title: Is it meaningful to distinguish between generalized and specific Internet addiction? Evidence from a cross-cultural study from Germany, Sweden, Taiwan and China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It has been hypothesized that two distinctive forms of Internet addiction exist. Here, generalized Internet addiction refers to the problematic use of the Internet covering a broad range of Internet-related activities. In contrast, specific forms of Internet addiction target the problematic use of distinct online activities such as excessive online video gaming or activities in social networks.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study investigates the relationship between generalized and specific Internet addiction in a cross-cultural study encompassing data from China, Taiwan, Sweden and Germany in n = 636 participants. In this study, we assessed - besides generalized Internet addiction - addictive behavior in the domains of online video gaming, online shopping, online social networks and online pornography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results confirm the existence of distinct forms of specific Internet addiction. One exception, however, was established in five of the six samples under investigation: online social network addiction correlates in large amounts with generalized Internet addiction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In general, it is of importance to distinguish between generalized and specific Internet addiction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany; Center for Economics and Neuroscience, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Montag
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bey
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sha
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ya-Fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wei-Yin
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yi-Kang
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Chun-Bo
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Markett
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keiper
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reuter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002681:China; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D013624:Taiwan; D018910:Video Games; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: China; Germany; Sweden; Taiwan; generalized and specific Internet addiction