Internet Addiction among Cyberkids in China: Risk Factors and Intervention Strategies.
详细信息
文摘
In about one decade and a half, Internet addiction has undergone a remarkable metamorphosis, from psychiatric curiosities to publicly recognized emergencies. As a country with the largest absolute number of Internet users in the world, China provides an interesting context to study this issue. The forming process of Internet addiction as an emerging risk in the Chinese context is of great research significance theoretically and practically, not only because Internet addiction is becoming a prominent issue in both China and many other societies, but also because it may act as a good case to study risk issue related to new media technologies, health and everyday life. Although there is a heated controversy over this issue, there are few academic studies depicting the ongoing formation of Internet addiction as a new health risk in broad social contexts. This research filled the gap. Focusing on the two essential factors of the construction of risk, this research proposed the research questions revolving around the staging of and the coping with Internet addiction in China. A multi-method approach was adopted and the data were gathered by both quantitative and qualitative methods. Content analysis was conducted to depict the newspaper reportage of Internet addiction from 1998 through 2009. The overall trend of reportage was depicted as well as relevant variations of the reporting frames. The coping was explored based on the data collected in Addiction Medicine Center CAMC) located in Beijing. Secondary data analysis was adopted to examine the high-risk group (N ＝ 618). Furthermore, ethnographic methods were used to investigate the signs and treatments of Internet addiction. Systematic remedial practices were provided in AMC for new family-making, which helped the in-patient children get recovered, maintain the therapeutic effects, and reduce relapse after discharge. Therefore, this research examined both the individual level and broader social levels of the process, and attempted to explain the linkages between the two. The findings further enrich the Internet addiction literature, and are valuable for prevention, treatment and recovery of Internet addiction. The results can be used for future studies of other subpopulations or within other social contexts.