about child exploitation

essay about use and misuse of internet

Before COVID-19, the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received an average of 35 to 50 cybertips a month reporting acts of child exploitation. Those numbers skyrocketed during the pandemic.

As people spent more time at home and on screens, cybertips increased to 150 to 200 per month, according to Lt. Eric Kinsman of the Portsmouth Police Department, the commander of the state task force. The tips all point to potential instances of online child exploitation, sexual abuse, and the possession, distribution and manufacturing of child sexual abuse images. 

“Many of us, when we were going through COVID, were thinking, ‘Well, we’ve just got to get through COVID and then life will get back to normal,'” Kinsman said. “We thought that once the pandemic was over, once people kind of went back to their daily lives, that the numbers would go back down.”

That hasn't happened. Cybertips have continued to rise, with the task force receiving 180 to 220 reports monthly from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). 

Not all cybertips lead to charges, but New Hampshire ICAC now typically participates in three to four search warrants a week to seize suspects' technology, Kinsman said. Authorities have taken data storage devices like thumb drives, external hard drives, phones, cameras and computers from suspects and handed them over to forensic investigators.

Parents must be aware children are targets

Kinsman, law enforcement affiliates involved with the New Hampshire ICAC and child advocacy leaders are urging parents and youth to take caution in their internet activity.

“I can tell you that with technology today and with smartphones, there is potentially a predator in every child’s pocket,” said Maureen Sullivan, the executive director of the Child Advocacy Center of Rockingham County . “We are seeing an increase in those crimes.”

As younger kids are exposed to social media and other virtual platforms as technology advances, the threat of child exploitation increases.

“There's more and more ways in which to engage on social media,” Kinsman said. “The other sobering piece is that we're seeing a younger age category (be affected). For the longest time, 12 to 17 years of age was that bracket that seemed to apply to child victims online. But now we're seeing kids as young as 6, 7 or 8 years old online. When you combine now a wider age bracket combined with more social media apps online, it sort of stands to reason why there's that many more cybertips.”

What is NH ICAC? And how is social media used to target children?

The New Hampshire ICAC is one of 61 coordinated task forces across the United States, with over 5,400 members of local, state and federal law enforcement personnel from coast to coast. All fall under the umbrella of the national Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program , which has arrested more than 89,400 people on child exploitation-related charges since it was founded in 1998.

Each state has its own ICAC, though some larger states have multiple task forces. 

All electronic service providers in the United States — including social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram and popular apps like Snapchat and TikTok — are bound by federal law to report child sexual abuse material circulating on their platforms. They are mandated to report any instance of a threat, such as the shooting threat that a Berwick, Maine, man made against Portsmouth High School in April 2023 in a Snapchat video.

“Right now the trend is that Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram are kind of rounding off the top three. There’s really seven apps or electronic service providers that are responsible for about 95% of all cybertips,” Kinsman said. “YouTube is popular, Roblox is another one. We get cybertips from Meta, because Meta is Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.”

Almost 100 New Hampshire law enforcement agencies, including many municipal police departments, have signed agreements to be an affiliate of the state task force, pooling resources to investigate, execute search warrants, follow up with victims and families and file charges against suspects.

Niko, an electronics-sniffing yellow labrador, is part of the task force, The dog has helped with roughly 260 warrants, locating hidden cameras and finding devices containing illegal content.

The New Hampshire task force is funded with an annual $355,000 grant provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, which is managed and maintained through the Portsmouth Police Department. The program is also funded by the state with a biennial allocation, most recently $1.3 million.

Dover man sentenced for 'catfishing' exploitation

A 29-year-old Dover man, Evan Gadarowski, was sentenced May 3 by a federal judge to 20 years in prison for possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.

Gadarowski’s three-year scheme involved him “catfishing” girls by posing online. According to prosecutors, Gadarowski portrayed himself online as a bisexual girl and sought online relationships with high-school age girls, sending, soliciting and receiving sexually explicit content from minors and selling those images online. 

“The defendant caused numerous minor survivors unimaginable trauma and pain,” said Jane Young, U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire in a prepared statement. “He used this fictitious persona to gain their trust to obtain explicit images and videos from them.  In some instances, when these survivors resisted his demands for more images, he threatened to disseminate the compromising images already in his possession to others.” 

Lt. Tamara Hester, commander of the New Hampshire State Police special investigations unit, believes the task force and its affiliates need to continue learning about evolving technology, new social media outlets, the dark web and artificial intelligence to protect youth.

