Low Self-Esteem and Teens' Internet Addiction: What Have We Learned in the Last 20 Years?

Twenty years ago, CYBER published what can arguably be called the first paper to predict the new disorder of Internet addiction. ¹ The following year, preliminary data from the Internet Usage Survey showed that younger people tended to have more of a problem with Internet addiction than others. ² Now, a new book defines Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) and summarizes research results: “Adolescents with problematic Internet use showed dysfunctional coping strategies with problems in school and home, and showed worse interpersonal relations.” ³ The problem is ubiquitous, reported in countries as diverse as Great Britain, Taiwan, China, Turkey, and Iran, to name just those included in this editorial. We've focused this month's editorial on the relationship between teen Internet addiction and self-esteem, as articles on this topic are among our most-read research.

In CYBER, several studies have been reported on this topic. One, of 371 British students, showed that “18.3% of the sample were considered to be pathological Internet users, whose excessive use of the Internet was causing academic, social, and interpersonal problems. Other results showed that pathological Internet users had lower self-esteem and were more socially disinhibited.” ⁴

Next, a study of 267 male and 250 female junior high students in Taiwan showed that 1 year incidence for Internet addiction was 7.5%. “High exploratory excitability, low reward dependence, low self-esteem, low family function, and online game playing predicted the emergence of Internet addiction.” ⁵

A third CYBER study of 2,095 college students in China produced a thought-provoking result: “The influence of emotional warmth from parents on problematic Internet use was partially mediated by self-esteem, such that emotional support from both parents would increase their children's self-esteem and in turn would reduce their risk of being addicted to the Internet.” ⁶

This finding from the CYBER China study is supported by research conducted with 324 adolescents in Turkey: “The findings showed that general self-esteem, social self-esteem, family-home self-esteem, and total self-esteem were significantly and negatively correlated with Internet addiction. Furthermore, social self-esteem and family-home self-esteem were found to be significant predictors of Internet addiction.” Because the most common form of teen Internet addiction is online gaming, the authors postulate that “These games offer young people the opportunity to express themselves in a way that they never could in real life … When they become successful in these games, they perceive an increased sense of power and a higher status. In other words, Internet use may emerge as a way in which individuals make up perceived deficiencies and have a positive evaluation of self for a temporary time.” ⁷

Is Internet addiction on the rise in teens worldwide? It's not clear, but a 2014 study of 150 female and 258 male university students in Iran indicated that 40.7% had Internet addiction—more than twice the prevalence as in the earlier studies cited here. “A significant correlation emerged between depression, self-esteem, and Internet addiction. Regression analysis indicated that depression and self-esteem were able to predict the variance of Internet addiction to some extent.” ⁸

So what have we learned in the 20 years since we diagnosed teen IAD? These reports support modern parents' limitations on children's “screen time.” Further, they suggest that when parents think their teens are spending too much time on the computer, they may wish to take their children to a healthcare professional for evaluation.