Self-Reported and Parental Assessments of Internet Gaming Disorder, and Their Accordance with DSM-5 Criteria in a Clinical Relevant Population

The present study aimed to develop a short, easily administered, psychometrically sound, and valid instrument to assess the severity of compulsive Internet use. A set of criteria was determined based on the addiction literature. Next, the internal consistency and convergent validity were determined, and the set was tested as a one-factor solution in two representative samples of heavy Internet users (n = 447 and n = 229) and in one large convenience sample of regular Internet users (n = 16,925). In these three studies, respondents were asked about their online behavior and about problems related to Internet use. In the first study, the Online Cognition Scale (OCS) was included to determine concurrent validity. The newly developed Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) contains 14 items ratable on a 5-point Likert scale. The instrument showed good factorial stability across time and across different samples and subsamples. The internal consistency is high, and high correlations with concurrent and criterion variables demonstrate good validity.

This case involves a homemaker 43 years of age who is addicted to using the Internet. This case was selected as it demonstrates that a nontechnologically oriented woman with a reportedly content home life and no prior addiction or psychiatric history abused the Internet which resulted in significant impairment to her family life. This paper defines addictive use of the Internet, outlines the subject's progression of addictive on-line use, and discusses the implications of such addictive behavior on the new market of Internet consumers.