Аннотация:
Introduction. The number of active Internet users is increasing every year, and the age of starting using it is rapidly decreasing. Inappropriate and uncontrolled use of Internet leads to a violation of not only mental, but also physical health of a person. Internet addiction is a relatively «young» phenomenon with the absence of generally accepted criteria for diagnosis and classification, as well as preventive measures.
Aim: to systematize the modern structure of types and subtypes of Internet addiction. Methods. Comprehensive analysis of PubMed and e-Library electronic databases over the past ten years.
Results and discussion. In the mid-90s of the twentieth century in the structure of the Yang identified subtypes: cybersexual addiction, computer gaming addiction, «network compulsions», dependence on virtual communication, web surfing. Due to the rapid development of digital technologies and the radically changed world of the Internet, the structure of the Internet is undergoing a dynamic change, which allows us to identify new subtypes that characterize the modern specifics of the types of addiction under consideration, for example, with cybersexual addiction – problematic use of online pornography, sexting, cybersex, webcaming; with «network compulsions» – online gambling and online shopaholism, as well as expanding the concepts of gaming addiction and clarifying the manifestations of virtual communication and web surfing.
Conclusion. The lack of accepted uniform criteria for identifying and general diagnostic approaches to Internet addiction complicates investigating and diagnosing of this social phenomenon. It is necessary to change the structure of Internet addiction from considering devices and methods that are addictive, into the defining type of dependence with clarification of its specific manifestations.
Ключевые слова:
Internet addiction, cybersexual addiction, gaming addiction, network compulsions, web surfing.