The rapid increase in Internet use in recent years has resulted in both benefits and disadvantages and an associated increase in the number of studies in which negative use of the Internet was investigated. As a result of these studies, Internet addiction has emerged as a term that refers to harmful and uncontrolled use of the Internet, and Internet addicts have been found to display similar behavior to that of other addicts. Psychological addiction to the Internet has thus become a focus of academic research.

Some researchers have claimed that users are not addicted to the Internet itself but to certain features of it, such as gambling, chatting, shopping, and games (Ceyhan, 2008). Others have seen problematic use of the Internet as a common element of impulse control disorder. This is characterized by distress and functional impairment owing to an individual’s failure to control Internet use (Beard & Wolf, 2001; Shapira, Goldsmith, Keck, Khosla, & McElroy, 2000; Young, 1998). Accordingly, Internet addiction has been associated with emotion control ability.

Although healthy emotional development has long been recognized as essential to an individual’s psychological and physical well-being, only recently have researchers begun to examine the underlying factors. Research has been focused primarily on the normative development of skills within three emotion management categories: emotion encoding and decoding, emotional understanding, and emotion regulation. Researchers suggest that the development of culturally appropriate emotion management skills enables children to adapt successfully to their social environment, whereas deficits in emotion management skills place children at risk for subsequent adaptational failures (Shipman, Zeman, Penza, & Champion, 2000).

Emotion management is the ability to cope with one’s emotional reactions. People with this ability can manage their emotions well. Emotional self- management, selecting and dealing with one’s own and others’ emotions, and the use of emotions to shape real lives are part of emotional intelligence (Erdoğdu, 2008). Emotion management skills involve verbal and spontaneous expression of emotions, the ability to manage emotions and control negative physical reactions, coping, and anger management (Çeçen, 2006).

Researchers believe that the development of Internet addiction is associated with the ability to control emotions and emotional reactions. People who self-regulate can manage their emotions well. Self-regulation of emotions also helps people maintain their dignity and adapt to life changes easily (Salopek, 1998).

The criteria used in defining Internet addiction are related to emotion control. They include failing to control, decrease, or stop Internet use, needing to increasingly use the Internet, and staying logged on longer than planned (Young, 1998). As the treatment of Internet addiction is said to be more effective when it includes emotion regulation (Shapira et al., 2000), the need to examine the relationship between Internet addiction and emotion management skills has arisen. Therefore, the focus in this study was on the relationship between negative use of the Internet, which is a source of Internet addiction among adolescents and young adults, and emotion management skills. The aim in the study was to determine whether the emotion management skills of university students are a meaningful predictor of Internet addiction.

Method

Sample

The sample comprised a total of 345 students (185 females, 160 males) from various departments of Fatih Education Faculty at Karadeniz Technical University in Turkey during the 2008/2009 academic year. Departments and participants were selected randomly. The average age of the voluntary participants was approximately 19 years, ranging from 17 to 22 and they were informed about the nature of the study by the researcher.

Instruments

All participants responded to the following instruments:

Emotion Management Skills Inventory (EMSI; Çeçen, 2006) This inventory consists of 28 items with 8 positive and 20 negative statements. It is a 5-point Likert-type self-evaluation instrument that is used to measure emotion management skills. The highest possible score is 140, while the lowest is 28. The EMSI consists of the following 5 subscales: showing emotion, verbal expression of emotions, controlling negative physical reactions, coping, and anger management. A high score indicates the adequacy of the respondent’s emotion management skills. Internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach’s alpha) was .83.

Problematic Internet Usage Scale (PIUS; Ceyhan, Ceyhan, & Gürcan, 2007) This scale consists of 28 items and is used to identify the levels of positive and negative use of the Internet. A high score indicates unhealthy Internet use, with a negative effect on the respondent’s life, leading to pathological addictive Internet use. Internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach’s alpha) was .94.

Data Analysis

The predictive relationship between university students’ emotion management skills and Internet addiction was tested with multilinear regression analysis.

Results

For the regression analysis, preanalysis was undertaken to find whether there were meaningful relationships between the variables (showing emotion, verbal expression of emotions, controlling negative physical reactions, coping, and anger management). It was seen that emotion management skills were meaningfully related to average and above average levels of Internet addiction. The results are presented in Table 1.

The regression analysis results are given in Table 2. As shown, the total measure of emotion management skills was significant (R² = 0.06, F(5, 338) = 4.52, p < .001, as was the showing emotion subscale (t = -2.44, β = -0.16, p < .01. The remaining subscales – verbal expression of emotions, controlling negative physical reactions, coping, and anger management – did not seem to be meaningful predictors of Internet addiction.

Discussion

The results gained in this study indicate that the emotion management skills of university students can be used to predict their levels of Internet addiction. Some researchers associate problematic use of the Internet with functional impairment and distress experienced by the individual owing to their inability to control their use of the Internet (Beard & Wolf, 2001; Shapira et al., 2000; Young, 1998). Of the many descriptors of addiction, the main characteristics that emerge are craving or compulsion, loss of control, and persistence in the behavior despite accruing adverse consequences (Shaffer, Hall, & Bilt, 2000).

To the best of my knowledge, there is no previous extant study about the relationship between emotion management skills and Internet addiction. Previous studies have been focused on the relationship between different variables, such as negative use of the Internet, personal characteristics, and level of intelligence. Young (1998) states that, just as certain situations may trigger the drinking behavior of alcoholics, certain situations may trigger Internet addiction. According to Young, emotions are 1 of 4 factors that trigger overuse of the Internet in “netoholics”. Individuals who have not fulfilled their need for trust, power, sense of control, and attachment (sense of belonging), demonstrate more addictive behaviors than others (Arısoy, 2009). According to Kim, Namkoong, Ku, and Kim (2008), young people with virtual game addiction have poorer self-control, discipline, and emotion control skills than other Internet users.

Some researchers suggest that Internet addiction is a behavior pattern that compensates for failures in life. They argue that although excessive use of the Internet can be seen as a rewarding behavior, it is an inadequate strategy for combating negative feelings (fear, anxiety, frustration) through learning mechanisms (Arısoy, 2009; Davis, 2001). While many variables are associated with Internet addiction, emotion management skills is one variable, as illustrated in this study, that can be reliably used to predict its levels. Adolescents are known to use the Internet mainly for communication and entertainment, and thereafter for obtaining information (Ceyhan, 2008). The sharp increase in problematic use of the Internet thus requires development of preventive and protective interventions. Parents in particular should be informed about signs of harmful use of the Internet by adolescents.

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Shipman, K., Zeman, J., Penza, S., & Champion, K. (2000). Emotion management skills in sexually maltreated and nonmaltreated girls: A developmental psychopathology perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 12(1), 47-62.

Young, K. S. (1998). Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1(3), 237-244. http://doi.org/cgm

Appreciation is due to reviewers including

Zafer Gokcakan

Mugla University

Mugla

Turkey

Email

[email protected]

Vesile Oktan, Fatih Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon 61335, Turkey. Email: [email protected]