The Internet Process Addiction Test: Screening for Addictions to Processes Facilitated by the Internet

Behavioral Sciences

Jason C. Northrup²  Coady Lapierre³  Jeffrey Kirk³  Cosette Rae¹ 

[1] reSTART, 16307 NE 83rd Street Suite #208, Redmond, WA 98052, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Counseling and Human Services, St. Mary’s University, One Camino Santa Maria, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA;Department of Psychology and Counseling, Texas A&M University—Central Texas, 1001 Leadership Place, Killeen, TX 76549, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: internet addiction;    internet process addiction;    online video games;    online social networking;    online sexual activity;    problematic internet use;   

DOI  :  10.3390/bs5030341

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The Internet Process Addiction Test (IPAT) was created to screen for potential addictive behaviors that could be facilitated by the internet. The IPAT was created with the mindset that the term “Internet addiction” is structurally problematic, as the Internet is simply the medium that one uses to access various addictive processes. The role of the internet in facilitating addictions, however, cannot be minimized. A new screening tool that effectively directed researchers and clinicians to the specific processes facilitated by the internet would therefore be useful. This study shows that the Internet Process Addiction Test (IPAT) demonstrates good validity and reliability. Four addictive processes were effectively screened for with the IPAT: Online video game playing, online social networking, online sexual activity, and web surfing. Implications for further research and limitations of the study are discussed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.