I'm Always Online: Well-Being and Main Sources of Life Dis/Satisfaction of Heavy Internet Users

Time Spent Online and Internet Addiction

Various research confirmed positive relationship between higher consumption and a higher level of addiction (e.g. Chen & Fu, 2009, Beutel et al., 2011; Frangos, Frangos & Sotiropoulos, 2011). Likewise, an increased amount of time spent on the Internet, i.e. excessive Internet use represents a fundamental indicator of Internet addiction (Chou, Condron, & Belland, 2005). As an illustration, amount of time spent on the Internet was an item in the Young’s (1996) Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire. To investigate Internet addiction of adolescents, Müller et al. (2016) explored, among other things, the frequency of their online activities (e.g. gambling, pornography). Furthermore, Soule, Shell, and Kleen (2003, p. 66) emphasized “long hours” of Internet use as one of the Internet addiction symptoms, while Weinstein and Lejoyeux (2010) highlighted “higher frequency of Internet use” as a factor “predictive of problematic Internet use” (p. 280). Finally, Young’s (1998) research results show that Internet dependents spent an average of 39.5 hours per week on Internet activities, while Internet non-dependents spent an average of 4.9 hours. According to Chou, Condron, and Belland (2005), Chen and Chou (1999) reported that the Internet addiction “high-risk” group spent about 20 hours per week online, while the “non–high-risk” group spent about 9 hours online.