A-cognitive-behavioral-model-of-pathological

Acognitive-behavioralmodelofpathologicalInternetuseR.A.DavisPsychologyDepartment,Rm.205B.S.B.,YorkUniversity,Toronto,Ontario,CanadaM3J1P3AbstractThisarticleintroducesacognitive-behavioralmodelofPathologicalInternetUse(PIU).WhilepreviousstudiesonInternetaddictionhavedescribedbehavioralfactors,suchaswith-drawalandtolerance,thepresentarticlefocusesonthemaladaptivecognitionsassociatedwithPIU.Thecognitive-behavioralmodelofPIUdistinguishesbetweenspeci®cPIUandgeneralizedPIU.Speci®cPIUreferstotheconditioninwhichanindividualpathologicallyusestheInternetforaparticularpurpose,suchasonlinesexoronlinegambling,whereasgeneralizedPIUdescribesamoreglobalsetofbehaviors.Themodelimpliesamoreimpor-tantroleofcognitionsinPIU,anddescribesthemeansbywhichPIUisbothdevelopedandmaintained.Furthermore,itprovidesaframeworkforthedevelopmentofcognitive-behavioralinterventionsforPIU.#2001ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Internet;Internetaddiction;Internetabuse;PathologicalInternetuse;Addiction1.IntroductionOverthepastseveralyears,clinicianshavereportedcasesofInternetaddiction.Untilrecently,theassociatedpsychopathologyhasbeenlooselydescribedinthelit-erature.SymptomssuchasobsessivethoughtsabouttheInternet,tolerance,dimin-ishedimpulsecontrol,inabilitytoceaseusingtheInternet,andwithdrawalhavebeencitedascharacterizingunhealthyuseoftheInternet(Young,1999).WhilethetermInternetaddictionhasbeenusedextensively,itseemstobesomewhatofamisnomer(Davis,1999).Addiction,asusedintheliterature,referstoaphysiologicaldependencebetweenapersonandsomestimulus,usuallyasubstance.Forthisrea-son,theDSM-IVdoesnotuseaddictiontodescribepathologicaluseorabuseofasubstanceorothersuchstimulus,nordoesitdescribecompulsivegamblingasanaddiction.Instead,itfavorsthetermsdependence(forsubstances)andpathologicalComputersinHumanBehavior17(2001)187±195:S0747-5632(00)00041-8E-mailaddress:[e-mail](R.A.Davis).(forgamblingdisorders).Therefore,fortheremainderofthisarticle,thetermPathologicalInternetUse(PIU)shallbeusedtodescribethesetofsymptomspre-viouslymentionedintheliterature.AsaresultoftherapidproliferationoftheInternet,andthepopularizationofPIUasaculturalphenomenon,ithasbecomecommonplacetouse(andperhapsabuse)thetermPIU.Tobeclear,PIUisadistinctpatternofbehavioramongaspeci®csubgroupofourpopulation.However,thenumbersforsuchbehaviorhavebeengreatlyexaggeratedbytheboththemediaandpsychologistsusingunreliableandinvalidresearchmethods(Grohol,1999).Todistinguishbetween`real'casesofInternetdependence,andthosethataresimplyartifactsofquestionableexperi-mentaldesign,thisarticlede®nestwodistincttypesofPIU:speci®candgeneralizedSpeci®cpathologicalInternetuseincludesthosepeoplethataredependentonaspe-ci®cfunctionoftheInternet.Clinicalandmediaaccountsofthisincludeoveruse(abuse)ofonlinesexualmaterial/services,onlineauctionservices,onlinestocktrading,andonlinegambling.Itseemsreasonabletoassumethatthesedependenciesarecontent-speci®c,andthattheywouldexistintheabsenceoftheInternet.Speci®cPIUisrelatedtoonlyoneaspectoftheInternet,andexistsentirelyindependentofmultipleInternetfunctions.GeneralizedpathologicalInternetuseinvolvesagen-eral,multidimensionaloveruseoftheInternet.Itmightalsoincludewastingtimeonline,withoutaclearobjective.Often,generalizedPIUcanbeassociatedwiththe`chat'foundonlineanddependenceone-mail.ThisisassumedtoberelatedtothesocialaspectoftheInternet.Theneedforsocialcontactandreinforcementobtainedonlineresultsinanincreaseddesiretoremaininavirtualsociallife.Theetiologyandimplicationsofsucharelationshipwillbediscussedlaterinthisarticleintermsofacognitive-behavioralmodelofPIU.InaconvincingdescriptivemodelofPIU,Pratarelli,Browne,andJohnson(1999)describedafour-factormodelofPIUpsychopathology.FactoronefocusedonthedysfunctionalbehaviorsassociatedwithoveruseoftheInternet,asoutlinedbysev-eralproblematicbehavioralstyles.FactortwodescribedthefunctionaluseoftheInternet,whichincludesusingtheInternetinameaningfulandproductiveway.FactorthreefocusedonusingtheInternetforsexualgrati®cationand/orsocialgains.ThisdescribestheshyorintroverteduserwhoreliesontheInternettoexpresshis/herfantasies.Finally,factorfourdescribesthoseindividualswhoareeitherdis-interestedintheInternetormildlyavertedtothetechnology.Theydemonstratelit-tleornodependenceontheinternet(Pratarellietal.,1999).ThismodelattemptstodescribefourlevelsofInternetusers.Therefore,foranygivenuser,wecanassignacategoryofInternetusage.WhilethismodelishelpfulindescribingtheprevalenceandincidenceofInternetusage,itdoesnotaddresstheetiologyofPIU.InidentifyingtheetiologyofPIU,acognitive-behavioralapproachisemployed.ThismodelpositsthatPIUresultsfromproblematiccognitionscoupledwithbeha-viorsthateitherintensifyormaintainthemaladaptiveresponse.ThistheoryofPIUisadeparturefromtheothertheoriesinthatitemphasizestheindividual'scogni-tions(orthoughts)asthemainsourceofabnormalbehavior.WhereasthemostprominentsymptomsofPIUhadgenerallybeenconsideredtobethea€ectiv