Internet Addiction Test for Teenagers
Nowadays, more and more teenagers and adults spend too much time online. Sometimes, many of them end up having internet addiction. In order to assess the seriousness of the issue or to identify if there’s actually a problem, a research team from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), directed by Antonio Rial Boubeta, designed a highly reliable test.
We’re talking about the Problematic Internet Use Scale (EUPI-a, according to its initials in Spanish). Do you want to know at what age can people take this psychometric test? What kind of questions does it include? How is it analyzed? If you want to know the answers to all these questions, continue reading.
“The internet has been a boon and a curse for teenagers”.
Internet addiction test for teenagers
As we’ve mentioned before, the Problematic Internet Use Scale (EUPI-a) is a useful tool to identify possible problems related to internet abuse or addiction. This test is for teenagers between eleven and 17 years old.
In comparison to other similar tests, this only includes eleven simple questions, which are formulated in a very simple way. This is because it’s aimed at teenagers.
Besides, in order to answer these questions, children must only write: “never”, “seldom”, “sometimes”, “often”, “very often”. These answers will depend on the frequency children experience certain situations. Then, depending on the answers, they’ll receive a score: zero, one, two, three and four points, respectively.
Getting a high score in the Problematic Internet Use Scale
Children must be absolutely honest when answering to these questions. Once they’ve finished, they’ll receive a score.
The highest score is 44. However, if they get a number higher than 16, they’re getting a high number. In other words, they may be suffering from internet addiction. This is because, when children get such score, it means they don’t use the internet properly. In fact, they do it in a problematic way.
If this is your child’s case, you should talk to a specialist right away to begin the proper treatment.
Assessing the risk of internet addiction in teenagers
As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve mentioned many times the words “internet addiction”. But, what are we exactly talking about here? According to the psychologist Kimberly Young (1998) this concept refers to:
“A disorder characterized by abnormal internet use, too many hours online, isolation and neglect of academic, social and work obligations”.
-Kimberly Young-
Does this definition remind you of someone? Do you think you know a teenager who may be going through this? If you do know someone like this, you should ask them to take the Problematic Internet Use Scale. As a result, you’ll be able to identify a possible risk regarding internet use.
Finally, remember that, as adults, we must pay attention to this kind of problems. If we do it, we’ll be able to help new generations to take the right path. In addition, they’ll learn to enjoy the internet and new technologies in a controlled, responsible way.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Rial-Boubeta, A. R., Gómez-Salgado, P., Isorna-Folgar, M., Araujo-Gallego, M. y Varela-Mallou, J. (2015). EUPI-a: Escala de Uso Problemático de Internet en adolescentes. Desarrollo y validación psicométrica. Adicciones, 27(1), 47-63.
- Young, K. S. (1998). Caught in the net: How to recognize the signs of internet addiction–and a winning strategy for recovery. John Wiley & Sons.
