Internet Use and Addiction among Adolescents in Indonesia

Internet Use and Addiction among Adolescents in Indonesia

dr. Eva Suryani, Sp.KJ

In the last decade, internet usage has grown tremendously as fast as , technology development. Technology develops quickly nowadays and has both positive and negative sides. It provides benefits as information resources, social networking, communication, creativity building, distance learning, public services improvement, and encouraging business growth.

In the other side, increasing popularity and frequency of Internet usage have led to some increasing number of reports which highlighting the potential negative consequence of Internet overuse, such as physical and emotional problems, sleep deprivation, and social relationship problems.

According to our recent study, the estimated prevalence of Internet addiction range from 11.7 — 33.2 %. The prevalence of Internet addiction is higher among males than females in the vast majority of studies and most of them using Internet for social networking services (females) and gaming (males).

Internet addiction studies in Indonesia are limited. Further studies regarding epidemiology, pathophysiology, co-morbidity, and treatment of Internet addiction are required.

Keywords: Internet, internet use, addiction, problematic internet use, IAD

* School of Medicine, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia

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