Nearly 1,500 electronic service providers in the United States are required to report child sexual abuse material, according to Kinsman. 

“On a daily basis there are new applications and methodologies being employed in order to entice minors in the online world. It’s important that as law enforcement we keep up with the trends,” Hester said. “It's imperative that suspects are held accountable to the fullest extent when they commit these crimes. Harsh penalties will hopefully make others aware that this behavior will not be tolerated."

How can parents protect children from exploitation?

Experts suggest a change in a child’s behavior and willingness to use their devices in front of family could indicate trouble. In presentations to parents, Kinsman challenges them to determine the “baseline” for their kids.

“For example, if your kid normally feels comfortable sitting on the couch in the living room, being on social media or being on their phone, and then you notice that there's possibly a deviation from that, meaning all of a sudden now they're only on their phone when they're in the bedroom or in the bathroom, then listen, don't dismiss it,” he said. “Ask questions. Dig into it (and) find out what's going on with your kid.”

A child victim may also have sudden outbursts, changes in behavior in school or in other social settings, or difficulty sleeping, Sullivan said. 

Hester recommends parents maintain an open line of communication with their children about their social media use and online activity, in addition to making the settings of their kids’ virtual profiles as private as possible.

“With evolving technology, it is easier for online predators to share material as well as anonymize themselves in order to attempt to make contact with minors," she said. "With the click of a button, an image or video can be shared to an international audience.”

Kinsman recommends parents acknowledge technology is ever-changing, meaning they’re not going to have all the answers. He suggests parents revert from “scare tactics,” such as threatening to take their child’s phone away after poor behavior, and instead try to create an environment at home where their kids can speak to them if they face trouble online. 

“Because unfortunately, the numbers are showing that it's really not a matter of if, it's a matter of when they get themselves into trouble possibly, or possibly make a bad decision,” he said. “We tell parents it's OK to be vulnerable. It's OK to not have all the answers, but be OK with working with your child to figure out those answers, together.”

Kinsman warned of “sextortion” of youth who are interacting with people online, similar to the Gadarowski case.

“If you physically don't know who this person is, and what I mean by physically is that you've met them face to face, and you know that that is who in fact you're talking to, then don't engage,” Kinsman said. “Because right now, the trends are that chances are, it's not a real person. It could be an AI-generated bot that these conglomerates have created, or it's a person with bad intentions. They've created fake profiles, they've created fake profile pictures, and they’re again looking to extort minors out of either more nude material and child sexual abuse material or money.”

Child Advocacy Center of Rockingham County: Average of 300 child victims a year

In some instances, staff members with the state’s child advocacy centers are the first to interview child victims of online exploitation or sexual abuse.

Each of the state’s 10 counties has at least one child advocacy center location. The Child Advocacy Center of Rockingham County has locations in Portsmouth and Derry. 

The county center’s staff interview between 280 to 350 child victims a year, according to Sullivan. Statewide, all the New Hampshire child advocacy centers interview approximately 2,000 children a year combined.

In Rockingham County, Sullivan says the center’s average client is a 9-year-old female victim of sexual assault.

For public awareness about child exploitation and abuse to increase, Sullivan believes community members need to stay alert and concerned about the welfare of others, not just family.

“We have lost our sense of community. Sometimes I think we don’t get as involved. I think you have to get involved. If you suspect something, report it,” she said.

At the county advocacy center’s locations, child victims and their families are brought in for a tour of the facility. Victims are never asked why they believe they were abused or exploited, and they are never shown a photo of the incident or their abuser by staff so as not to re-traumatize them. 

A family support specialist is offered for wraparound services after the child is interviewed by the county center’s staff, Sullivan added.

“In terms of trauma, we want to make sure kids are growing up to be healthy, contributing members of society,” Sullivan said.

Bills in New Hampshire legislature would combat child sexual abuse crimes

Lawmakers in both chambers of the New Hampshire legislature have proposed several bills regarding the nonconsensual dissemination of synthetic sexual images and crimes regarding child sexual abuse images. 

Senate Bill 464 and House Bill 1319 are similar in measure, both targeting artificial intelligence and deepfake technology. 

Senate Bill 464 would expand the ban on the nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images to include synthetic images “that are digitally created and altered to falsely depict the sexual conduct of targeted victims." If passed, the definition of “disseminate” would be expanded to include electronically posting or sharing that nonconsensual content, while a synthetic image would be defined as a photograph “that has been altered or created depicting an individual's image in a realistic, but false representation of the individual.” The bill was referred for interim study by the state House of Representatives.

