Psychosocial Variables Associated With Internet Addictive Behaviors

Internet addictive disorder is considered one of the addictive behaviors that needs attention from the professional communities and health team members, as it affects individual's physical, psychological and social health. It may result from a wide range of causes, that affects vulnerable persons; suffer from low self-esteem, diminished coping strategies, and mal-adaptive behaviors. Clinical research on addictive behaviors has predominantly focused on substance dependencies such as drugs and alcohol addiction, while the term addiction applied also to on-line users who become addicted to the Internet in the very same way that others became addicted to drugs, alcohol, or gambling. Internet addiction has been found to cause significant negative consequences on psychological, social, academic and occupational health (Young, 1999). Therefore, the community psychiatric nurse has a crucial role in identifying the IAD symptoms, its significant negative consequences and in educating people about Internet negative effects to develop preventive measures that need to be impeded in our Egyptian communities.