Are you on the internet or using screen-based devices? Revisiting the concepts of ‘internet addiction’ and ‘smartphone addiction’

Demetrovics, Z, Czakó, A, Potenza, MN, Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, Fineberg, NA, Stein, DJ, Ekhtiari, H, Brand, M, Montag, C, Lin, C-Y, Li, L, Elhai, JD and Király, O, 2026. Are you on the internet or using screen-based devices? Revisiting the concepts of ‘internet addiction’ and ‘smartphone addiction’. Journal of Behavioral Addictions. ISSN 2062-5871

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Abstract

The concept of ‘internet addiction’ was introduced in the 1990s and has increasingly been recognized as a clinical and public health issue. Although umbrella terms can be useful for screening, theoretical considerations, and intervention planning, the term itself has received criticism because of its conceptual heterogeneity, implying an addiction to a medium and not including a wide range of problematic behavioral patterns that are below the diagnostic threshold of a clinical disorder. To address this criticism, we propose adopting the term ‘problematic use’ instead of ‘addiction’. Furthermore, we argue that while ‘problematic usage of the internet’ is currently a useful umbrella term, recent technological advancements and increasing online presence may in the future require a conceptual and methodological shift in terminology from ‘internet’ to the more specific ‘screen-based devices’ or ‘screens’ that would enable more accurate assessment and intervention strategies. Terms focusing on specific devices, such as ‘smartphone addiction,’ should also be used with caution, as problematic use relates to applications rather than the hardware itself and may extend to various devices.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Creators:	Demetrovics, Z., Czakó, A., Potenza, M.N., Griffiths, M.D., Fineberg, N.A., Stein, D.J., Ekhtiari, H., Brand, M., Montag, C., Lin, C.-Y., Li, L., Elhai, J.D. and Király, O.
Publisher:	Akademiai Kiado Zrt.
Date:	4 February 2026
ISSN:	2062-5871
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1556/2006.2025.00105 DOI 2571434 Other
Rights:	This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited, a link to the CC License is provided, and changes – if any – are indicated.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	12 Feb 2026 14:26
Last Modified:	12 Feb 2026 14:26
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55256

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