The same definitions are proposed to be added to statute in House Bill 1319, which was passed by the House of Representatives in March and was recommended ought to pass by the state Senate. 

Existing language in state law reads: “A person also commits nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images when he or she purposely, and with the intent to harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce the depicted person, disseminates a synthetic image of such person that makes use of and intentionally manipulates or alters a recognizable individual's image or conduct to create a realistic but false image, recording, or digital visualization of the individual’s intimate parts, sexual acts, or sexual activity without the consent of the individual.”

Another bill, Senate Bill 564 , would add to the state’s current child sexual abuse images statute. New language inserted to the bill would define a child as anyone under 18 years of age “or something which is portrayed to be a person under the age of 18 and therefore indistinguishable from a child.” The term “indistinguishable” would mean the depiction of child sexual abuse images “is such that an ordinary person viewing the depiction would conclude that the depiction is of an actual child engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” the bill states.

Senate Bill 564 has already passed the New Hampshire House of Representatives and Senate.

The goal is for New Hampshire authorities to be able to charge those found responsible for creating digital child sexual abuse material using artificial intelligence.

“That will allow us to be able to prosecute for that because we do see that whether you have a real face put on a different body, or if you have a completely different, altered person altogether, whatever it might be, we're definitely seeing that,” Kinsman said. “Currently right now we can't prosecute for it, but there will be times when I feel confident that we will be able to.”

Though not in New Hampshire yet, formerly incarcerated criminals charged with manufacturing child sexual abuse images have begun creating artificial intelligence-generated, sexually explicit material, which they cannot be prosecuted for in some states.

“AI is becoming so advanced now that you could have an AI image next to a real image and the difference between the two was almost indistinguishable. It became a real issue,” Kinsman said. “It’s like they were basically laughing in the face of the judicial system, because it's not a real person.”

If the bills are passed, they would take effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

To rescue even one child in distress is a success, Kinsman says. But the goal is for no child to be in that position to begin with.

“When it comes to child sexual abuse material and the possession, distribution and the manufacturing of that material, that’s literally happening every single under our noses right here in New Hampshire and no one’s aware of it,” he added. “That’s why we’re working so much harder now to try and get our message out there and be proactive. To make people aware of it.”

NH ICAC can be reached via Facebook or by calling (603) 629-2758.

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The Possible Collapse of the U.S. Home Insurance System

A times investigation found climate change may now be a concern for every homeowner in the country..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. And this is “The Daily.”

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Today, my colleague, Christopher Flavelle, on a “Times” investigation into one of the least known and most consequential effects of climate change — insurance — and why it may now be a concern for every homeowner in the country.

It’s Wednesday, May 15.

So, Chris, you and I talked a while ago about how climate change was really wreaking havoc in the insurance market in Florida. You’ve just done an investigation that takes a look into the insurance markets more broadly and more deeply. Tell us about it.

Yeah, so I cover climate change, in particular the way climate shocks affect different parts of American life. And insurance has become a really big part of that coverage. And Florida is a great example. As hurricanes have gotten worse and more frequent, insurers are paying out more and more money to rebuild people’s homes. And that’s driving up insurance costs and ultimately driving up the cost of owning a home in Florida.

So we’re already seeing that climate impact on the housing market in Florida. My colleagues and I started to think, well, could it be that that kind of disruption is also happening in other states, not just in the obvious coastal states but maybe even through the middle of the US? So we set out to find out just how much it is happening, how much that Florida turmoil has, in fact, become really a contagion that is spreading across the country.

So how did you go about reporting this? I mean, where did you start?

All we knew at the start of this was that there was reason to think this might be a problem. If you just look at how the federal government tracks disasters around the country, there’s been a big increase almost every year in the number and severity of all kinds of disasters around the country. So we thought, OK, it’s worth trying to find out, what does that mean for insurers?

The problem is getting data on the insurance industry is actually really hard. There’s no federal regulation. There’s no government agency you can go to that holds this data. If you talk to the insurers directly, they tend to be a little reluctant to share information about what they’re going through. So we weren’t sure where to go until, finally, we realized the best people to ask are the people whose job it is to gauge the financial health of insurance companies.

Those are rating agencies. In particular, there’s one rating company called AM Best, whose whole purpose is to tell investors how healthy an insurance company is.

Whoa. So this is way down in the nuts and bolts of the US insurance industry.

