인터넷 중독 청소년들의 정신병리 및 대처 방식

The Psychopathology and Coping Strategy of Adolescent Internet Addictors

This study was conducted to investigate the differences in psychopathology and coping strategies among internet addictors, over users and non addictors in high school students. Subjects were 273 high school students in Seoul city. Self rating questionnaires included demographic data, Young’s Internet Addiction Scale, SCL-90-R, Beck Depression Inventory, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and The Way of Coping Strategy. Subjects were classified into 3 groups (addiction, over use, non addiction) by Internet Addiction Scale score. Prevalence of internet addiction was 4.3% and male adolescents were more addictive than female. Students who were mainly involved with internet chatting or game showed higher internet addiction score. The addiction group and over use group showed higher level of somatization, obsession, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, and paranoia than non-addicted group. Addiction group and over use group used passive coping strategies more frequently in the stressful situation than nonaddicted group. Also, the regression analysis for finding out causal factors that predicts internet addiction showed that emotion relieving strategy were important variable which predict internet addiction. Interpersonal sensitivity and emotion relieving coping strategy was important to predict addiction. This study showed that problematic internet use was closely associated with psychopathology and psychiatric comorbidity. And high interpersonal sensitivity and emotion relieving coping strategy were related with internet addiction in adolescence.