Internet addiction: a clinical perspective

To date, around 40% of the world population is online. Internet usage has grown almost six-fold over the last decade around the globe. In Korea, 96% of Internet users make use of high-speed Internet connections, in comparison to 78% in the UK and 56% in the US (2012, 2013). Since 2000, the US has more than doubled Internet access and use, and mobile Internet use increased extensively in 2011 (The Nielsen Company, 2012a). These statistics evidence that the Internet has become an integral element in today’s society. In 2012, children and adolescents in Australia spent an average of 24 hours online per month, compared with 65 hours for individuals aged 18–24 years, and 25–34 year olds spend more than 100 hours per month online (The Nielsen Company, 2012b). Accordingly, young adults are the most active Internet users and spend roughly three hours per day on the Internet (Kuss et al., 2014a).