We’ve all heard about Chinese and South Korean teens who spend 18 hours a day playing video games and surfing the web. But a new study has revealed a very surprising picture – internet addiction affects merely 6% of the people around the world. More shockingly, the Middle East is the most Internet-addicted region on the planet.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong conducted a study on 89,281 people from 31 different nations and found out that 420 million people in seven world regions are addicted to the Internet. This represents 6% of the global population and although it may not sound so high, consider this – that’s about three times the rates of pathological gambling, which is an impulse control disorder that requires a complex treatment. However, Internet addiction is still not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. And according to experts, it can disrupt neural functioning and lead to cognitive dysfunctions such as impaired working memory.
The study, published in journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour, and Social Networking, defines Internet addiction as an inability to stop using the Internet that is actually overwhelming to a point when the individual’s personal relationships or physical health are adversely affected. Researchers Cecelia Cheng and Angel Yee-Iam Li tried to find out whether “availability” (the more you have access to the internet, the more you will lose it) or “quality of life” was the most important factor. And the answer, according to the results, is that in fact, Internet addiction was highest in regions where quality of life is low – countries with low GDP and environmental factors.
So, who are the most Internet-addicted people in the world? The highest prevalence was actually in the Middle East, where 10.9% of the people were found addicted to the web. In comparison, the rate in Northern and Western Europe was 2.6%, while in North America was 8%.
But, there’s one little detail of the study, which happens to be of great importance – the average age of a person, considered for the data set is 18,42 years. It means 6% of teenagers around the world are addicted to Internet, rather than the popular conclusion that 6% of adults are. Yes, the study did include data from adults, but clearly teens were many more.
The positive tendency, presented by the study, is that emerging economies with low GDP and low quality of life such as high pollution, bad health care and terrible traffic, are actually benefiting from their access to Internet. Europe and North America may have the highest Internet availability, but it’s the Middle East’ population that benefits or suffers most of advanced connectivity.
