How much internet is too much internet? We use the internet for everything but when it’s excessive, it can turn to brain rot. Studies show that internet addiction affects our brains very similarly to the way drugs and alcohol abuse do.

Internet addiction is a growing concern, especially among adolescents and young adults e.g. college students. While this may sound like what every parent to a teen would say, it’s true; young people are potentially sabotaging their future by spending too many hours on their phones.

Assessing internet use and behavior through internet addiction tests can help detect whether or not people are addicted to the internet. It can also help you monitor people’s progress during and after treatment. Here’s a walkthrough of how to create an internet addiction test.

What is Internet Addiction?

Problematic Internet use or Internet addiction is when people excessively and compulsively use the Internet so much it affects their daily lives, relationships, and overall well-being. Although this is not officially recognized as a mental disorder, hours and hours of doom-scrolling, neglecting responsibilities, flippant behavior, and sleep deprivation are common side effects of smartphone addiction slowly depriving young people of their full potential.

Common Symptoms and Signs of Internet Addiction

The following are the most common behaviors associated with internet addiction:

• Excessive time online: significantly spending more time online than intended and getting so preoccupied with the internet resulting in responsibility neglect and social isolation. This is very common with social media and internet gaming addiction.
• Withdrawal Symptoms: Experiencing anxiety, irritability, or restlessness when unable to access the internet. In a recent study on internet addiction in an Essex school, students experienced anxiety and depression-related feelings after losing their smartphones, and days after getting used to not having a smartphone, their symptoms disappeared.
• Neglecting Real-life Responsibilities: People are losing their jobs, neglecting their health, and failing terribly in school because they can’t drop their phones long enough to get daily tasks done.
• Social Isolation: Problematic use of the internet often leads to high internet dependence and people withdrawing from face-to-face interactions, preferring online or no communication at all.
• Sleep Disturbances: Individuals with internet addiction often have difficulty sleeping due to late-night internet use or experiencing sleep disruptions due to withdrawal.
• Tolerance: internet addiction grows, so the more people use the internet excessively, the more they will keep increasing their compulsive internet use. If the initial average time was 5 hours daily, the time spent online will keep increasing to 6, 7, 8, and even more hours to achieve the same level of satisfaction.
• Mood changes: Studies also show a relationship between internet addiction and experiencing mood swings, depression, or anxiety. Long duration of internet use often leads to demotivation and restlessness, especially with video game addiction.

Why Conduct Internet Addiction Tests?

The majority of the adolescents and young adult population struggle with excessive internet use, so why do we need to test for it? Here are the major benefits of recognizing signs of internet addiction:

• Early Detection: Running an internet addiction test (IAT) helps you identify individuals who may be at risk of developing problematic internet use and the specific type of internet addiction. Detecting it early helps you provide timely intervention and support, potentially preventing pathological internet use and more vices.
• Self-Awareness: IAT scores also help people better understand their preoccupation with the internet. This self-awareness can be the first step towards making necessary changes.
• Provides a Foundation for Seeking Help: The results of an internet addiction test can provide a starting point for discussions with mental health professionals. These results help students, guardians, and independent adults understand how the internet has become detrimental to their well-being and seek help.
• Fosters Lifestyle Changes: Even without a formal diagnosis, the results of an internet addiction test can motivate individuals to make lifestyle changes, such as setting limits on internet use, developing healthier digital habits, and engaging in more offline activities.

How to Use Formplus to Test Internet Addiction Levels

Formplus allows you to design engaging forms, including surveys and questionnaires like the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). You can also customize your form look and feel by adjusting question types and adding images & videos.  By also,  implementing conditional logic to display questions based on previous answers.

Why Formplus is Ideal for Creating Online Tests

• Ease of Use: Formplus simplifies the test creation process, eliminating the need for coding or complex technical skills.
• Beautiful and Engaging Forms: Allows you to create visually appealing and professional-looking surveys. You can make your forms multi-page, so the questions are divided into sections and don’t overwhelm the participants.
• Data Collection and Analysis: Collect and manage survey data. The analytics dashboard also shows you a breakdown of your audience demographics and their responses. You can also use the Zapier integration to link your form to advanced data analysis tools. This helps to create charts and graphs to visualize results, generate reports, and identify patterns.
• Mobile Responsiveness: Forms created with Formplus are mobile-friendly, ensuring all participants can complete the assessment on any device, including smartphones and tablets.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Internet Addiction Test with Formplus

Here’s how to create your internet addiction test with Formplus:

• Sign up for Formplus or create an account
• Design the test by adding questions about respondents’ internet usage (multiple-choice questions, Likert scales, etc.).
• Customize the form’s look and feel by changing its theme, color, or font. You can also add a background image.
• Add instructions on the intro page to guide participants through the survey.
• Preview and test the form to ensure it is mobile-responsive.
• Share the form with participants via QRcode, direct link, social media cards, or embed it on a webpage.
• Collect and analyze the responses.

How to Create Forms with Formplus⬇️

Tips for Creating an Effective Internet Addiction Test

Here are some best practices to ensure you accurately measure problematic internet use among respondents:

• Clear and Unbiased Questions: The goal of your survey is to measure levels of internet addiction, ensure your questions are centered around that, and don’t deviate. Also, avoid leading and judgment questions, E.g. instead of “Do you spend too much time online every day?”, use “What is the average amount of time you spend online in a day?”
• Concise and User-Friendly Assessment: Ensure the structure of your IAT is brief and to the point. People who have internet addiction disorders such as internet gaming or doom-scrolling already have short attention spans.  They will probably abandon the survey if they find it uninteresting or overwhelming.
• Provide Resources and Recommendations Based on Test Results: Include a disclaimer stating that the test is for screening purposes only and does not constitute a diagnosis. Next, provide helpful resources: Include links to reputable organizations, helplines, or online resources offering guidance and support.

Conclusion

Internet addiction tests help detect problematic internet use early, raise self-awareness, and facilitate early intervention. It shows how people use and prioritize their smartphones even when there are clear symptoms of internet addiction.

We hope this guide helps you seamlessly measure internet addiction, and you can sign up with Formplus to get started.