Right. This is a part of the broader economy that most people would never experience. But we asked them to do something special for us. We said, hey, can you help us find the one number that would tell us reporters just how healthy or unhealthy this insurance market is state by state over time? And it turns out, there is just such a number. It’s called a combined ratio.

OK, plain English?

Plain English, it is the ratio of revenue to costs, how much money these guys take in for homeowner’s insurance and how much they pay out in costs and losses. You want your revenue to be higher than your costs. If not, you’re in trouble.

So what did you find out?

Well, we got that number for every state, going back more than a decade. And what it showed us was our suspicions were right. This market turmoil that we were seeing in Florida and California has indeed been spreading across the country. And in fact, it turns out that in 18 states, last year, the homeowner’s insurance market lost money. And that’s a big jump from 5 or 10 years ago and spells real trouble for insurance and for homeowners and for almost every part of the economy.

So the contagion was real.

Right. This is our first window showing us just how far that contagion had spread. And one of the really striking things about this data was it showed the contagion had spread to places that I wouldn’t have thought of as especially prone to climate shocks — for example, a lot of the Midwest, a lot of the Southeast. In fact, if you think of a map of the country, there was no state between Pennsylvania and the Dakotas that didn’t lose money on homeowner’s insurance last year.

So just huge parts of the middle of the US have become unprofitable for homeowner’s insurance. This market is starting to buckle under the cost of climate change.

And this is all happening really fast. When we did the Florida episode two years ago, it was a completely new phenomenon and really only in Florida. And now it’s everywhere.

Yeah. And that’s exactly what’s so striking here. The rate at which this is becoming, again, a contagion and spreading across the country is just demolishing the expectations of anyone I’ve spoken to. No one thought that this problem would affect so much of the US so quickly.

So in these states, these new places that the contagion has spread to, what exactly is happening that’s causing the insurance companies to fold up shop?

Yeah. Something really particular is happening in a lot of these states. And it’s worth noting how it’s surprised everyone. And what that is, is formally unimportant weather events, like hailstorms or windstorms, those didn’t used to be the kind of thing that would scare insurance companies. Obviously, a big problem if it destroys your home or damages your home. But for insurers, it wasn’t going to wipe them out financially.

Right. It wasn’t just a complete and utter wipeout that the company would then have to pony up a lot of money for.

Exactly. And insurers call them secondary perils, sort of a belittling term, something other than a big deal, like a hurricane.

These minor league weather events.

Right. But those are becoming so frequent and so much more intense that they can cause existential threats for insurance companies. And insurers are now fleeing states not because of hurricanes but because those former things that were small are now big. Hailstorms, wildfires in some places, previous annoyances are becoming real threats to insurers.

Chris, what’s the big picture on what insurers are actually facing? What’s happening out there numbers-wise?

This is a huge threat. In terms of the number of states where this industry is losing money, it’s more than doubled from 10 years ago to basically a third of the country. The amount they’re losing is enormous. In some states, insurers are paying out $1.25 or even $1.50 for every dollar they bring in, in revenue, which is totally unsustainable.

And the result is insurers are making changes. They are pulling back from these markets. They’re hiking premiums. And often, they’re just dropping customers. And that’s where this becomes real, not just for people who surf balance sheets and trade in the stock market. This is becoming real for homeowners around the country, who all of a sudden increasingly can’t get insurance.

So, Chris, what’s the actual implication? I mean, what happens when people in a state can’t get insurance for their homes?

Getting insurance for a home is crucial if you want to sell or buy a home. Most people can’t buy a home without a mortgage. And banks won’t issue a mortgage without home insurance. So if you’ve got a home that insurance company doesn’t want to cover, you got a real problem. You need to find insurance, or that home becomes very close to unsellable.

And as you get fewer buyers, the price goes down. So this doesn’t just hurt people who are paying for these insurance premiums. It hurts people who want to sell their homes. It even could hurt, at some point, whole local economies. If home values fall, governments take in less tax revenue. That means less money for schools and police. It also means people who get hit by disasters and have to rebuild their homes all of a sudden can’t, because their insurance isn’t available anymore. It’s hard to overstate just how big a deal this is.

And is that actually happening, Chris? I mean, are housing markets being dragged down because of this problem with the insurance markets right now?

Anecdotally, we’ve got reports that in places like Florida and Louisiana and maybe in parts of California, the difficulty of getting insurance, the crazy high cost of insurance is starting to depress demand because not everyone can afford to pay these really high costs, even if they have insurance. But what we wanted to focus on with this story was also, OK, we know where this goes eventually. But where is it beginning? What are the places that are just starting to feel these shocks from the insurance market?

