Confirmatory factor analysis of Internet use and addiction

The ever-changing nature of the Internet continues to fuel questions as to its benefits and possible drawbacks. One issue that is particularly problematic is the validity of claims that the Internet is addictive. The present study used a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on a data set of 527 participants using the same survey developed by Pratarelli et al.(1) We propose a theoretical model of the relationship between (1) Internet addiction, (2) a sexual factor, and (3) an Internet use factor. These three factors were tested using two structural equation models generated on LISREL. The CFA revealed that the three factors are not orthogonal to each other, but instead are related to some degree as one would expect if a supposed Internet addicted individual exhibited behaviors related to each factor. We next tested whether the addiction was the causal factor leaving the sex and User factors as endogenous (i.e., resulting from the addiction). The second structural equation tested the contrasting possibility that sex and User related activities were exogenous to the addiction factor (i.e., the addiction resulted from these two activities). The analysis revealed that model 1, where the addiction is the causal factor behind the sex and User factors, had a stronger model fit index. On the basis of these current data it appears that Internet addiction may involve an addictive performance profile which in turn leads to excessive behaviors that involve (1) use of the Internet for sexual purposes and (2) its functional usefulness for a variety of professional and personal goals.