Anecdotal reports indicated that some on-line users were becoming addicted to the Internet in much the same way that others became addicted to drugs or alcohol, which resulted in academic, social, and occupational impairment. However, research among sociologists, psychologists, or psychiatrists has not formally identified addictive use of the Internet as a problematic behavior. This study investigated the existence of Internet addiction and the extent of problems caused by such potential misuse. Of all the diagnoses referenced in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1995), Pathological Gambling was viewed as most akin to the pathological nature of Internet use. By using Pathological Gambling as a model, addictive Internet use can be defined as an impulse-control disorder that does not involve an intoxicant. Therefore, this study developed a brief eight-item questionnaire referred to as a Diagnostic Questionnaire (DQ), which mod...

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Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder

This case involves a homemaker 43 years of age who is addicted to using the Internet. This case was selected as it demonstrates that a nontechnologically oriented woman with a reportedly content home life and no prior addiction or psychiatric history abused the Internet which resulted in significant impairment to her family life. This paper defines addictive use of the Internet, outlines the subject's progression of addictive on-line use, and discusses the implications of such addictive behavior on the new market of Internet consumers.

Psychology of computer use: xl. addictive use of the internet : a case that breaks the stereotype

Despite the recent empirical interest and advances in research with regard to the construct of computer self-efficacy (CSE), the results obtained to date have, in some cases, been either equivocal or contradictory. We suggest that such results may be attributable to a general lack of attention to the dynamic, multileveled, and multifaceted nature of the computer self-efficacy construct. We offer examples from the extant CSE literature suggesting weaknesses in existing measures of the construct as well as issues associated with manipulations and the need for control of antecedent and consequent factors directly associated with CSE. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to provide a thorough review of the extant literature related to CSE; (2) to present an integrated model of empirical findings, constructed from a wide variety of disciplines, that comprehensively defines the multifaceted nature of task-specific CSE in terms of its antecedent, consequent, and moderating factors; (3) to present a conceptual model of CSE at the general versus task-specific level; and (4) to use the two models of CSE to proffer guidelines for both measurement and manipulation of the construct. Through our review of the CSE literature, we offer several thoughts regarding the nature of the empirical results obtained to date. The combined objectives serve as a basis for establishing a foundation upon which future research investigating the CSE construct can be based.

The Multilevel and Multifaceted Character of Computer Self-Efficacy: Toward Clarification of the Construct and An Integrative Framework for Research

Gender, Internet and computer attitudes and experiences

Most programs today are written not by professional software developers, but by people with expertise in other domains working towards goals for which they need computational support. For example, a teacher might write a grading spreadsheet to save time grading, or an interaction designer might use an interface builder to test some user interface design ideas. Although these end-user programmers may not have the same goals as professional developers, they do face many of the same software engineering challenges, including understanding their requirements, as well as making decisions about design, reuse, integration, testing, and debugging. This article summarizes and classifies research on these activities, defining the area of End-User Software Engineering (EUSE) and related terminology. The article then discusses empirical research about end-user software engineering activities and the technologies designed to support them. The article also addresses several crosscutting issues in the design of EUSE tools, including the roles of risk, reward, and domain complexity, and self-efficacy in the design of EUSE tools and the potential of educating users about software engineering principles.

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The state of the art in end-user software engineering

This study is aimed to investigate gender differences regarding computer attitudes and perceived self-efficacy in the use of computers among 147 college students. At the end of a computer course, the students completed a questionnaire designed to measure self-efficacy, computer anxiety, computer liking, and computer confidence. The results revealed gender differences in perceived self-efficacy regarding completion of complex tasks in both word processing and spreadsheet software. No gender differences were found in computer attitudes or self-efficacy regarding simple computer tasks. Male students had previously had more computer experience in programming and computer games and reported that they had previously had more encouragement from parents and friends.

Gender Differences in Self-Efficacy and Attitudes toward Computers

This study aimed to investigate whether gender, group composition, or self-efficacy in computing has any impact on cooperation, giving or getting task-related help, and level of activity in student groups. The groups were established during a computer course among 150 college students in business administration. According to our results, students with low self-efficacy in computing, and students in groups with a majority of females, cooperated more than any other categories in their work with computers. Furthermore, students with high self-efficacy in computing, and students with a high degree of previous computer experience, offered more task-related help to other students than did the rest. In terms of gender, the level of activity was evaluated as highest in majority-female or majority-male groups. Moreover, female students had significantly lower self-efficacy in computing, less previous computer experience, and they had received less previous encouragement to work with computers. Finally, female stud...

Tor Busch

Papers

Gender Differences in Self-Efficacy and Attitudes toward Computers

Gender, group composition, cooperation, and self- efficacy in computer studies