And so I called around and asked insurance agents, who are the front lines of this. They’re the ones who are struggling to find insurance for homeowners. And I said, hey, is there one place that I should go if I want to understand what it looks like to homeowners when all of a sudden insurance becomes really expensive or you can’t even find it? And those insurance agents told me, if you want to see what this looks like in real life, go to a little town called Marshalltown in the middle of Iowa.

We’ll be right back.

So, Chris, you went to Marshalltown, Iowa. What did you find?

Even before I got to Marshalltown, I had some idea I was in the right spot. When I landed in Des Moines and went to rent a car, the nice woman at the desk who rented me a car, she said, what are you doing here? I said, I’m here to write a story about people in Iowa who can’t get insurance because of storms. She said, oh, yeah, I know all about that. That’s a big problem here.

Even the rental car lady.

Even the rental car lady knew something was going on. And so I got into my rental car and drove about an hour northeast of Des Moines, through some rolling hills, to this lovely little town of Marshalltown. Marshalltown is a really cute, little Midwestern town with old homes and a beautiful courthouse in the town square. And when I drove through, I couldn’t help noticing all the roofs looked new.

What does that tell you?

Turns out Marshalltown, despite being a pastoral image of Midwestern easy living, was hit by two really bad disasters in recent years — first, a devastating tornado in 2018 and then, in 2020, what’s called a derecho, a straight-line wind event that’s also just enormously damaging. And the result was lots of homes in this small town got severely damaged in a short period of time. And so when you drive down, you see all these new roofs that give you the sense that something’s going on.

So climate had come to Marshalltown?

Exactly. A place that had previously seemed maybe safe from climate change, if there is such a thing, all of a sudden was not. So I found an insurance agent in Marshalltown —

We talked to other agents but haven’t talked to many homeowners.

— named Bobby Shomo. And he invited me to his office early one morning and said, come meet some people. And so I parked on a quiet street outside of his office, across the street from the courthouse, which also had a new roof, and went into his conference room and met a procession of clients who all had versions of the same horror story.

It was more — well more of double.

A huge reduction in coverage with a huge price increase.

Some people had faced big premium hikes.

I’m just a little, small business owner. So every little bit I do feel.

They had so much trouble with their insurance company.

I was with IMT Insurance forever. And then when I moved in 2020, Bobby said they won’t insure a pool.

Some people had gotten dropped.

Where we used to see carriers canceling someone for frequency of three or four or five claims, it’s one or two now.

Some people couldn’t get the coverage they needed. But it was versions of the same tale, which is all of a sudden, having homeowner’s insurance in Marshalltown was really difficult. But I wanted to see if it was bigger than just Marshalltown. So the next day, I got back in my car and drove east to Cedar Rapids, where I met another person having a version of the same problem, a guy named Dave Langston.

Tell me about Dave.

Dave lives in a handsome, modest, little townhouse on a quiet cul-de-sac on a hill at the edge of Cedar Rapids. He’s the president of his homeowners association. There’s 17 homes on this little street. And this is just as far as you could get from a danger zone. It looks as safe as could be. But in January, they got a letter from the company that insures him and his neighbors, saying his policy was being canceled, even though it wasn’t as though they’d just been hit by some giant storm.

So then what was the reason they gave?

They didn’t give a reason. And I think people might not realize, insurers don’t have to give a reason. Insurance policies are year to year. And if your insurance company decides that you’re too much of a risk or your neighborhood is too much of a risk or your state is too much of a risk, they can just leave. They can send you a letter saying, forget it. We’re canceling your insurance. There’s almost no protection people have.

And in this case, the reason was that this insurance company was losing too much money in Iowa and didn’t want to keep on writing homeowner’s insurance in the state. That was the situation that Dave shared with tens of thousands of people across the state that were all getting similar letters.

What made Dave’s situation a little more challenging was that he couldn’t get new insurance. He tried for months through agent after agent after agent. And every company told him the same thing. We won’t cover you. Even though these homes are perfectly safe in a safe part of the state, nobody would say yes. And it took them until basically two days before their insurance policy was going to run out until they finally found new coverage that was far more expensive and far more bare-bones than what they’d had.

But at least it was something.

It was something. But the problem was it wasn’t that good. Under this new policy, if Dave’s street got hit by another big windstorm, the damage from that storm and fixing that damage would wipe out all the savings set aside by these homeowners. The deductible would be crushingly high — $120,000 — to replace those roofs if the worst happened because the insurance money just wouldn’t cover anywhere close to the cost of rebuilding.

He said to me, we didn’t do anything wrong. This is just what insurance looks like today. And today, it’s us in Cedar Rapids. Everyone, though, is going to face a situation like this eventually. And Dave is right. I talked to insurance agents around the country. And they confirmed for me that this kind of a shift towards a new type of insurance, insurance that’s more expensive and doesn’t cover as much and makes it harder to rebuild after a big disaster, it’s becoming more and more common around the country.

So, Chris, if Dave and the people you spoke to in Iowa were really evidence that your hunch was right, that the problem is spreading and rapidly, what are the possible fixes here?

The fix that people seem most hopeful about is this idea that, what if you could reduce the risk and cause there to be less damage in the first place? So what some states are doing is they’re trying to encourage homeowners to spend more money on hardening their home or adding a new roof or, if it’s a wildfire zone, cut back the vegetation, things that can reduce your risk of having really serious losses. And to help pay for that, they’re telling insurers, you’ve got to offer a discount to people who do that.

And everyone who works in this field says, in theory, that’s the right approach. The problem is, number one, hardening a home costs a fantastic amount of money. So doing this at scale is hugely expensive. Number two, it takes a long time to actually get enough homes hardened in this way that you can make a real dent for insurance companies. We’re talking about years or probably decades before that has a real effect, if it ever works.

OK. So that sounds not particularly realistic, given the urgency and the timeline we’re on here. So what else are people looking at?

Option number two is the government gets involved. And instead of most Americans buying home insurance from a private company, they start buying it from government programs that are designed to make sure that people, even in risky places, can still buy insurance. That would be just a gargantuan undertaking. The idea of the government providing homeowner’s insurance because private companies can’t or won’t would lead to one of the biggest government programs that exists, if we could even do it.

So huge change, like the federal government actually trying to write these markets by itself by providing homeowner’s insurance. But is that really feasible?

Well, in some areas, we’re actually already doing it. The government already provides flood insurance because for decades, most private insurers have not wanted to cover flood. It’s too risky. It’s too expensive. But that change, with governments taking over that role, creates a new problem of its own because the government providing flood insurance that you otherwise couldn’t get means people have been building and building in flood-prone areas because they know they can get that guaranteed flood insurance.

Interesting. So that’s a huge new downside. The government would be incentivizing people to move to places that they shouldn’t be.

That’s right. But there’s even one more problem with that approach of using the government to try to solve this problem, which is these costs keep growing. The number of billion-dollar disasters the US experiences every year keeps going up. And at some point, even if the government pays the cost through some sort of subsidized insurance, what happens when that cost is so great that we can no longer afford to pay it? That’s the really hard question that no official can answer.

So that’s pretty doomsday, Chris. Are we looking at the end of insurance?

I think it’s fair to say that we’re looking at the end of insurance as we know it, the end of insurance that means most Americans can rest assured that if they get hit by a disaster, their insurance company will provide enough money they can rebuild. That idea might be going away. And what it shows is maybe the threat of climate change isn’t quite what we thought.

Maybe instead of climate change wrecking communities in the form of a big storm or a wildfire or a flood, maybe even before those things happen, climate change can wreck communities by something as seemingly mundane and even boring as insurance. Maybe the harbinger of doom is not a giant storm but an anodyne letter from your insurance company, saying, we’re sorry to inform you we can no longer cover your home.

Maybe the future of climate change is best seen not by poring over weather data from NOAA but by poring over spreadsheets from rating firms, showing the profitability from insurance companies, and how bit by bit, that money that they’re losing around the country tells its own story. And the story is these shocks are actually already here.

Chris, as always, terrifying to talk to you.

Always a pleasure, Sabrina.

Here’s what else you should know today. On Tuesday, the United Nations has reclassified the number of women and children killed in Gaza, saying that it does not have enough identifying information to know exactly how many of the total dead are women and children. The UN now estimates that about 5,000 women and about 8,000 children have been killed, figures that are about half of what it was previously citing. The UN says the numbers dropped because it is using a more conservative estimate while waiting for information on about 10,000 other dead Gazans who have not yet been identified.

And Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, gave a press conference outside the court in Lower Manhattan, where Michael Cohen, the former fixer for Donald Trump, was testifying for a second day, answering questions from Trump’s lawyers. Trump is bound by a gag order. So Johnson joined other stand-ins for the former president to discredit the proceedings. Johnson, one of the most important Republicans in the country, attacked Cohen but also the trial itself, calling it a sham and political theater.

Today’s episode was produced by Nina Feldman, Shannon Lin, and Jessica Cheung. It was edited by MJ Davis Lin, with help from Michael Benoist, contains original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, and Rowan Niemisto, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you tomorrow.

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Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise

Featuring Christopher Flavelle

Produced by Nina Feldman ,  Shannon M. Lin and Jessica Cheung

Edited by MJ Davis Lin

With Michael Benoist

Original music by Dan Powell ,  Marion Lozano and Rowan Niemisto

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

Across the United States, more frequent extreme weather is starting to cause the home insurance market to buckle, even for those who have paid their premiums dutifully year after year.

Christopher Flavelle, a climate reporter, discusses a Times investigation into one of the most consequential effects of the changes.

On today’s episode

essay about use and misuse of internet

Christopher Flavelle , a climate change reporter for The New York Times.

A man in glasses, dressed in black, leans against the porch in his home on a bright day.

Background reading

As American insurers bleed cash from climate shocks , homeowners lose.

See how the home insurance crunch affects the market in each state .

Here are four takeaways from The Times’s investigation.

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

Christopher Flavelle contributed reporting.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Christopher Flavelle is a Times reporter who writes about how the United States is trying to adapt to the effects of climate change. More about Christopher Flavelle

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    Uses of the Internet. The internet's most significant advantage is its ability to connect people globally. It has made communication faster, cheaper, and more efficient, breaking down geographical barriers. Through email, social media, video conferencing, and instant messaging, we can interact with anyone, anywhere, at any time.

  2. How the internet can harm us, and what can we do about it?

    Harmful effects on cognitive development: Empirical evidence suggests that internet use can have both positive and negative impacts on cognitive development, depending on the person and the circumstances. There is evidence that children's cognitive development can be damaged by prolonged internet use, including the development of memory ...

  3. Essay on Uses of Internet

    Generally, abuses of the internet or internet abuse mean the improper use of the internet. These days teenagers are found addicted to the internet as they spend most of their time on the internet playing online games, surfing social networking sites, etc. ... Conclusion to internet essay: - Excess or misuse of everything is bad. The use of ...

  4. PDF INTERNET USE AND ABUSE: CONNECTION WITH INTERNET ADDICTION

    Milková E., Ambrožová P. (2018) "Internet Use and Abuse: Connection with Internet Addiction", Journal on Efficiency and Responsibility in Education and Science, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 22-28, online ISSN 1803-1617, printed ISSN 2336-2375, doi: 10.7160/ eriesj.2018.110201. INTERNET USE AND ABUSE: CONNECTION WITH INTERNET

  5. Essay on Internet Uses For Students For Students In English

    The Internet is mostly used by people to send emails and to search on any topic. It can be used to download large files. People depend on the internet for electronic news and magazines these days. A lot of people, especially the young generation use it to play interactive games and for entertainment. Q3.

  6. A for and against essay about the internet

    Worksheets and downloads. A for and against essay about the internet - exercises 592.59 KB. A for and against essay about the internet - answers 136.91 KB. A for and against essay about the internet - essay 511.93 KB. A for and against essay about the internet - writing practice 522.94 KB.

  7. Problematic Internet Use and Resilience: A Systematic Review and Meta

    A systematic search was conducted during November 2022 in three databases (PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science) using the terms (resilience OR resiliency OR resilient) AND (internet addiction OR problematic internet use OR internet abuse OR internet overuse OR internet dependence). Searches were restricted to papers published in English or Spanish.

  8. Essay on Uses of Internet for Students and Children

    500 Words Essay on Uses of Internet. The Internet has become a sensation nowadays. It is something that humans cannot function without anymore. It has occupied a great part of our lives. We use the internet for almost every little and a big task now. It ranges from searching for a job to listening to music.

  9. Misusing the Internet

    Read the rest of this 6-part Roundtable Discussion: Part One: Cyberpsychology. Part Two: Misusing the Internet. Part Three: When Kids Go Online. Part Four: The Future of Online Relationships. Part Five: The single most important issue in cyber psychology today. Part Six: The Future of the Internet.

  10. Uses of Internet Essay

    100 Words Essay on Uses of the Internet. The Internet is a global computer network. The process of connecting two or more computing systems to a cable or modem is called the Internet. The Internet is the only way of replacing data and statistics via computer networking. It could be very easily reachable.

  11. Misuse of Internet Among School Children: Risk Factors and ...

    The rise in Internet use has been accompanied by an increase in public concern over misuse of Internet resulting in psychological concerns known as Internet addiction (Brenner, 1997; Young, 1998a, 1998b) or pathological Internet use (Davis, 2001) or Internet dependence (Scherer, 1997).This article considers the use of the term Misuse of Internet (MOI) to remove the stigma associated with the ...

  12. The Impact of Excessive Internet Use: [Essay Example], 663 words

    The psychological impact of excessive internet use is equally concerning. The allure of social media platforms, online gaming, and instant messaging can foster addictive behaviors, leading to negative outcomes. Internet addiction, often characterized by an inability to control online activities, can result in detrimental effects on mental ...

  13. Social and Psychological Effects of the Internet Use

    However, Internet is provided in abundance and is easily accessible and the illogical use of the Internet makes it be quite dangerous, especially for young users. For this reason, users should be aware of and face critically the information handed at the websites, so that to ensure a proper behavior and delimit the excessive use it of it.

  14. Internet addiction and problematic Internet use: A systematic review of

    Core tip: Internet addiction has appeared as new mental health concern. To date, reviews have focused on clinical and treatment studies of Internet addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder, limiting the analysis to a specific diagnosis of a potential disorder that has not yet been officially recognised, rather than a comprehensive investigation of Internet-use related addictions (including ...

  15. Topic: The Misuse of Internet and its Impact on Society

    Top 10 Dangerous Ways Internet is Misused written by Antika Pathak discussed about the most dangerous and common ways how internet is misused. For example, e-mail spamming, cyber bullying, posting fakes advertisement, porn so on and so forth. This article provides brief example of each types of Internet misusing.

  16. Is the Internet bad for you? Huge study reveals surprise ...

    A global, 16-year study 1 of 2.4 million people has found that Internet use might boost measures of well-being, such as life satisfaction and sense of purpose — challenging the commonly held ...

  17. Internet use and Problematic Internet Use: a systematic review of

    The aim of this systematic literature review is to map the longitudinal research in the field of Internet Use (IU) and Problematic Internet Use (PIU) in adolescents and emergent adults. Further, this study endeavours to examine the terminology and instruments utilized in longitudinal IU and PIU research and investigate whether statistically ...

  18. (PDF) Misuse of Internet Among School Children: Risk Factors and

    Heightened risky use of the Internet was observed in children with neurodevelopmental concerns. This study explores risk factors associated with problematic Internet use among school-going ...

  19. Uses and Abuses of Internet Paragraph

    Paragraph on the uses and abuses of internet. Uses of Internet The internet is the wonderful invention of modern science and technology. Modern life without internet is unthinkable. The word 'Internet' is the short form of the words International Network. The internet has been spreading its net over a vast and every part of the civilisation.

  20. 500 Words Essay On Use and Misuse of Internet For Students

    The internet can also be misused in ways that can have negative impacts on mental health and wellbeing. Social media platforms can contribute to feelings of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, particularly among young people. Additionally, the internet can also be used to access and view illegal and harmful content, such as child ...

  21. Uses & Abuses of Internet

    350 words on Uses & Abuses of Internet. An international system of communication through connecting computers and websites is called as Internet. It is a global computer network. In 1998, the Internet provided an estimated 301 billion dollars in sales and 1.2 million jobs. At the end of 1999, an estimated 220 million users had access to the ...

  22. About Adverse Childhood Experiences

    Experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect. Witnessing violence in the home or community. Having a family member attempt or die by suicide. Also included are aspects of the child's environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding. Examples can include growing up in a household with: 1. Substance use problems.

  23. UnMarker: A Universal Attack on Defensive Watermarking

    Reports regarding the misuse of $\textit{Generative AI}$ ($\textit{GenAI}$) to create harmful deepfakes are emerging daily. Recently, defensive watermarking, which enables $\textit{GenAI}$ providers to hide fingerprints in their images to later use for deepfake detection, has been on the rise. Yet, its potential has not been fully explored. We present $\textit{UnMarker}$ -- the first practical ...

  24. NH parents must know how predators target kids on their devices

    NH Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force receives 180 to 220 tips a month. Predators use ever-evolving tricks to get explicit images from kids. ... "When it comes to child sexual abuse ...

  25. The Sunday Read: 'Why Did This Guy Put a Song About Me on Spotify?'

    Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify. Have you heard the song "Brett Martin, You a Nice Man, Yes"? Probably not. On Spotify, "Brett Martin, You a Nice Man, Yes" has not yet ...

  26. The Possible Collapse of the U.S. Home Insurance System

    This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this ...